The 1972 Ford Carousel minivan conception car just scarcely lose a chance slip a musical rhythm on Chrysler and tap a large latent grocery store for family haulers .

Chrysler Corporation likes to boast that its 1984 Dodge Caravan / Plymouth Voyager pioneered the minivan construct , but that ’s only true of front - wheel - crusade invention . The substantial mastermind was Volkswagen , which had sell can - thrust minivans since the early fifties in the Beetle - based Type 2 Microbus ( through 1979 ) and the later Vanagon .

There was also Chevrolet , which had imitated VW for 1961 with a trio of truck gain from its thick Corvair , another air - cool back end - railway locomotive car . Besides a novel pickup truck yell Rampside , Chevy provide Corvan commercial and Greenbrier passenger vans remarkably exchangeable in size and shape to the Chrysler model of most a quarter - century later .

1927 Ford Carousel minivan concept car sketch

That same year , 1961 , Ford trotted out a group of Falcon - base compact trucks called Econoline : initially a pickup , commercial van , and windowed rider vanguard . All had conventional rear drive and box-shaped " hack - over - locomotive engine " bodywork like the VWs and Chevys , but hewed to orthodoxy with water supply - cooled six - piston chamber engines rise in front .

Simple and honest , Econoline sell well from the first , easily outpace the more trouble - prostrate Corvan / Greenbrier . It also outlasted them in the marketplace . Almost predictably , though , Econoline grew quite a bit larger when first redesign for 1968 .

Then again , the truck market itself was grow – and subdividing , just as automotive classes had done with compact , intermediates , and personal - luxury model . When buyers began clamoring for service program fomite in the image of the wartime Jeep , Ford obliged them with the Bronco for 1966 .

Meanwhile , custom van had become the craze with many younger multitude of the " hippie " stripe , and commercial user were demand bigger , hefty vans as well as cartridge . That adjust Ford to work on an even larger Econoline . Developed as project " Nantucket , " this third - contemporaries design was pretty much locked up by 1972 . innovation was slated for model - year 1975 .

But something else was underway , or so think one Lido Anthony Iacocca , the former super - salesman from Pennsylvania who had fast climbed the ladder at Ford Motor Company to become its Chief Executive in 1970 .

That presidency was partly his payoff for " fathering " the original Mustang ponycar and some New Dearborn winners . Of course , Iacocca was n’t solely responsible for the Mustang ’s huge succeeder , as he ( and others ) liked to claim , but he could discern emerging market trend .

Learn more about Iacocca ’s idea for a minivan by continuing to the next page .

For more on concept cars and the production models they forecast, check out:

Among Lee Iacocca ’s first tasks after he charter over as Ford chair in 1970 was   the 1972 Ford Carousel minivan concept car development political platform . With vans bigger than ever , in popularity as well as sizing , Iacocca lead off marvel whether there might be a grocery store for something smaller and less " trucky " – in other words , a more maneuverable " carlike " van .

appropriately priced , it could have great appeal to " vannies " and smaller menage for camping and other unpaid exercise , as well as a light - duty urban commercial message . For some emptor , this " minivan " might even be a spacious , more versatile alternative to the traditional place estate car .

Accordingly , Iacocca approved development of what came to be called the Carousel . Conceived as a more compact " garageable caravan , " it was be after around proportion that harken back to the first Econoline , plus , at first , an all - fresh drivetrain .

But cost worry before long prompt transfer the construct to essentially a cut - down version of the just - complete Nantucket , with most of its innards but dissimilar outer sheetmetal and more carlike amenities .

The revised approach offered benefits aside from reducing growing time and tooling costs , not to refer retail toll . Cutting down Nantucket ’s inner body and ladder - character frame promise a very firm , rigid platform ; the separate chassis , commingle with a heavy insulated floorpan and fatheaded cylindrical lining beneath driveline and body , promise a quiet vehicle without the unpleasant crude - route " drumming " that impair so many unit - structure car .

Of course , front - roulette wheel ride never fancy in the equating . At the clip , the conformation was not yet fashionable for Detroit cars , have alone trucks . Even today it ’s sometimes view as undesirable compared to back end - drive because it tend to confine tow power , an crucial thoughtfulness for many motortruck buyers . That benefit helps underpin the demand for summercater - public-service corporation vehicle ground on rearward - drive hand truck chassis .

see about the Carousel ’s styling on the next page .

Ford fashion designer Dick Nesbitt was chiefly responsible for 1972 Ford Carousel minivan concept car styling . Nesbitt was also a principal in shaping the 1974 Ford Mustang II .

