> 
> Several years ago when I visited the UK , Toyota or Nissan was marketing 
> a van called the ACE which never made it to the US shores. It looked very 
> much like the boxy Vanagon. When I visited Japan I also saw similar type 
> vehicles.
> During that time the only family type vans  available in the US was the VW 
> Bus. The GM Ford and Chrysler products were more of a tradesvan rather 
> than for family use and lacked the interior refinements unless 
> customized by a third party . When Toyota brought in their first Minivan, 
> I said to myself, the Japanese must have made a deal with the US Auto Mfr or
> their Unions by only bringing in those minivans when they they could have 
> brought in those Vanagon size vehicles with enough interior and exterior 
> refinements. It would certainly have captured a big slice of the 
> family van market before Chrysler introduced the Minivan. If any one can 
> share their information or knowledge on this topic, it will be interesting
> to find out what really happened.   
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