I enjoyed the recent story on the Dodge
Van racing in Japan. But I have a question:
I know these vans were accused
of being ill-handling, and many 15-passenger
church vans, etc., rolled over and
killed lots of people. How did they ever
make them handle?
Actually, the full-frame Shivvy and Phord
vans handled a lot worse—the Uniframe
construction kept the Dodge B-van’s center
of gravity significantly lower than the
Brand F and C vans. The cargo versions
actually handled quite well, with zero bad
handling habits. True, when you raise the
C/G by placing 15 people high off the
floor on bench seats, they did get a bit
tippy. You’ll note that our Asian friends
keep the interior free of added high placed
weight.
