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IT’S EASY to spot the first-timers. They pull up to the Ivy League gates in fancy metal — Mercedes-Benz cars and Land Rover sport-utility models, which are big on image but low on service when it comes to hauling a semester’s worth of stuff.

And they wear designer casual clothes, fine colognes and makeup. By comparison, we veterans bring minivans or humongous, workhorse sport-utes like the Chevrolet Suburban. And we wear jeans and T-shirts: After putting one or two kids through Barnard College, most of us are too broke or in debt to care what anyone thinks. We just want to unload and leave quickly.

My spouse and I escaped the same way we came, in a 1997 Chevrolet Venture LS, a new and exceptional minivan.

Background: Chrysler Corp. created the minivan market in 1984 and virtually has owned it ever since. Its Town & Country, Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan minivans were targeted by numerous competitors, foreign and domestic. But now the competition is coming from the unlikeliest source, General Motors Corp., in the form of the Venture and its 1997 siblings, the Oldsmobile Silhouette and Pontiac Trans Sport.

These new models, from the company that never seemed quite able to get minivans right, match the Chrysler minivans in every way. In some ways — acceleration, handling and passenger comfort — GM’s Mini Three beat the Chryslers hands down.

GM has come up with minivans that look like something families want to drive instead of fly — the latter characteristic being a big problem for its earlier, rocket-nosed APV (All-Purpose Vehicle) minis.

GM also added lots of standard equipment to its new minivans, including four-wheel, anti-lock, front disc/rear drum brakes; an electronically controlled, four-speed automatic transmission; dual front airbags; automatic daytime running lamps; a windshield that reduces ultraviolet rays and serves as a radio antenna; large, outdoor rearview mirrors; up to 155.9 cubic feet of storage space in the tested, extended-wheelbase Venture.

And the Venture comes with one of the biggest, smoothest engines available in the minivan market — a 3.4-liter, fuel-injected V-6 rated 180-horsepower at 5,200 rpm, with torque rated 205 pound feet at 4,000 rpm.

The front-wheel-drive Venture seats seven people in both its regular and extended-wheelbase versions. It can be equipped to pull a trailer weighing 3,500 pounds.

Complaints: The middle and rear seats are heavy, and are equipped with cleats that attach them to the Venture’s floor. The heaviness makes the seats hard to remove and replace; and the cleat locks are sometimes a pain to connect to the floor. The advantage here goes to the Mercury Villager and identical Nissan Quest, which have easy-to-use track seating.

Praise: Best minivan performance on the road — fast and nimble even on New York’s streets. Exceptionally comfortable.

Head-turning quotient: Pleasant middle-class styling accented by an in-your-face, chrome-plated, crate -styled grille that drew raves.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces. Beats all current minivans in all three categories. Surprisingly responsive in tight situations and panic maneuvers. Excellent braking.

Mileage: On a 600-mile trip with two occupants — one way carrying 800 lbs. of cargo (minus middle and rear seats) and the other way with about 100 pounds of cargo — the Venture got about 20 miles per gallon. Estimated range on usable volume of recommended regular unleaded gasoline in the 25-gallon tank is 480 miles.

Price: The Venture and its siblings go on sale in the fall. Prices were not set at this writing. But expect base price for the long-wheelbase model to run about $20,000. Regular wheelbase models will run about $17,000 in base pricing.

Purse-strings note: Compare with Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager, Ford Windstar, Mercury Villager/Nissan Quest and Honda Odyssey.