People are buying used and new crossovers with enthusiasm, perhaps anxious to tackle muddy roads without experiencing the (endearing) bone-rattling of a Jeep chassis. And though the 21st century may be able to claim credit for the upswing in crossover interest, the roots of that cute Bronco down the street are longer and more tangled than you may think.

Let’s talk about the '90s-era Mazda MPV, one under-the-radar originator of the crossover dynasty.

Mazda MPV: In its own category

The Mazda MPV was born in Japan in 1988 and quickly made its way to American shores. The MPV was tall, with three rows of seats, two sets of doors that swung wide open, and a spacious interior.

Default was rear-wheel drive, but four-wheel was offered, as was five-speed manual transmission, says

Driving Line

. Perhaps if you had to give a name to this collection of features it would seem obvious: this is an SUV.

Here’s the twist. Mazda called this a minivan. Perhaps they were hoping to ride the coattails of the wildly successful Dodge Caravan, which had just emerged a few years earlier and set off a minivan revolution, reports

Business Insider

Or maybe they just didn’t want to stress out any potential new customers with as-yet unheard nomenclature—“crossover” wasn’t really used until the Toyota RAV4 threw it around later in the ‘90s. Either way, the Mazda MPV was hard to pin down, and like all Cassandras, doomed to be right about the future in an ignorant present.

What made it a crossover and not a minivan?

Traditional minivans have sliding doors and front-wheel drive, and these features are no accident. If you want to cart around a family, it’s a lot easier to throw kids and stuff in the back with a wider portal to the backseat.

Plus, with front-wheel drive you’ll generally achieve better traction and fuel economy than you would with a rear-wheel drive, says

Autotrader

. But you won’t be able to go very fast or do any precision donuts in a swamp.

The Mazda MPV “minivan” turned these features upside-down, and this is where we can start to talk about its crossover status. U.S. News distinguishes between the traditional SUV and the crossover SUV: the former is built on a truck platform and the latter is built on a car platform.

To vastly oversimplify, truck platform usually means prioritizing function over form; car platform usually means prioritizing comfort over function. The enticement of a crossover is the promise of having it all. Head out on that outdoor adventure and enjoy a smooth ride.

So Mazda’s offering from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s was exactly in step with the crossovers of today. This alleged minivan sported rear wheel drive, skipped the sliding doors, and its squared-off shape even made it look like a 4x4, points out

CNET

. The Mazda MPV walked so the 2022 Mazda CX-30, a fan-favorite crossover, could run.

MORE: Comparing the 2022 Kia Niro EV Crossover and the 2022 Hyundai Kona SUV, Is There a Winner?

Crossover legacy

The next generation of the MPV, which debuted in 1999, inexplicably erased all that was funky and interesting about this minivan. After the switch to front wheel drive and sliding doors, says

Driving Line

, it only lasted till 2006 in the U.S. Luckily, its legacy endures, as crossover SUVs continue to inspire legions of drivers, and minivans too get stronger and more capable.

All we ask—if you still own an MPV, please don’t insult its potential by only taking it to the grocery store and back. Show those Broncos how it’s done.

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