The minivan is back, and it's kind of cool

Minivan sales in the U.S. are up 21 percent so far this year, outmatching every class of vehicle except the midsize pickup. [...] though the bloated kid-carrier has yet to match its heyday, U.S. drivers are on pace to buy more than 600,000 of them this year for the first time in almost a decade. If the current pace holds, more people will purchase these soccer practice-pods than subcompact cars such as the Honda Fit or such entry-level luxury cars as the BMW 3 series. [...] recently, the minivan looked as though it were headed for the historical scrap heap, along with the pickup car and the Volkswagen diesel. When it comes to style, SUVs are considered the vehicular equivalent of a leather jacket, while minivans are a pair of cargo shorts. Even the massive Cadillac Escalade has only 94 cubic feet of open real estate in the back, about one-third less than a current minivan.