Underneath Lee Iacocca’s management, Chrysler printed bales of cash by designing a small, front-wheel-drive van based mostly on the versatile Okay platform. Chrysler did not invent the minivan, after all, however these first 1984 Dodge Caravans and Plymouth Voyagers immediately put small vans sq. in the course of the American car mainstream (and started the lengthy downward spiral of the station wagon right here). For the 1991 mannequin 12 months, the second era of Chrysler minivans hit our roads, and so they had been greater, better-appointed and obtainable with all-wheel-drive. This is a type of early second-gen vans, present in a Denver-area boneyard a couple of months again.
The 1984 Voyager was a real minivan, scaling in at a mere 2,984 kilos (about the identical as the present Toyota Corolla). The wheelbases of the second-generation Voyager and Grand Voyager grew only a fraction of an inch longer, however the vans themselves obtained longer and heavier anyway. The curb weight of at this time’s Junkyard Gem was 4,008 kilos.
By 1993, minivans had been underneath gross sales assault by a brand new crop of SUVs, notably the Ford Explorer (which debuted for the 1991 mannequin 12 months) and Chrysler’s personal Jeep Grand Cherokee (which first appeared as a 1993 mannequin). Chrysler’s XJ Cherokee had been siphoning away minivan gross sales since Day One, having first hit Jeep showrooms concurrently the primary Voyagers and Caravans went on sale.
Nonetheless, the 1993 Caravan/Grand Caravan, Voyager/Grand Voyager and City & Nation obliterated these vans when it got here to usable inside area, security, experience consolation and gas financial system.
Plymouth used the Voyager title on rebadged Dodge Sportsman full-size vans from the 1974 via 1983 mannequin years, throughout which period Chrysler tried to promote their massive fuel-swilling passenger vans as smart station wagons.
The Grand Voyager had a wheelbase stretch of simply over seven inches versus that of the common Voyager; the SE was the decrease of the 2 trim ranges obtainable for the AWD-equipped model in 1993.
In 1993, base-grade front-wheel-drive Voyagers had 2.5-liter Chrysler four-cylinder engines as commonplace tools, whereas front-wheel-drive Grand Voyagers obtained Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 engines. In case you purchased a brand new all-wheel-drive Grand Voyager that 12 months, your van had this Chrysler 3.3-liter pushrod V6, rated at 150 horsepower and 180 pound-feet. Sadly, Chrysler stopped putting in turbocharged 2.2 engines of their minivans after 1990.
Whereas five-speed handbook transmissions had been obtainable on four-cylinder Caravans and Voyagers right through 1995, the six-banger Chrysler minivans all had obligatory automatics.
Chrysler was a significant airbag innovator, being among the many earliest producers to put in this lifesaving function as commonplace tools. A driver’s-side airbag was included with each Chrysler minivan beginning with the 1991 mannequin 12 months.
We take all-wheel-drive with no consideration at this time, however even Subaru was nonetheless promoting four-wheel-drive automobiles (wherein the driving force needed to choose the drive mode manually) in 1993.
There are massive AWD badges throughout this van, which is sensible contemplating that Chrysler was vying for gross sales with different all-wheel-drive minivans (such because the Toyota Previa All-Trac).
The MSRP was $20,035, or about $42,622 in 2023 {dollars}. The air con was commonplace tools within the Grand Caravan SE AWD, however this AM/FM/cassette radio added $165 ($351 at this time) to the price.
Nicely over a quarter-million miles had been on the odometer when this van’s driving profession got here to an abrupt finish.
The airbag did not deploy when the crash occurred, so both its system malfunctioned or this van obtained smashed whereas parked.
Come to the Minivan Retailer!
The (Canadian) household that drives a Chrysler minivan collectively, stays collectively.
Right here we are able to see the first-generation Chrysler minivan balloon into the second-generation model. The evolution of the minivan is now full.
