Talk:Van

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[edit] CARavan = origin of the word 'car'?

Article says: "The word van is a shortened version of the word caravan which originally meant a covered vehicle." Very interesting.

So now I'm wondering whether the other end of the word became 'car' for automobile. Does anyone have a great grandmother born around 1902 to ask? -- Parsiferon 00:58, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
Car comes from carriage. Graemec2 10:39, 16 October 2006 (UTC)


[edit] More than 4 wheels?

Are we quite sure there's nothing that would be called a van that might have six wheels?? --JohnOwens 11:36 Oct 11, 2002 (UTC)

Who's counting? The page says 'generally' because I am sure there are also 3 wheeled ones as well as 6 wheeled :-) —the preceding unsigned comment is by Gingerpig2000 (talk • contribs)
there were definately 3 wheeled vans (see pic). Not sure about a 6 wheeler. It partly depends on when you think van ends and truck/lorry begins. Plugwash 02:31, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)


[edit] Australia

Removed the bit about australia, simply isnt true.

I have added a new section on Australia. The above isn't signed or dated, and I couldn't see anything about Australia in the revision history, so I don't know what was deleted. --Bass hound 08:32, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History of Requested move

Van (road vehicle) → Van – Since Van almost always means the vehicle, and what 99% of the ambiguous uses of Van on Wikipedia are talking about (see Van (disambiguation):What links here) , then it should be the main article. This has been discussed briefly on Talk:Van (disambiguation). Currenlty, Van redirects to Van (disambiguation) which is bad convention, and Van (vehicle) points to Van (road vehicle), and "(road vehicle)" is bad convention, too.

I will be more than happy to fix the links from "Van (road vehicle)" to "Van" with a box or popup-assisted thingy. I'll then put in a request to delete "(vehicle)" and "(road vehicle)" articles. —Camaro96 06:22, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Voting

Add *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''' followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your vote with ~~~~
  • Support Common Usage. --Philip Baird Shearer 11:15, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Oppose — see below. --Gareth Hughes 18:16, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Support Much more common than any other use. DaGizza Chat (c) 23:53, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

[edit] Result

Moved. WhiteNight T | @ | C 01:59, 30 December 2005 (UTC)


[edit] United Kingdom

The article doesn't make it clear that the word van here in the UK never refers to a passenger vehicle such as a people-carrier. It says we generally refer to minivans as people-carriers or MPVs, but it doesn't say we wouldn't call them vans. We would also never call a minibus a van.

Even if a few people have picked up on the American usage, I think it would be fair to at least say 'In British English, the term van isn't usually applied to passenger vehicles, rather it is restricted to vehicles that carry goods.'--Jcvamp 19:40, 14 July 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Image Request: Vans in the U.S.A.

I don't see any pictures of full size U.S. or even midsize vans. A van in the U.S. usually doesn't have a seperate cab and cargo area and the engine compartment is inside the cabin area requiring a "doghouse" to cover it.

I might be able to provide this information.... --Ahanix1989


[edit] Minivan vs. Conversion Van Options?

The current article states: "By comparison with full sized vans, they get good gas mileage, do not require overheight parking, have comfortable flexible seating accommodations such as folding middle or 3rd row seats, lowering windows on passenger doors on left and right side, power hatch, and video screen options."

However, folding seats and video screen options are increasingly common in full sized conversion vans (We can safely say for the conversion vans, because the paragraph is referring to passenger vehicles, not cargo). While it is true that many minivans have those little 7" LCD screens... my family owns two conversion vans; one with a 13" CRT tv, and one with a 15" lcd, and both have folding rear seats


[edit] Vehicle height info should include VAN heights

I have moved the following from the prior 'Criticism' section because it doesn't actually say anything about, uh, Vans. If someone can provide average van heights and verify the other vehicle info then it could be useful to merge this back into 'Alternatives' (which now has the text about wind resistance due to vehicle height). --Parsiferon 00:51, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Average heights are for:

  • Minivans 70.2 in
  • Family sedans 57.3 in
  • SUVs 70.7 in

[edit] English

In British English, this now has a similar meaning to the U.S. terms travel trailer or recreational vehicle (RV).

I'd like to see a source for this. - FrancisTyers · 08:41, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 'Morris Minor Van'-picture incorrect

The 'Morris Minor van'-picture accompanying this article actually shows a Morris half-ton van series MCV. The latter was similar in style to the former, but larger in dimensions. A quick look at details, such as the position of the fuel filler cap, the shape of the back wheel-arch, the bonnet shut-lines and the shape of the radiator-grill give the van's identity away, without having to determine it's size. The van in this picture was based on a car called 'Morris Oxford' and could alternatively be called 'Morris Cowley'. I took the liberty of renaming the picture and decided to allow myself to use the more popular 'Morris Oxford van'-moniker. There is a 'Morris Oxford'-article on Wikipedia and the picture now automatically links to that page, although the picture itself is still named 'Morris Minor van' (I don't log-on). The same picture is to be found accompanying that article, by the way.

[edit] The vans by manufacturer list

I think it is a long enough list to be in its own article and should be removed from here and a link to its own article added. What do you think?

[edit] Alternatives

The "alternatives" section is blatant OR and speculation "well, you COULD do this…". I am inclined to remove it unless there is a good reason to keep it. --Sable232 18:14, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

I'd say remove it... for one thing, just how 'lately' is the CNG/E85 option available? I know my '96 had a CNG option... and this section seems to say "Well, you could get a van... or you could by a Toyota Prious. Or a Safari. Or, you could buy a Grand Am, and steal a U-Haul trailer" Ahanix1989 16:40, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
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