Slap two boxes together, round off the edges for the sake of aerodynamics, add four wheels, and you’ve got a minivan, a vehicle that emphasizes function over form like few others. Likewise, the interior is designed to serve the goal of utility first, appearances second. That’s why, when it came to design, we ranked our quartet of family haulers based on more than aesthetics, taking into consideration outward visibility, control layout, and feature operation. But style is not entirely elusive, as our clear winner proves.

4th Place – 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
Plain inside and out, regardless of the white-faced gauge cluster and unconvincing fake carbon fiber dash trim, the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan is a handsome but nondescript conveyance that is incredibly easy to see out of thanks to rear seat headrests that collapse to provide an unobstructed view to the back. That would be fine given a minivan’s mission in life, but the DGC’s rental car ambience, combined with funky stereo and climate control system designs, ultimately puts it at the back of the pack in this category.

3rd Place – 2005 Pontiac Montana SV6
In the names of safety and vanity, Pontiac has added a gigantic snout to the Montana for 2005. The result is better crash-test scores, styling that’s more like an SUV than a minivan, and an ungainly amount of front overhang. The best design element on the outside is the handsome brushed aluminum wheels. Inside, it’s clear that Pontiac ripped a page out of the German luxury playbook; from the chrome-trimmed air vents and aluminum dash trim to the red-and-white gauge lighting and mesh cloth headliner. Stereo and climate controls have buttons that are a little too small, but everything is easy to find and use. Pontiac even cribbed Toyota’s brilliant design for the cruise control system. The main design flaw, aside from subjective judgments of style, is outward visibility. All rear seats get huge head restraints that severely cut the view to the rear and the sides. Good thing a rear sonar parking system is optional.

2nd Place – 2005 Toyota Sienna
Like the Dodge Grand Caravan, the Toyota Sienna is generically handsome, with one staff member complaining loudly about nonsense he termed “the vacuum cleaner front end and flowery wheel design.” Whatever. This same dude also griped about the multitude of materials and textures inside the Sienna while the rest of us likened the cabin to a Lexus. Let him have the Dodge if simplicity is his style. What kept the Sienna to just a one-point lead over the Montana was the optional navigation system, which bundles secondary stereo functions along with several other features, accessed through a mix of tiny dashboard buttons and touch-screen commands. Other than this flaw – one that can be avoided by skipping the navigation system – the Sienna’s control layout is simple and clearly marked, with functions located exactly where you expect them to be. Visibility is also excellent, thanks to thin front pillars, large side mirrors, low rear headrests, and sonar park assist front and rear.

1st Place – 2005 Honda Odyssey
Honda mounts the Odyssey’s gear selector high on the center of the dashboard, next to the radio and climate control systems. Toyota does the same thing, but places the stick lower on the dash where it cannot block access to the controls. Underway in the Odyssey, we found that it’s possible to bump the shifter from Drive into Neutral when reaching for the volume control. Our other design complaints were also related to control placements. The power sunroof controls are on the lower left side of the dash, stereo tuning controls are mounted so far away that they’re hard to reach, and the seat heater switches are too low on the center of the dashboard. Otherwise, we had no complaints about the design of the 2005 Honda Odyssey. Clearly the most stylish on the outside, the Odyssey also exhibits a balanced aesthetic in the cabin, where the dash flows seamlessly across the van, punctuated with an electroluminescent gauge cluster that reads “welcome” when you enter and “goodbye” when you leave. Visibility is on par with the Toyota, and like the Sienna, the Odyssey can be equipped with front and rear sonar parking assist.