Fiat Multipla
“Multipla” is an old name for Fiat. The company made a delightful microvan by that name based on the Fiat 600 in the 50’s and 60’s. Released in 1998, Multipla was anything but delightful. With its odd high-beam lenses at the bottom of the A-pillars (base of the windshield), the Multipla looked like it had multiple pairs of eyes, like an irradiated tadpole. It had those weird trunks up front and a bulky glass cabin in the back, and the whole thing was on midget wheels.
Fiat Multipla
Ford Excursion
GM had their H2. Ford had the Excursion, a Mount Rushmore-sized SUV based on the company’s Super Duty truck platform. The Excursion, dubbed the Ford “Valdez” by the Sierra Club, was a bulky passenger car. It weighed 7,000 pounds (3.18 t), was nearly 20 feet long and about 7 feet tall. At the time, Ford was arguing that many of its customers — ranchers, farmers, ahem, tow truck enthusiasts — needed a vehicle this large, at over 10,000 pounds (4.54 t). towing capacity. Maybe that was true, but that didn’t stop Suzy Homemakers from driving her to the mall.
Ford Excursion