It warms my heart to hear so many people advocating for vans! I have known for years that most of the people that buy SUV's that never leave the pavement would be far better off with a van instead. Vans can be cheaper to buy, less expensive to insure, are easier and more comfortable to drive, have better access with electric sliding doors and lift gate, get better mileage, have more interior space and are easy to sleep in. They have been severely bad mouthed by the fragile ego set as being MommyMobiles but are far more practical vehicles than any other type of vehicle on the road.
Up here on the frozen tundra there is a surprising number of them and most are 2WD. With good winter tires they are remarkably capable on our snow covered roads, vastly more competent than any 2WD rear wheel drive model. I think people forget that for the first 100 years of motoring in the US there was little 4WD, vehicles and tires were relatively crude, roads were worse and still people got around in winter. Nowadays the perception seems to be that 4WD is needed just to drive on a dirt road!
I have wanted to see a factory "ManVan" for years, a model without those vestigial 3rd row seats and a storage locker instead, a full flat floor, beefed up suspension with a 2" lift kit, AWD and some decent all terrain tires. Such a vehicle hasn't been built of course because it would impinge upon sales of the cash cow SUV's and because the aforementioned fragile ego types would view it as not macho enough. But what a great vehicle it would be! Room on top for solar panels, a pontoon boat or storage module and enough room inside for strung up fly rods plus better mileage than a pickup or SUV. Lately I am seeing a lot of minivans on YouTube being converted into van life use. Perhaps some manufacturer will take note and develop some version of the ManVan, it would require relatively little development cost having an already competent chassis to work with.
