Detroit builds cars every single day. What it doesn’t usually build is a minivan with two front ends, two windshields, and twice the personality. That’s exactly why this project caught our eye—especially after it started making the rounds thanks to coverage from our friend Liam Rappleye from the Detroit Free Press and a video on USA Today. Once we saw it, we knew it was the kind of perfectly unhinged Mopar-adjacent story that deserved a closer look.
The vehicle is called Bak2Bak, and it’s the brainchild of Zach Sutton, a Detroit-based manufacturing engineer with a talent for problem-solving and a love for building things that make people smile. Bak2Bak is exactly what the name suggests: two Chrysler minivans cut in half and welded together front-to-front, creating a single vehicle that looks like it escaped from a cartoon but drives down Woodward Avenue like it belongs there.
The donor vehicles were a 1993 Dodge Caravan and a 1991 Plymouth Grand Voyager—corporate siblings from early-1990s. Sutton picked each one up for about $1,500 toward the end of 2024, not with the intention of restoring them, but with a much simpler goal: doing something fun, silly, and impossible to ignore.
The actual build came together over one winter weekend at i3Detroit, a community-run DIY workshop in Ferndale. With the help of friends and fellow members, Sutton cut both vans cleanly in half and welded the front sections together. Three days later, Bak2Bak rolled out of the shop under its own power—a moment Sutton describes as proof that a good idea can bring people together fast.
Despite how wild it looks, Bak2Bak is mechanically straightforward. Only one side actually drives. Under one hood sits a completely stock 3.3-liter Chrysler EGA V6 paired with an automatic transmission. The other engine bay has been hollowed out and turned into a trunk, holding everything from boxes to lawn chairs, all ratchet-strapped in place over the relocated fuel tank.
Legally, the van is fully registered, insured, and roadworthy. One side carries the official VIN and paperwork, while the other exists purely for symmetry and laughs. Sutton jokes that it’s just “a slightly different back half.”
On the road, Bak2Bak behaves exactly like what it’s made from: a ’90s Chrysler minivan. Sutton says it’ll cruise up to about 80 mph without issue, though handling is soft and unresponsive, just as you’d expect. The only real change comes from stiffer rear springs, since there’s no engine weight on the non-powered end.
Inside, things get even more entertaining. There are two steering wheels. The rear wheel can be locked or unlocked with a large red switch labeled “Pull for a good time.” With two people aboard, Bak2Bak effectively has four-wheel steering, giving it a surprisingly tight turning radius—something Sutton jokes would put modern four-wheel-steer EVs to shame.
Bak2Bak isn’t about performance, resale value, or practicality. It’s about joy. In a city built on serious engineering, this double-front minivan is a reminder that sometimes the best builds are the ones that exist simply to make people laugh.
Watch the video above, and check out the original article HERE for even more details on this wild build.
