Automotive categories are blurring all around.  Sports cars are sprouting four doors, diminutive hatchbacks can double as small delivery vans, and utility vehicles ferry people while still staying kind to their behinds.  There are also SUVs that carry more than five people, but the most comfortable vehicle for large-family travel is still the minivan.  A low floor, sliding doors and a cavernous interior space are its most valuable assets.  Most of the minivans sold here still haven’t learned the trick of multitasking (switching from people-carrier to cargo truck), so we expect them to at least excel at transporting the clan.

Looking like a shuttlecraft from the Starship Enterprise, the Previa landed in a crowded minivan market.  It easily carved up its own niche at the premium end of the price scale.  Some of that success is due to the “T” badge on its sharply-raked hood, but a lot of it comes from the Previa’s carefully thought-out features.

The wedge-shaped profile with feline eyes could have been borrowed from a certain French firm.  Fender bulges and sharp creases break up the large expanses to metal, to avoid the slab-sided look.  The tracks for the dual sliding doors are neatly hidden beneath the side glass.  The side windows are expansive and allow a good view from all seating positions.  The sliding-door windows even wind all the way down.

The interior keeps up the futuristic theme.  The gauges are center-mounted, with tach and speedometer brightly lit and marked in a Star Trek font; Mr. Data would feel right at home.  The shifter for the automatic sprouts from the dashboard, freeing up the floor console.  The rest of the controls are Toyota generic, from the fuel and temperature indicators to the control stalks.  The warning lights fill up two panels in front of the driver; it’s rather odd to see the turn signal indicators away from the gauge cluster.  A smattering of wood on the center console, steering wheel and door pulls breaks up the gray monotony.

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