GT5 Transcripts/Honda LIFE STEP VAN '72

More than 20 years before the minivan boom came to the world of lightweight K-cars, Honda seemed to have forseen its arrival. The proof is the Life Step van that appeared in 1972. This was a short-nosed van which utilized the Life K-car sedan, and was a new design strongly influenced by the functionality of American cargo vehicles.
It was basically a box. But it had a different kind of style in its use of purely horizontal and vertical lines that set it apart from other boxy vans.
And it drove like a passenger vehicle. The ride quality was nothing like a cargo vehicle, and with its high roof the passenger compartment was roomy. Gripping the van-like steering wheel and operating the long walking-stick-like shift lever, it gave you a different kind of joy when you drove it.
Stepping on the tiny stamp-sized accelerator, the horizontally front mounted 356 cc water-cooled SOHC engine revved smoothly, unlike a typical 2-cylinder engine.
Of course fans were delighted. They put their own ideas into the simple body, and the cars were loved very much. A cute pick-up truck version was also added later. However, during the high-growth period of Japan, making a commercial type vehicle for your personal vehicle did not catch on, and the Step van ends without recording significant sales. It was too early for its time.
The hit product that utilized this idea 20 years later was the Wagon R, but the name of that Step van was eventually carried over to the massively successful minivan, Step Wagon.
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