Editing Minivan (section)

== Predecessors ==
Before the adoption of the ''minivan'' term, there is a long history of one-box passenger vehicles roughly approximating the body style,<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = GM's X-Cars: Anatomy of a Miserable Failure
 |publisher    = Motor Trend
 |author       = Benjamin Hunting
 |date         = January 21, 2021
 |url          = https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-one-box-to-rule-them-all-an-archeology-of-the-minivan/}}</ref> with the 1936 [[Stout Scarab]] often cited as the first minivan.<ref>{{cite news|title=A Visionary's Minivan Arrived Decades Too Soon |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Phil |last=Patton |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/automobiles/collectibles/06SCARAB.html |date=6 January 2008 |access-date=6 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cars of Futures Past – Stout Scarab |url= https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2013/07/11/cars-of-futures-past-stout-scarab |first=Kurt |last=Ernst |date=11 July 2013 |work=Hemmings |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Revisiting Classics: The Stout Scarab |url=https://drivezing.com/revisiting-classics-the-stout-scarab/ |website=drivezing.com |access-date=30 March 2019 |date=23 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Stout Scarab is the World's First Minivan, and the First Car with a Mustache |url= https://www.tflcar.com/2018/05/strange-car-saturday-stout-scarab/ |website=tflcar.com |access-date=30 March 2019 |date=19 May 2018}}</ref> The passenger seats in the Scarab were moveable and could be configured for the passengers to sit around a table in the rear of the cabin. Passengers entered and exited the Scarab via a centrally-mounted door.

The [[DKW Schnellaster]]—manufactured from 1949 until 1962—featured [[front-wheel drive]], a [[transverse engine]], a flat floor, and multi-configurable seating, all of which would later become characteristics of minivans.<ref>{{cite web|title= The Mother Of All Modern Minivans: 1949 DKW Schnellaster |publisher=The Truth About Cars |first=Paul |last=Niedermeyer |date=29 March 2010 |url= https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/03/the-mother-of-all-modern-minivans-1949-dkw-schnellaster/ |access-date=2 December 2020 }}</ref>

In 1950, the [[Volkswagen Type 2]] adapted a bus-shaped body to the chassis of a small passenger car (the Volkswagen Beetle). When Volkswagen introduced a sliding side door to the Type 2 in 1968, it then had the prominent features that would later come to define a minivan: compact length, three rows of forward-facing seats, station wagon-style top-hinged tailgate/liftgate, sliding side door, passenger car base.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Kindy |first1=David |title=How the Volkswagen Bus Became a Symbol of Counterculture |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |date=6 March 2020 |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-volkswagen-bus-became-symbol-counterculture-180974354/ |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref>

The 1956–1969 [[Fiat 600#Multipla|Fiat Multipla]] also had many features in common with modern minivans. The Multipla was based on the chassis of the [[Fiat 600]] and had a [[Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout|rear engine]] and [[cab forward]] layout.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mattews |first1=Nigel |title=Fiat invented minivan concept with the Multipla |url= https://driving.ca/fiat/auto-news/news/fiat-not-chrysler-invented-minivan-concept |publisher=Driving Canada |date=26 November 2014 |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref>

The early 1960s saw Ford and Chevrolet introduce "compact" vans for the North American market, the [[Ford econoline|Econoline Club Wagon]] and [[Chevrolet Greenbrier|Greenbrier]] respectively. The Ford version was marketed in the [[Ford Falcon (North America)|Falcon]] series, the Chevrolet in the [[Chevrolet Corvair|Corvair]] 95 series. The Econoline grew larger in the 1970s, while the Greenbrier was joined by (and later replaced by) the [[Chevy Sportvan|Chevy Van]].

<gallery widths="200" heights="145">
File:Stout Scarab.JPG|[[Stout Scarab]] <br/>(1936–1942)
File:Dkw-schnellaster-bus.jpg|[[DKW Schnellaster]] <br/>(1949–1962)
File:1966 Volkswagen Type 2 T1 Deluxe Microbus (21905686831).jpg|[[Volkswagen Type 2]] <br/>(1950–1967)
File:Fiat 600D Multipla (1965) , Dutch licence registration DM-71-06 pic1.JPG|[[Fiat 600#Fiat 600 Multipla|Fiat 600 Multipla]] <br/>(1956–1969)
</gallery>
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