For practically inventing the minivan, none can surpass the Chrysler Town & Country. Changing times, however, demand changing vehicles, and so it is that Chrysler has retired the venerable old minivan and already introduced its successor: the Chrysler Pacifica.
If that name sounds familiar that’s because it was a Chrysler SUV during the mid-2000s. The Pacifica was a full, roundish looking SUV very much in the vein of the previous 200 sedan.
But few people know that before it was an SUV, the Pacifica was a minivan, or at least a vision of one.
Chrysler’s tried to make a Pacifica minivan almost 20 years ago
In 1999, the Chrysler minivan (originally the Dodge Caravan) was 15 years old and Chrysler was looking to replace it. So they created a luxury minivan with new styling and features—a concept vehicle, really—and called it the Pacifica.
The only problem is that the market wanted SUVs, thus making the investment in a new minivan unwise. So they built a new SUV instead and called it the Pacifica.
Now in 2016, things have come full circle as the market still has room for a minivan and Chrysler already has plenty of SUVs. Thus the send-off for the Town & Country and the welcome for the Pacifica minivan, 17 years later than intended, but here nonetheless.
What’s new with the Pacifica?
The Pacifica’s best feature is its hybrid engine. It is, in fact, the world’s first ever hybrid minivan. Thanks to advances in battery technology, the new Pacifica can get 80 miles per gallon in city driving. Not 18. Not 8. Eighty, as in eight-zero.
That’s huge. It’s almost four times more efficient than a traditional minivan. Can you imagine your vehicle lasting four times as long on a single tank of gas? You might only have to fill up once a month.
The Pacifica also has Chrysler’s 3.6-liter V6 engine, so you’ll have plenty of power. The beauty of electric propulsion, however, will make that engine squeeze way more out of a gallon of gas.
When will it be available?
Mid-summer. Pricing is unknown at this point, but we’ll let you know as soon as we can. Come by any Leith Chrysler store in Raleigh, Cary, Wendell, or Aberdeen for more information.