The Weirdest, Wildest and Worst Vans and Minivans

William Stout stands out as a dynamic automotive designer and inventor of the early 20th Century. He helped conceived the design for the Ford Tri-Motor airplane and applied his knowledge to a minivan precursor, the Stout Scarab. The spacious interior features a completely flat floor with balsa wood paneled sidewalls. A flathead Ford V-8 powers the rear wheels. The body is lightweight aluminum.

Hippies, this is the forerunner of your beloved Volkswagen Microbus. This model is the Type 2 T1, also called the Transporter. It appeared in 1949. Volkswagen built just a few of these prototypes until limited Microbus production began in 1951. Volkswagen produced the Microbus T1 through 1967 in many different configurations including campers, pickups, panel vans, and the high-line Deluxe.

Based on mechanicals from the compact Ford Falcon car, the Econoline E100 van is a body style classified as a forward-control or cab-forward. The Ford is a front-engine/rear-wheel-drive design powered by a small six-cylinder engine. Its compact dimensions made it a great urban delivery vehicle, but the appeal of full-size vans pushed the compact E100 out of production after 1967.

General Motors entered the minivan segment in 1990 with what would become a trio of models including the Pontiac Transport. The models never attained the popularity of the Chryslers, mostly because of the "Dust Buster vacuum" styling. While they looked odd, they were innovative and featured rust- and dent-proof polymer body panels. GM ceased production of minivans in 2008.

Ford's first minivan was the Aerostar, but the manufacturer steered away from Chrysler's front-wheel-drive design in favor of a truck-based chassis with rear-wheel drive. The Aerostar boasted high towing and payload capacities, but minivan buyers wanted what Ford's second minivan (the Windstar) offered; low step-in height to lots of interior room with plenty of upholders.

Most people who believe in Toyota's sterling reputation conveniently forget that the company's first attempt at a minivan for the U.S. market was a failure. Designed for the Japanese domestic market, their spaceship-like Previa (produced from 1991-97) featured a mid-engine design. American drivers didn't like the odd proportions or the large engine compartment in the center of the cabin.

No, Volkswagen is not building Cadillacs, but they do build the Caddy, a compact delivery van that's widely used across Europe. This one-off racing edition uses a 2.0-liter diesel that is turbocharged to produce 260 horsepower and 377 lb.ft. of torque. Like the current VW Jetta, the Caddy uses clean-diesel technology that includes direct fuel injection.