I’m costuming 42 kids for the high-school play and I loaded it up one afternoon with tons of gowns and tall medieval hats, and still had room to give a bunch of kids a ride home. My enduring memory of the Safari is that it’s a great work vehicle. She: The Safari is a taller van than many of its competitors, and it seems to have a higher center of gravity and more body roll because of that. You could almost forget this is a minivan – if you could only find a place to rest your foot. I really love the 4.3-liter V-6, though, which makes 190 horsepower and leaps to life when you tromp on the pedal. Our vehicle was rated at 15 miles per gallon in city driving and 19 on the highway, but we managed to average just over 14. He: Although it was really assuring to have that all-wheel-drive system during some recent nasty weather, it tends to be a bit noisy, especially at higher speeds on dry pavement. There are under-seat heat ducts for rear passengers, a new feature on the ’96 model, and there’s a super radio option that allows the driver to have peace and quiet while the center passengers tap into the system through headphone jacks in the left-hand armrest. It’s even possible to access it while you’re towing a boat or an RV. The optional Dutch-door tailgate is sweet. I liked the fully automatic all-wheel-drive system because you never have to think about switching it on or off. And that makes it tough to appreciate some of the really nice things about the Safari. ![]() This becomes a major pain in the, well, leg after about 20 miles. For the driver, there’s simply no place to put your left foot except on top of the wheel well. Trouble is they never corrected the single most annoying flaw in these vans, and that’s foot room. At least GM saw fit to redo the interiors for ’96 and install dual air bags. They don’t even offer an optional fourth door. Good thing I couldn’t remember the words to that song before we met, huh, dear? Speaking of time warps, the Safari and its twin, the Chevrolet Astro, haven’t had a total makeover since they were first introduced 11 years ago. Yeah, it looks like it’s stuck in a time warp, but so what? It can tow 5,000 pounds, compared with about 3,000 for most of the front-wheel-drive vans. If you can get all-wheel-drive in something as practical and useful as a van, why bother with a sport-ute? The Safari AWD also leaves most front-wheel-drive minivans in the dust. This isn’t about beauty, it’s about utility. Remember the song that went, “If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife?” It’s the same story with the Safari. And it’s just like a man to be totally clueless on that score. The Safari certainly has its virtues, especially with the all-wheel-drive system and the big V-6 engine, but beauty is not one of them. It sure looks like a throwback to the Fifties, with that blunt nose and slab sides. He: I keep waiting for GMC to paint Elsie the Cow on the side of the Safari. Hey, you’re exactly the person GMC had in mind when they made the 1996 Safari all-wheel-drive van. ![]() And you’re one of the few people not pining away to keep up with the pack and purchase a sport-ute, even though you’ve got a big family and a big boat to worry about. Your refrigerator is avocado and your carpeting is shag. You never made the switch from eight-track tapes to CDs.
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