1984-2023 Chrysler Mini Vans – The Magic Wagon
As a lover of most things car related, I was happy to see a 1/64 scale diecast replica of the original Dodge Caravan from 1984 appear on the shelves at my local Target. The appearance of the Auto World toy suggests that the original minivan might be making a resurgence in nostalgia circles. The youngest Gen Xers up to Gen Y might have grown up with warm fuzzy memories of the back rows of Chrysler’s trio of small(er) vans. This turn of events arrives just after Chrysler has announced the end of the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country names (for now). All of those legacy marques were condensed into the Chrysler Pacifica (formally a crossover until 2008).
The Pacifica is basically one of two vehicles Chrysler still sells in America under it’s brand (the other being the 300 sedan) and is assembled in Windsor Ontario, Canada. There were versions available in Europe as the Lancia Voyager until 2015. Things weren’t always so sad for fans of this American original or Chrysler for that matter.
Vans Before 1984
It could be argued that there were small van things well before the Caravan like Ford’s Taunus Transit of the ’50s, or VW’s T2 Micro Bus from the ‘60s. Chrysler itself had a (smaller) van called the A-100 in the ’60s. The VW Bus had been off the U.S. market for more than a decade when Chrysler redefined and modernized the concept of the small van lovingly nicknamed the Magic Wagon. The modern concept started with Hal Sperlich, who while at Ford proposed a smaller version of the popular Econoline van in the mid-seventies. He was promptly fired for his foresight.
In the meantime vans were becoming popular with everyone from surfers to families as they were becoming more car-like in their amenities. My family had a Dodge custom van in the late ’70s that I had fond memories of. Fast forward a few years, Sperlich was at Chrysler and soon was joined by former Ford exec Lee Iaccoca. Iaccoca had inherited a company in shambles and was far more receptive to innovative ideals than his rivals in Dearborn and Detroit . The resulting “mini-van” was the company’s second hit (post-bankruptcy). The turnaround started in 1979 when Chrysler got federal money to avoid bankruptcy.
Workin’ Hard For The Money
That loan resulted in the K-Car. That car’s chassis worked harder than James Brown, seemingly becoming the bedrock of nearly every Chrysler vehicle for the next 10 years or so. From it came a new S-platform for a new kind of car – one that combined the room and utility of a station wagon with the high visibility of a truck, but with car-like handling and ride attributes. Its unibody construction allowed a low floor which meant that the vans were no taller than most people and could easily fit in garages that might have housed station wagons decades earlier. The packaging of front wheel drive allowed for more interior room, as no transmission tunnel was needed.
The original minivan class of 1984 arrived just as I was finishing up high-school. First to be shown in a press conference, the Plymouth Voyager was followed closely by the Dodge Caravan and the Chrysler Town & Country. Over 200,000 units were sold in it’s first (partial) model year! With versions for all of Chrysler’s divisions, the were basically the same van with varying levels of kit. The Town and Country name, once reserved for Chrysler’s large RWD station wagons was used for the van sold under the Chrysler name. It was also the most luxurious with the traditional woodgrain-look panels of station wagons of old. Next was the Dodge Caravan. As a middle model, it could be infused with a bit of sportiness in its SE trim and eventually as a Sport and GT. The last was the value leader from Plymouth called the Voyager.
Looking much like the Caravan, they were often seen with black plastic bumpers in the ’90s as opposed to the body-colored ones on the Dodge and Chryslers. Cheap Voyagers were commonplace in the early ‘90s with trendy neon graphics (usually dealer added) intended to appeal to young families. Many of these vans are still running today and have been adapted as scrappy work trucks. All versions initially came with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine. Initially, a four-speed manual then a 5-speed was standard, but these vans were more likely to be seen with a 3-speed automatic.
Before the event of the modern minivan, some of the nameplates where large full-sized vans like the Voyager was up to 1983. The Voyager was also more likely to feature the rare manual transmission that was also available on some Caravans. Other value leader features like roll up windows and manual seat adjusts marked the Voyager from its more feature laden relatives. Nearly all of Chrysler’s vans featured some kind of configurable seating to accommodate 6 or more adults comfortably or be stripped down to have a kind of covered pickup functionality with the C/V models.
A Hard Act To Follow – At First
The Chrysler Corporation had a hit on its hands with solid mini-van sales in all of its divisions. Dodge still sold its full-sized traditional van the Ram, but even its sales were being cannibalized by economical stripped down business van versions of the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager. Chrysler proved once again that when pressed, it could deliver a winner long enough to dig itself out of a hole – if only for a few years before finding itself in trouble again. With J.D. Powers customer satisfaction rankings high or at the top for years, Chrysler stayed on its game with a steady stream of improvements.
