THE CHRYSLER MINIVAN

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It was first known inside corporate walls as the T-115. It also was called the "magic wagon."   Today it is simply known as a success.

The Chrysler minivan was everything the full-sized van and family station wagon weren't. It was roomy yet comfortable.  Sizeable but "garageable." Attractive and functional in a way that erased the boring icon of suburbia: the station wagon. And it offered good gas mileage to drivers frightened by the oil embargo and energy crisis of the 1970s.

The minivan not only breathed new life into comfortable and affordable family transportation, it revived and strengthened Chrysler as it rebounded from its financial difficulties of the '70s.

In the late 1970s, Chrysler dominated the van market, accounting for 45 percent of the full-size segment with its Dodge Ram Van sales. But planners wanted a more car-like vehicle that would attract a wider market: one that could accommodate passengers rather than cargo. Planning began in 1977 and was given the green light in 1980.

Auto critics were effusive in their praise of the Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan. Within a year of the minivan's debut, the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association reported it was being used mainly for local transportation and driven largely by women. By 1988, minivans - by now, Toyota, General Motors and Ford were in the market - accounted for the highest average miles traveled by a vehicle type; the minivan accounted for the smallest segment of registered vehicles, but it was racking up more miles than anything else on the road.

Today, Chrysler controls 45 percent of the minivan market in North America, selling 500,000 minivans annually. Worldwide, Chrysler minivan sales register 700,000. Fifteen years after inventing the minivan, Chrysler has sold more than 7 million of the vehicles -- that's a minivan for every man, woman and child in New York City.