12 Mom-Mobiles You Definitely Grew Up With

Ah, childhood—a simpler time when your only worry was trying to call "shotgun" before anyone else on the way to Discovery Zone. And for most of us, that childhood took place in the 1990s, which, let's face it, was the incredibly awkward adolescent phase of automobiles. New tech and electronics were having their seven minutes in heaven, and design-wise, all cars seemed to be large, and square. In other words: mom cars. Lovely, endearing mom cars. 

These vehicles could almost always be spotted driving from home to the grocery store and back, filled with half of the soccer team, and the most important person in the world: you. To revisit those beautiful early memories, here are the 12 mom-est cars in recent history. 

1. Honda Odyssey 
Obviously. Just like mom, Honda's reliability was a step above the rest. Available with a wide range of options and a ton of Honor Student bumper sticker real estate, the Honda Odyssey was, and still is, a go-to minivan for moms everywhere.

2. Subaru Legacy Outback
Subarus were the requisite vehicle of outdoor moms from coast to coast. The four-wheel-drive system was awesome and the incredibly long shelf-life of the engine was not unlike that of mom's Birkenstocks. 

3. Lexus RX
What it lacked in size, it made up for in luxury and sunroofs. If your Mom had this, all of your friends couldn't wait to get in, open the roof window, and dance awkwardly to the mix CD with a Spice Girls song that no one will ever admit they knew the lyrics to.

4. Jeep Grand Cherokee
For the moms who totally had a golden retriever or lab named something adorable like "Buddy," the Grand Cherokee was a top pick. It was also incredibly comfortable and a blast to drive in inclement weather. 

5. Volvo 850/Station Wagon
The MOST mom wagon available, and for good reason. Safety? Check. A ton of storage space in the trunk? Double-check. Terrifyingly awesome rear-facing jump-seats? Mega-check.

6. Chrysler Town & Country
Oh, you're looking for a quick jaunt into town? No prob. What's that? You'd like a badass weekend in the country? No wonder moms loved this thing, it's like the Hummer H1 of mom-mobiles, plus the '96-'00 versions got rated "Safest" in the world, according to safety ratings. 

7. Ford Explorer
This was the car that definitely got passed down to you when you could finally drive. It wasn't fancy, probably had upwards of seven dents, and always seemed to have trouble shifting into gear, but none of that mattered, because the A/C worked phenomenally. 

8. Lincoln Navigator
When the Navigator came out, it was the epitome of a luxury SUV. Wood grain everywhere, leather throughout, innumerable references in rap songs, a SIX-DISC CD CHANGER?! More like game changer.

9. Range Rover
Range Rovers are great automobiles. Your mom has one? Still cool. Your principal has one? (Unlikely, but he might have a side gig). Still cool. The most uncool guy you know has one? Still cool, sorry.

10. Mercedes Wagon
A favorite of Northeastern moms in Connecticut and Massachusetts, you'd find them everywhere. From parks, to ferries to Nantucket, to wet docks in picturesque fishing towns. These wagons are land yachts.

11. Toyota Land Cruiser
The Land Cruiser was for the mom who was too refined for a Chevy Tahoe.

12. Chevrolet Suburban
The equivalent of a lightly-armored mobile mom command unit, this goliath of a machine could probably fit 14 kids comfortably. I'm not sure, but I think it spawned the Florida initiative "No Child Left Behind," as you had to take roll call when exiting the vehicle. This has never been verified, but sources say the Suburban got its name when it was outright banned by all major US cities and forced to take refuge in the suburbs*. Possibly true story**.

*Absolutely no sources verified this.
**Not true at all.


Gavin Woolard is the social media editor at Supercompressor. His family went through five Jeep Grand Cherokees, mechanically... they had some problems. Follow him on Instagram.