Striving to stave off the " shoal omnibus aspect " typical of modern-day heavy new wave , he penned a glassy roofline not unlike that of Chevy ’s Hellenic mid-1950s Nomad wagon , with slanted bacillus - posts , fragile C - pillars , and three window per side : one for each front door and two behind . The hindmost panes curved slimly around the back to meet pocket-size D - posts , matched by enfold , tri - color perpendicular taillamps .

Ribbed appliqués in a blue charcoal colour adorned lower soundbox and tailgate to severally depleted and broaden show , though they would have been overleap on the woody - look " Squire " reading that Ford vender wanted . The tailgate itself was a dip - down wagon - style affair with recant window .

Some Carousel sketches furthered the Nomad tone with a slight cap - panel " step - down " behind the B - postal service ; etch with slight longitudinal lines , it was the natural spot for an optional luggage rack . Up - front musical theme involved variation on Ford ’s then - favor " tycoon dome " hood radical , with four round headlamp in freestanding square bezels astride big , mostly rectangular radiator grille .

Like Nantucket but not earliest Econolines , the Carousel had a definite , if stubby olfactory organ . This allowed the engine to sit farther onward , which spread up extra blank and minify noise inside .

Ford president Lee Iacocca , who spearheaded the Carousel effort , also wanted the jut out front sheetmetal as a " crumple zone " for absorbing energy in collision – a sales plus for the base hit - minded ( including , one presumes , the likes of Ralph Nader ) .

As was becoming de rigeur for vans , a sliding correct - rear threshold provided access to Carousel ’s rearward compartment , for which there was no shortage of mind . Nesbitt later on recalled that one of the more striking proposals was a U - shaped " lounge " formed by a back - confront bench behind the front cabin and an inward - front judiciary along each side wall . single " sea captain ’s chairman " seated equipment driver and front passenger .

After weeks of what Nesbitt trace as " phrenetic endeavor , " the Carousel was ready for management follow-up in November 1972 : a full - size clay with Squire - type side trim and conventional front - facing second and third terrace seats . Iacocca , production - planning wizard Hal Sperlich , and even chairperson Henry Ford II were all impressed enough to approve construction of a running metal - bodied image for yield engineering intention .

To find out why the Carousel never made it to showrooms , keep reading on the next pageboy .

After several years of developing , Ford planned to launch the Carousel minivan alongside the new 1975 Econoline full - size vanguard . But it did n’t happen , and the 1972 Ford Carousel minivan construct car aftermath is the hooey of legend .

When OPEC turned off America ’s oil tap in belated 1973 , gas supplies dwindled , prices soared , and people lined up to purchase lowly economy car , ostracise big vehicles as never before – cars and hand truck alike . With that , Ford settle the Carousel had no future , and abruptly canceled it .

What happened next is that Lee Iacocca , fired by Henry Ford II in 1978 from the position of United States President , took fellow executive Hal Sperlich along to delivery faltering Chrysler . He sealed its recovery by revivify the Carousel construct for the T115 Caravan / Voyager , thus bring out the huge minivan market that Chrysler still dominates today . Ironically , the T115 was much like what the Carousel would have been except for being based on a front - campaign rider car ( Chrysler ’s life - saving 1981 K - body compact ) .

In retrospect , then , Ford was inexpedient to confuse out its sister - avant-garde idea with the energy - crisis bathwater . Though RV sale remain sulky , the overall market was again healthy when the 1975 Econoline come out .

Considering how Chrysler later fared with minivan , it ’s probable Carousel would have been another sales megahit a la Mustang – and another big feather in Iacocca ’s fedora . While it probably would n’t have prevented his firing , it would have given Dearborn a big competitive sharpness in the light - truck field for the 2d DOE crisis that strike in 1979 .

And there ’s the superlative satire of all , for the Carousel promised to be far more fuel - efficient than any full - sizing van would be for a long meter to total . Though its probable powertrains stay unreadable , low-pitched free weight implied a courteous performance / thriftiness balance with a modest six , and better than passable performance with Ford ’s 302 - three-dimensional - inch small - block V-8 , which certainly would have fit .

But Dearborn overlook its prospect to define the modern minivan and has had to play snatch - up ever since – first with the trucky buttocks - drive Aerostar , then the Chrysler - like front - drive Ford Windstar . By 2006 , Ford was out of the minivan business altogether , and had shed its family unit - hauler set with " crossover " wagons such as the Taurus X and Flex .

If there ’s a moral to this chronicle , it is that a good idea remains a good theme no matter who takes advantage of it first .