Chrysler dominated the segment even as everyone else rushed to roll out their version of the minivan. Even Toyota and Honda’s initial efforts at vans were second rate to Chrysler – something that almost never happens. Ford, GM and a few Korean makes made valiant efforts but, in the end, they fell flat compared to Chrysler (Ford’s Aerostar became popular in Japan due to its squarish mobile home functionality for young people). After having a head start in development the folks in Auburn Hills, Michigan never looked back. To Chrysler’s credit, it was never complacent with it’s success as its vans were steadily improved. Unfortunately, Honda, Toyota and Hyundai/Kia group were making quality improvements too.
From Block to Bubble and Back Again
Other than being a well-built product, the Chrysler minivan anticipated some trends that would dominate the American (then the world car market). The higher ride height made families feel safer with high visibility thanks to the use of generous window surfaces of the spacious greenhouse. The flexibility of being able to easily configure the van to carry 8 or more passengers or just cargo gave buyers a taste of future SUV usability. In various attempts to maximize interior space or cargo room, configurable interiors and a move to aerodynamic shapes would bring Cd down from 0.43 in 1984 to 0.35 by 2001.
While the mini vans were extremely flexible, they offered decent efficiency with the various 2.0 and 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine options that were initially available. There was even a 150hp turbocharged version of the 2.5 liter four for a short time. A Mitsubishi sourced V6 arrived for 1987, just as many family sedans started offering six-cylinder engines as step-up options. In the Dodge Caravan, the move to V6 power also resulted in sportier versions like the SE. Eventually the SE models would get a subtle ground effect package and monochromatic color schemes like many of Dodge’s performance cars like the Daytona and Avenger. During this era, particularly the second generation from 1996-2000 (my favorite), the vans had sleek cab forward designs. The Dodge Grand Caravan Sport often had body color wheels in a monochromatic paint scheme. A 3.5-liter V6 with as much as 230 hp was planned but never made available for the fourth generation (2001-2007). Late era Town & Country/ Caravans were closing in on the 300 hp mark with their 3.6-liter V6 engines.
The Van As A Fun Family Machine
The van’s overall shape changed in evolutionary ways as it moved through periods of blocky design to curvy blocky with curvy edges. The overall size of the vans grew as Chrysler moved from the S to RS and eventually the RT platform, all while offering multiple short and long wheelbase options. For Chrysler their minivans seemed to be the only vehicles outside of it’s muscle car, truck and SUV line that got substantial competitive updates. Its one of the reasons Chrysler vans were rebadged in Europe as the Lancia Voyager and in North America as the Volkswagen Routan.
By the 8th generation design in 2008, the vans had taken on a more blockish look – as if reflecting the popularity of trucks and SUVs. The move to a more brutish truck image was best seen in the Grand Caravan. SUV-like versatility of AWD was available on some models like the Grand Caravan SXT. As Dodge solidified its reputation for building modern muscle cars, the Caravan was looking more isolated, even with its more squarish body. The only hint of the brand’s gruff image was the truck-like grille and Dodge emblem. Talk of a Hellcat variant floated around the web, but nothing came of it. Instead a RT and GT with a 3.6-liter V6 became the ‘hot” vans. These late era Caravans featured around 280 hp and never made it to the sleek new styling of the sixth generation Chrysler Pacifica. The announcement of the Caravan’s end in 2020 was a omen for the minivan in general.
A disheartening indicator of the minivans future came when the Pacifica plug-in hybrid arrived for 2017. The fact that Chrysler had a van that could travel 30 miles on electric power only and get up to 33 mpg/75 MPGe should have been big news. The minivan had evolved to meet the future, but it was not the first time Chrysler flirted with electricity. A short lived electric model called the TEVan, then the EPIC were available in the ’90s. Chrysler missed an opportunity to capitalize on it’s electric past with the new Pacifica (even though it’s previous efforts at electrification were less than successful commercially). Instead, consumers were lost in a flurry of ever bigger electrified vehicles from competitors with bigger marketing budgets. Chrysler branded products were already overshadowed by the muscle cars of Dodge and the trucks of Jeep (even as their sustainability was in question). It did not help that competitors, ever nipping at the heels of Chrysler had caught up and in some cases surpassed Chrysler’s in performance, efficiency and resale value.
The Chrysler Mini Van’s Legacy
The mini van has been Chrysler’s longest running hit – connecting the present to the days of Lee Iacocca. In the end the minivan became a victim of changing buyer trends. Like the demise of station wagons to the minivan, vans are disappearing due to the popularity of SUVs and crossovers. With only a few players still standing, Chrysler remains a leader in a shrinking segment. The Town and Country name is gone, but the Pacifica name stands in for the legacy of the Chrysler minivan. While not the first small van, the innovative and modern packaging makes these vans true American originals (that ironically is looking better than it ever has). As fear drives Americans to think that heavy bloated SUVs are safer and will protect them from the apocalypse, the minivan with its car-like handling and more efficient packaging might make a comeback someday. That is someday might be after the station wagon makes its return first.
Autopolis 