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"Q: When is a minivan not a minivan?   A: When it&amp;#039;s a Ford Transit Connect Wagon.   Don&amp;#039;t Call It a Minivan   That&amp;#039;s the official party line Ford put out at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. The presenter will use the term &amp;quot;people mover&amp;quot; freely. &amp;quot;Minivan&amp;quot; will not be heard.   Ford&amp;#039;s semantic tap-dancing isn&amp;#039;t too surprising. For all their usefulness, minivans are the automotive equivalent of orthopedic shoes, and Ford has been out of the game since 2006, when Freestar production ground to a halt.        2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon    Nevertheless, this new Ford people mover has some decidedly minivan elements. A sliding rear side door, or doors (the driver-side rear slider is optional). Low step-in. Big hatch at the back, with a low liftover (side-hinged doors will be offered as an option).   A variation on Ford&amp;#039;s Transit Connect van, which has seen fair success as a small urban commercial hauler (and includes a passenger version), the Transit Wagon is family goods, with an option inventory that includes the usual back seat peacekeeping goodies.   Based on the front-drive architecture that supports Ford&amp;#039;s Fiesta and Focus small cars, the Wagon will be offered in two versions\u2014short wheelbase (104.8-inch), with five-passenger capacity, and a three-row, seven-passenger long wheelbase (120.6-inch) edition.        2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon    Wagon dimensionality differs from the Van. At 173.9 inches, the five-passenger Wagon is shorter than the van, while the 189.7-inch seven-passenger is longer. At 72.2 inches, both are wider than the Van, while their height\u201472.6 inches for the five-passenger, 72.0 for the long wheelbase model\u2014is lower by as much as 9.0 inches.   On the other hand, both are taller than any of the other half-dozen minivans on the market.   Although both versions are neither as long nor wide as competing minivans\u2014the five-passenger targets the little Mazda 5, while the long-wheelbase model goes against everything else\u2014they stack up well in terms of interior volume, up to 100 cubic feet with rear seats folded flat.   Available Options   There will be two engine options, both 16-valve aluminum four-cylinders with variable valve timing: a 2.5-liter, naturally aspirated, and an Ecoboost 1.6-liter turbo. Both are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift mode.        2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon    Ford has so far refrained from specifying power output, but both engines are also employed in the Escape crossover. In that application the 2.5 is rated for 168 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque, and the Ecoboost 1.6 for 178 and 184, respectively.   Those numbers are well below the power available in the bigger minivans, but the Wagon&amp;#039;s trump card will be fuel economy. Although no specifics were forthcoming prior to the L.A. show, Ford anticipates an EPA highway rating of over 30 mpg with the Ecoboost 1.6.   In the Escape, the 2.5 version is rated 22/31 mpg city/highway, while the 1.6 Ecoboost is rated 23/33.   With the on-sale date due in the fourth quarter of next year Ford spokesmen weren&amp;#039;t ready to discuss pricing other than to note that both versions of the Wagon will be offered in XL, XLT, and Titanium trim levels, and that it will be &amp;quot;thousands less than the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/los-angeles-auto-show/news/a3701/2014-ford-transit-connect-wagon/>