crazy admer

If perception is reality, then what is the new Dodge Grand Caravan R/T minivan? Or, as Dodge President Ralph Gilles likes to call it, the “man van.”

Gilles hopes it’s the answer to a question that’s as old as the minivan itself: how are you going to get a man who’d rather be driving a sports car to drive a Grand Caravan and like it? According to Gilles, you do it by endowing it with the kind of styling and features that bespeak a manly lifestyle. A more aggressive silhouette. Custom wheels. Performance suspension. More horsepower.

Okay, maybe nobody’s likely to ask, ‘Is that the new Lamborghini?’ at stop lights. But as Gilles advises us, “I’ve taken it out on the road and I get a lot of thumbs up.”

And when’s the last time your Town & Country with the faux wood trim got that reaction? The R/T is scheduled to debut in showrooms next month but the vehicle’s success or failure won’t be measured by sales volume alone, he says. “We honestly don’t expect to sell a lot of them; basically it’s an experiment to see what it takes to ease a male driver from a sports car into a minivan.”

Nonetheless, it is an experiment born of necessity. In recent years growing numbers of drivers – male and female alike – have been snubbing minivans in favor of SUV’s. With U. S. sales of minivans falling from 1.37 million in 2000 to 460,154 in 2010 it’s likely every production carmaker will be watching to see if the new Dodge is a hit or a miss.

Of course, as Rebecca Lindland, chief automotive analyst with IHS Automotive of Lexington, Massachusetts, points out, what Dodge is doing is nothing new. “It’s what GM did with the Suburban; they took a mundane utility vehicle and transformed it into the Escalade, the very symbol of American glitz.”

Paradoxically where Cadillac’s chrome rims and lavish ornamentation screamed “Look at me”, the man van is intended to turn heads by the very absence of bright work. “We’ve removed all the chrome from the vehicle because the person who buys it doesn’t want it,” says Gilles.

Likewise, he says, while the exterior is available in eight different colors, the interior comes in one color and one color only – all black with red stitching – while the sport steering wheel and shift lever take on a more macho feel with red stitching over perforated leather. “It’s intended to scare off the run-of-the-mill minivan buyer,” says Gilles. “It’s all dark inside. Like having your own man cave.”

In this case, the cave is state of the art, with a sound system that boasts a manly 506 watts with nine speakers and a subwoofer.

While the R/T’s accoutrements hint at virile performance, its powerplant delivers nothing less. Its transversely mounted 3.6 litre produces 283 horsepower, an increase of 86 hp over the previous 3.8-liter pushrod V-6 and the best in its class. A new driver-selectable fuel-economy mode helps maximize engine efficiency. With the flip of a switch, the drive train management system changes the shift points on the 5-speed automatic transaxle to peak mileage. At the same time, its smaller displacement allows the new V-6 to deliver mileage comparable to the engine it replaces.

Specifications aside, the most significant thing about the R/T is the way it feels behind the wheel. “It’s fun to drive,” says Gilles. “For the young family that can afford just one vehicle, this softens the blow of having to drive a minivan.”

It is too soon to say whether the R/T will make mini vans fashionable or not but for Steve Boyce, general manager for sales at Freehold Dodge in Freehold, New Jersey, sees it as a tremendous improvement over its less charismatic predecessors. “I’ve been here at Freehold Dodge for 27 years and in that time we’ve had some embarrassing interiors. This is a big change. It’s fun to look at, fun to drive, and fun to ride in.”

Or, he says, paraphrasing the Rolling Stones, “The R/T might not be what you want but it just might be what you need.”

Auto analyst Lindland, too, sees the R/T as a step forward. “Would I drive the R/T? Sure, it’s an opportunity to have a little fun.”

But no matter how macho, she says, it’s still a minivan.

“As soon as I didn’t need it any more I’d get rid of it.”