Buy/Drive/Burn: Alternative Japanese Minivans From 1997

by Corey Lewis

Published: March 6th, 2018

buy drive burn alternative japanese minivans from 1997

In the first van edition of Buy/Drive/Burn, we inquired which luxurious minivan from 1994 you’d relegate to each category. Using typical One Simple Trick methodology, I lured everyone in with a picture of the Previa (above). Then, when the Previa was not a choice in the transportation trio, you all doused me in Haterade.

Well, here you go. Import vans — including the Toyota Previa. Douse me in clicks!

All of our 1997 contestants today are considered alternative minivans. In ’90s guise, no member of this group ever made a huge dent in the oligarchy controlled by Ford, Chrysler, and GM. In 1997, each of these vehicles were near the end of their respective iterations, and each was about to achieve more success by losing some quirkiness and picking up more conventional qualities. Get ’em while you can. Note: All of these are two-wheel drive and automatic.

Mazda MPV

The first generation MPV had a very long lifespan, offered in North America between 1989 and 1999. Based on a Japanese luxury model called the Luce (you’d know it as a 929), the MPV featured rear-drive (real 4WD optional) and a smooth V6 engine in upper trims. The MPV had an optional bench seat for middle row passengers, meaning full eight-person seating was possible, rather than seven in other vans. Biggest disadvantage: No sliding doors. Originally a three-door, another door was added to the driver’s side in 1996. Entry and egress was still less than ideal for rear seat passengers.

Honda Odyssey

The Odyssey was (and is) Honda’s only foray into the minivan market in North America. Debuting in 1995, the Odyssey utilized the Accord’s platform and inline-four engines. Seating configuration was for either six or seven persons (2-3-2 or 2-2-2). ABS and dual airbags were standard, as was dual-zone climate control. Honda spent extra time engineering a third row seat which folded flat into the floor. Isuzu also had a turn selling the Odyssey, as the oft-forgotten Oasis. Biggest disadvantage: Seating for seven was only available in the lower trim LX. The EX came with the power equipment families wanted, but only six seats.

Toyota Previa

Noticing the scale of the minivan market in the United States, Toyota wanted a piece. The company brought its new JDM Previa minivan to market for model year 1991, taking the place of the boxy and rather dynamically challenged Van. The Previa stuck to the same formula as the Van, though: rear-drive (AWD optional) and engine in the middle, underneath the front seats. Starting in 1995, all models featured a supercharged 2.4-liter inline-four. 1997 was the last year for the Previa in the US market.

Toyota had been readying the Camry-platform Sienna to take over, which would prove much more suited to American tastes. Biggest disadvantage: The mid-engine layout did not allow room for a V6, and even supercharged engines only provided 158 horsepower for the heavy, expensive Previa.

So there you have it. Three Japanese vans, each with a flavor that wasn’t quite what the American market wanted. Which one depletes your bank account, and which one becomes a hot mess?

[Images: Toyota, IIHS, Honda]

#1990s #Buy/Drive/Burn #Honda #HondaOdyssey #Imports #Japan #Mazda #MazdaMPV #Minivans #NewsBlog #Toyota #UsedCars #Vans #ToyotaPrevia

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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5 of 44 comments

Gtem on Mar 07, 2018

Dang I'm traveling for work and missed this! I'll make sure to chime in this evening. I will pre-emptively take issue with you restricting to RWD only! Many folks living in snow-country, that availability made all the difference in a buying decision. MPVs particularly, I don't know the actual numbers but anecdotal evidence suggests the percent sold in the last few years ('96+ with 4 doors) that was optioned with AWD was very high indeed. Ditto the Previa.

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- Gtem on Mar 07, 2018
  
  I have a hard time condemning any of these to be burned quite frankly. I’ll also say up front I have no personal experience with the Previa, although I love 1990s Toyotas and have admired Previas from afar for their unique engineering and reputations for freakish longevity despite the unorthodox layout. I have limited seat time as a passenger in an Odyssey (grey market German “Shuttle” that my relatives in Moscow owned). And finally multiple decades of experience riding in and driving and wrenching on MK1 MPVs. My family has owned “bookends” of the Mk1s in terms of age and options: ‘89 RWD 4cyl auto (rare power train, most were v6s and 4cyl was dropped entirely after ‘91 iirc) and a ‘98 Allsport 4wd with the ES luxury package. A few comments on the MPVs: supremely easy to work on. The biggest constraint these days is definitely parts cost and availability given their rarity. Also, they are probably the most rust prone of the bunch (Honda next, Toyota is most resilient). The v6 is kind of a slug, especially when tasked with the 4000+ lb curb weight of the 96+ crash test improvements, extra door, and extra options. The ‘89 with a 4-banger honestly doesn’t feel slower in real world driving and hill climbing scenarios especially. The sweet spot is a pre'96 V6 van as far as performance is concerned. The '96+ refresh also brought a tighter feeling interior as well as some cost cutting of interior materials. Cargo room behind the third row is quite limited, then again the exterior dimensions of these things is surprisingly tidy, about a foot shorter than a modern midsize sedan. Our '89 is still in the family with 245k miles, with a lot of rust and a swapped over transmission as of last year (original made it to 243k before losing 2nd gear), as well as a reman head after my brother overheated it at about 180k miles. The '98 was sold at 170k last year, it was mechanically sound the whole time we owned it, just a few minor oil leaks (valve cover gaskets, dizzy plug), a rear A/C line that corroded in old age, and a few balljoints and some struts towards the end of its life. Oh and we swapped the rear air shocks from the factory units to lesser Monroe air-adjustables and the factory non-air shock steel springs, best of both worlds sort of. So on balance, I think I'd have to pick the Previa to drive, MPV to buy (undercoated liberally), and Odyssey to burn although I hold no ill will towards the Honda, my hand is simply forced.
  
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- Corey Lewis on Mar 08, 2018
  
  I had a hard time finding a photo of an MPV that was 96+ (so rear door there) that was not an AllSport. That's why I had to use the IIHS photo there.
  
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- Rolando on Mar 11, 2018
  
  I think the ones that have survived were the AWD models, because they are so damn useful in the snow and Moutain West. I've seen vids of both of them jacked up with big wheels like a jeep and rock crawling, mudding and snowing.
  
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Rolando on Mar 11, 2018

IS the Mazda a Minivan? RWD/AWD, no sliding doors... Is that an SUV/CUV?

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