What Happened to the Minivan?

Once upon a time, the minivan was a new and exciting "savior." Then it became ubiquitous, though never particularly cool. And then it became ... obsolete? In a piece at the Atlantic, Ian Bogost traces the history of what he calls "the perfect vehicle," and argues that at this point, the minivan has been "replaced, almost altogether, by the SUV." The minivan started as a solution: It combined the station wagon and the full-sized van, seeming safer than a wagon but more domestic than a giant utility vehicle, and perfect for families. "It really did bring innovation: ample seating organized in rows with easy access, the ability to stow those seats in favor of a large cargo bay, a set of sliding doors, and smaller features that had not been seen before, such as the modern cupholder," Bogost writes.

For a while, minivans were everywhere. And then, the backlash. Minivans started to be seen as severely uncool, with young adults who'd spent much of their childhoods riding around in a minivan finding themselves with families of their own—but no desire to drive those families around in a minivan of their own. Meanwhile, SUVs were becoming all the rage, and despite the fact that they got worse gas mileage and were more difficult to get in and out of, they started to become the preferred family vehicle of choice. The SUV's promise was escape from the very sort of family life that the minivan had facilitated," Bogost writes, and perhaps the true issue with the minivan is more about "how Americans think than what we drive." Read his full piece at the Atlantic. (More Longform stories.)