I’m what you might call an “elder” millennial. We’re the kids who were born in the early-mid ’80s—not quite old enough to be Gen X, old enough to remember the days of land lines and cassette tapes. And like many of my contemporaries, I grew up riding in the back of a minivan.
Technically, I grew up riding in the back of two minivans. Both were Mopars—a late-’80s Plymouth and a 1994 Dodge—and neither was what you’d call flawless. The Voyager was fine, though it had a four-banger and no air bags, so we didn’t keep it long enough for it to fall apart on us; we upgraded to the Caravan. That one had the Mitsubishi V6, and it was kind enough to wait until it had about 100,000 miles on the odo before it really started falling apart on us. That happened just in time for me to leave for college. Guess what I drove there.
By that point, that Caravan was a hot mess, both literally and figuratively. The AC wouldn’t hold a charge, the engine leaked oil from any number of orifices and the charm of its manual windows and just-adequate V6 had long worn off. But hey, I had a car. And despite its flaws, there’s one thing I can say for that oily clunker: it never tried to hit me in the face.
Yep, that’s right. In the face. As you can see in the above clip, GM’s badge-engineered minivans of the early ’90s included a cool little design element. The trailing edges of the front doors were swept back, like the little winglets on a modern jetliner. It looked neat. It also made the top of the door much longer than the middle, where the handle was. It’s not a particularly aggressive rake, but it’s a difference of a couple of inches. You can see it from multiple angles in this retro review from our pals over at MotorWeek:
It became so much of a problem that GM designed a whole new part to address the issue. It’s GM part # 10186057. Go ahead and Google it. Yep, it’s a sticker… with a printed warning that reminds passengers to be careful while shutting the door while exiting, lest they hit themselves in the face with trailing edge of the frame.
I feel compelled to point out that GM’s ad campaign for the Oldsmobile Silhouette included a boast about the company’s industrial design prowess. I believe that’s what you call irony—and I’d know, after all. Half my friends are Gen X. They invented irony; just ask ’em.
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