Chrysler's minivan might have struck with more ferocity in 1984, but Volkswagen got the wheels rolling decades earlier and for different reasons.

With a minimum of horsepower, but a maximum of fun, reliability and adventure on a shoestring budget, Volkswagen's boxy vans carted people to and from school, transported families on cross-country vacations and became the focal point for a generation of disaffected 1960s-era youth who shunned mainstream automobiles in favor of these rolling political and cultural icons.

As with the Beetle that spawned it, the VW bus appealed to frugal North American buyers who appreciated their solid construction and prized their superior fuel economy despite the fact that a gallon of gas was about the cheapest commodity around.

In Minden, Germany, Volkswagen's homeland, the rationale behind the van was a different story. The idea of creating a cargo-based carrier from existing Beetle running gear originated in 1947 with Ben Pon, a Dutch businessman and hopeful VW importer.

He saw the need for an inexpensive commercial vehicle and showed a rough sketch to the British authorities who, following the end of the Second World War, were in charge of VW manufacturing. Pon was inspired by the Plattenwagen, a very basic flat-deck VW truck that was used to shuttle parts to different factory work stations. He saw it as the perfect truck to help Germany, Holland and the rest of the war-ravaged European nations get back on their feet as all manner of commercial transportation was in great demand.

By 1948, full-scale development of Pon's concept, originally dubbed the Type 29, was well under way and the first completed prototype, officially called the Transporter, was shown to the press at the 1949 Geneva (Switzerland) Motor Show. The 25-horsepower air-cooled horizontally-opposed four-cylinder engine and non-synchro four-speed manual gearbox came straight from the sedan, but the brakes and steering were upgraded and the unitized (frameless) shell was considerably beefed-up to handle a maximum 1,650 pounds of cargo.

Unfortunately, the driver's seat, positioned directly above the front wheels, was not only cramped, but offered near-zero protection in the event of a front-end collision. Mounting the spare tire on the outside, below the windshiedl, became a popular safety-inspired modification, even if it only presented the illusion of safety.

The Transporter was bare-bones basic (for example, only the driver's side of the split window was equipped with a wiper), but its king-size space behind the front seats was perfect for a wide variety of commercial duties and carrying needs.

By the mid-1950s, more than 100,000 delivery vans had rolled off the factory floor. Most were in Europe functioning as emergency vehicles, refrigerated food carriers, bread vans and other service vehicles. The pickup version, launched in 1952, featured hinged sides that turned the traditional box into a flat-bed for carrying wide items. As well, a double-cab introduced in 1958 became one of the first four-door pickups on the market, predating North American Crew Cabs by several years.

VW's planners began experimenting with passenger-bus versions for the family market, including the Kombi, essentially a commercial van with added side windows and a bench seat bolted behind the front buckets.

A wide varietyof van types were sold in relatively small numbers on our shores, but buses, both regular and dual-purpose camper models, became increasingly popular. By far the most attractive was the 21-window Micro-bus DeLuxe, complete with two-tone paint, canvas sun roof and eight tiny windows positioned above the side glass that made it look like a miniature Greyhound Scenicruiser.

By the early 1960s, more than one million Transporters were built and engine output, the achilles heel of all VWs at the time, eventually reached a whopping 44 horsepower.

By 1967, the last of the Volkswagen 'splitties' (for split-windshield), as the original vans were nicknamed, were replaced by models that were bigger, safer, more powerful, even if they lacked the charm and style of the originals. However, they were priced right and sold in plentiful numbers until their replacements arrived 12 years later.

Fast forward to 1984 when then-Chrysler boss Lee Iacocca took credit for inventing the minivan when he introduced the Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan. Today it seems remiss not to acknolwedge the contribution of Volkswagen's efforts to bring affordable work-and-play vehicles to the masses.