My first car was a 1964 Dodge Dart. I remember when you folded down the glovebox it had a pair of round indents, the mere suggestion of cupholders. They might keep your soda in place during a drive in movie, but not if someone got in or out of the car fast. Turns out it would be two more decades before an automaker had the bright idea to build in console cupholders that could actually hold a drink at highway speeds. That was in the 1983 Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager.

Today, it’s easy to take your cupholders for granted. You leave late for work, grab a thermos of coffee, and slam it in one of the many cupholders you can reach, from your center console to the door pocket. You sip your coffee at red lights, and it stays put as you accelerate or corner. A simple yet glorious innovation. But cars were not always so civilized.

Early attempts at the cupholder

Back in the 1920s, the Sears mail-order catalog debuted what may be the first automotive cupholder. It was designed to attach to your Ford Model T. Along with pages and pages of automotive gadgets. Some were as practical as snack trays, other as impractical as in-car potted plants or kitchenettes.

The automotive aftermarket industry continued to invent new ways to bring your beverage along for the ride. The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham had a full bar that pulled out of the glovebox. Its cups were even magnetized to stick in place. But the magnets were far from strong enough to hold them in place while driving.

Drive-in restaurants and theaters offered trays that clipped to rolled-down windows to hold beverages and snacks. But again, these were never meant to hold a drink while driving.

The very first built-in cupholders

In 1983, Chrysler corporation debuted an all-new vehicle class. The minivan was an efficient, front-engine/fwd vehicle with sliding doors and a third row of seating. The original model was the Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager with its now iconic wood paneling.

When designing the minivan, Chrysler engineers obviously threw everything they knew about vehicles out the window. And that sort of revolution sparked brilliant innovations, such as sliding doors and a flat floor to maximize interior space. But the one innovation that would soon expand to every vehicle in production was the air of built-in cupholders tucked into the minivan’s center console.

Check out MotorWeek’s original review of the Caravan/Voyager embedded below: