[T Mac]

Many of you have gotten slapped with five to 10 in a minivan.

Call me when you get out. Maybe we can do lunch and talk about getting you a real car.

Actually, I'm being way too hard on minivans – once viewed as trendy, even noble vehicles. I recently did several days in an '08 Chrysler Town & Country Touring, a perfectly likable $32,000 box that will efficiently and comfortably carry all sorts of people and their stuff.

And this all-new model is extremely important to Chrysler Corp. Though many of us motorheads get all lathered up over 600-horse Dodge Vipers and snarling Hemi-powered SRT-8 Chargers, the truth is that minivans were the corporation's top-selling vehicles last year. (Is that a little like discovering that your matronly middle-age neighbor works at the local topless club – as a dancer?)

Some people I respect greatly even maintain that minivans are the perfect vehicle, the purest expression of the old maxim "form follows function."

Maybe.

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