2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year Finalists

Dodge Grand Caravan: The Minivan Empire Strikes back

It isn't easy being a domestic minivan these days. So far, the big squeeze from the Asian competition and a shrinking minivan market segment has given two of Detroit's minivan makers the Big Sleep. Ford's Freestar is dead and buried, and GM has conveniently reincarnated its various lament-resistant minivans into "crossovers."

Chrysler's perseverance amid all this white-flag-raising is fairly striking then. Maybe having originated the minivan segment (at least in its U.S. sense) stiffens your backbone in these situations.

Dodge's Grand Caravan (and counterpart, Chrysler Town & Country) isn't only nearly two inches longer, but its flank's tumblehome is darn near shipping-container vertical. Its shape has an almost commercial-duty air: Bob's Plumbing seems to ghostly appear on its side and then fades away. Adding to its practicality, it rolls only on a long wheelbase now. Good for ladders.

Inside, however, the cabin is exactly the opposite of what the exterior advertises-it's like walking into a high-tech gym set up inside a featureless warehouse. While the dash's design is jarring (and its plastics are downright eye-rolling) when optioned to the hilt as was our test vehicle, the interior can be a sight to behold. For instance, there are multiple DVD screens that can play different programs simultaneously-even kid entertainment from Sirius Backseat TV. Also available is Swivel-n-Go seating, which lets the second-row chairs face the third row over an erectable table.

There are three V-6 engines available. At the bottom of the totem pole is a feeble but flex-fuel 175-horse, 3.3-liter coupled to a gear-sparse four-speed automatic. Above that are a recycled 197-horse, 3.8-liter and a new 251-horse, 4.0-liter, both of which spool into a minivan-first six-speed automatic.

The 4.0-liter gives a strong punch in the back, but the van's vacuous, phantom-limb steering feel short circuits any driver rewards behind the wheel.

-Kim Reynolds

What they did right: Carryover Stow-n-Go seating is a packaging and functional wonder.

Room for improvement: Much of the interior plastics seem made from reground toothbrush handles.

Bet you didn't know: Since the Caravan's introduction in 1983, Dodge has cranked out 5,416,527 of them (as of October 1, 2007), making it the most successful minivan in history.