You would think that Lee Iacocca would’ve just snorted in a huff and moved on. In 1990, Chrysler had not only flipped death the bird, but had come back stronger than ever thanks to an idea that had been shot down during his Ford tenure. The K-car based Chrysler minivans had been not only a success, not only a genre-defining vehicle (Iacocca’s second home run, after the pony car market) but had out-and-out routed the competition. Everybody else was left with their pants down while Caravans, Voyagers and Town & Country vans sold like Girl Scout cookies in front of a Planet Fitness. Why would Iacocca be scared of a Toyota van, especially one that looked like nothing else on the market and was underpowered compared to the Mopar people movers?
Iacocca was making some strange moves about 1990. He inflated the Chrysler New Yorker into the Imperial, was foaming at the mouth to get the ZJ Grand Cherokee going, and was still not giving half a crap about anything with a V8 or rear-wheel-drive. But his venom was saved for anything that dared take a swipe at his beloved minivans. He would accuse Toyota of dumping Previas onto the market. He would make cracks that the engine should arrive first to the scene of the accident, not the person sitting on top of it. He was so cocky, in fact, that during an April, 1990 media show in Chicago, he swore that he was ready to offer a price-leader minivan that had a V6, automatic transmission, and air conditioning for $13,000…leaving then-President Bob Lutz and Executive VP and CEO Steve Miller jaw-dropped.
What was he so threatened by? The first two generations of Ford Taurus were referred to as “flying potatoes”, but the Previa deserves the name so much more…painted dark brown, all that’s missing is a pat of butter, a dollop of sour cream and chives. The powertrain was a four-banger laid on it’s side that could barely oomph it’s way up a hill, and only becoming adequately powered once a supercharger was fitted. At least it didn’t look like one of GM’s “dustbuster” plastic vans.
You couldn’t get away from Chrysler minivans, but quite a few Previas were around back in the day…maybe Lee saw something we didn’t?
