What is "vansploitation"

Vansploitation is a term used for a genre of American independent films from the 1970s in which vans are a "key element to the plot", and that often feature comedic stories about college-age people. The "short-lived" genre emerged in the United States in the early 1970s, exploiting the popularity of vans with young people, was very popular in the mid to late 1970s, and disappeared in the early 1980s. Vansploitation films were originally made mostly for young audiences. Blue Summer (1973) is credited as the first film of the genre which continued with films like The Van (1977) and Van Nuys Blvd. (1979), the latter having been called "the most technically competent Vansploitation film".