Di-Noc woodgrain was always a hallmark of top trim American stations wagons, but Chrysler was the only manufacturer that ever applied this vinyl appliqué to their minivans as a factory option. In fact, it was once standard on the top spec LE trim of the Caravan and Voyager, and every Town & Country until the early 1990s, upon which high-end Dodges took on a monochromatic color scheme, Plymouths took the two-tone and bright trim route, and Town & Countrys were trimmed in gold accents.
Woodgrain was still offered for the remainder of the second generation, but was never all that common, which makes this 1993 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE almost as rare as an exotic wood, especially considering very little of it appears to have flaked off.
Not only does it have good wood, but this example also features burgundy (Dark Cordovan, I believe was the official name) interior, an intact Pentastar hood ornament, and green Massachusetts plates, meaning this Plymouth is likely still driven by its original owner. If CCs were given points by certain less common qualities, this car definitely would score high on the CC meter.
Ya, I miss seeing these. I had a 1990 (one year design) Town & Country. Only came in white or black with wood grain of course. This is mine, very nice shape. Sold it a few years ago.
I remember the wood grain was only discontinued on the 1996 redesign because it was very difficult to apply the vinyl on the new swoopy fenders. Maybe that sounded better than Bob Lutz deciding it was time for woodgrain to end
Lutz hated woodgrain inside or out. In one of his books he talks about how the original Taurus didn’t have woodgrain in the interior and looked better and more modern because of it. Only thing was, every early Taurus had woodgrain on the dash, and sometimes on the door panels as well.
I recall first-gen Dodge/Plymouth minivans having a choice of woodgrain panelling or two-tone paint without wood on the top-line LE trim; wood wasn’t mandatory.
I know that on the 1987 Grand Voyager LE the wood-grain was standard and you had to specifically delete it. We ordered a two-tone silver/gray one in 1987, but the order got kicked back because apparently they weren’t set up yet to do the two-tone on the extended length Grand. So they reordered with just silver, but the person filling out the form forgot to select the wood-grain delete so it came with the wood grain siding. My Dad refused the vehicle.
I really liked the looks and layout of my 1983 woody Plymouth Voyager, the drawback was the 2.6 Mitsubishi built engine. A mechanic told me a new replacement Carburetor would cost $500. if needed. It drove ok but the engine was noisy and did not achieve good gas mileage. I rarely see any of the older vinyl woody’s in my travels nowadays.
If you rem. Lee Iacocca had a slogan back then “Be American buy American”
One of the most handsome minivans. Still, I’d pass rather than replace the transmission seven times.
Yeah, if only you could replace those transmissions with ones from a Honda…..
Oh, wait.
I can tolerate the woodgrain but, man, does that hood ornament look like hell, out there by its lonesome. The sloping hood would look so much better without it.
BTW, did anyone else notice how the graining doesn’t match up very well between the panels? Sheesh, you’d think they’d be able to get that right.
I noticed the woodgrain too. Those green Massachusetts plates need to go. They’re 30-40 years old now and most of them look it.
Mismatch of the DiNoc on the right front door may be the result of a collision repair and unavailability of original factory applique.
I actually enjoyed looking at the hood ornament on my Voyager especially on long road trips.
Its interesting that the high trim model had tacky fake wood the same as stuck inside kitchen drawers in cheap motels plastered all over the sides, it doesnt look luxurious at all to me it looks cheap and plasticky.
I personally like this last hat tip to the traditional station wagon.
You might get an argument on that from the thousands of Taurus wagon owners still out there.
They sell DiNoc in carbon fiber, maybe time for a refresh.
I still dig these… I remember the Plymouths optioned out to Chrysler levels. Never made a lot of sense to me, but why not ride the wave of sales?
Me again. This is the fake wood on the inside of the same vintage of a Town & Country. Marvellous!
Even if it’s fake, I think it makes for a more inviting and warm interior. A hell of a lot better than black or gray plastic.
Yes thats fake but actually looks like wood Di Noc looks like drawer liner not wood.
I always thought it was hysterically funny that there was a version of the earliest Chrysler Town & Country minivans, that was often (unofficially) referred to as the “Chrysler Town & Country GTO.”
In this case “GTO” stood for “Good Taste Option” and it featured the option code that deleted the simulated woodgrain paneling.
My Aunt’s 94. Sold to a coworker of mine in 2009, who quickly learned you don’t do hole shots in a 15 year old van with 100K on the clock as the engine and trans, both of which had always worked perfectly for my Aunt, grenaded within 2 months. It appears the junk yard replacement engine and/or trans expired last winter with a smidge over 200K on the clock.
Over 26 bills was not chump change in 94. My Aunt had the alloy wheels and second row captain’s chairs deleted.
No flipNfold/stowNgo seats in those brave days….and guess who got the call to horse those seats out whenever the van acted like a truck.
Yeah, they’re removable only by virtue of the handles. My wife has a 2003 Town & Country and the 3rd row seats have spent many years in my basement gathering dust. But when both rows were out, i fit a huge sofa in there, quite a versatile vehicle.
There were no handles on the 94’s seats. Had to grab them as best as I could.
Made a neat discovery with that van. The center seat did not have a lot of legroom or hip room, so not really comfortable for adults. We took the center row out, then people in the third row had tons of leg and hip room, but they were so far back they couldn’t get in on the conversation going on in the front seat. Discovered there was another set of anchors in the floor for the third row seat in an intermediate position between where the second and third row seats normally sit. That was the ticket. Put the long seat in the intermediate position and occupants had lots of room and were close enough to the front seat…..and that little 2nd row seat spent the next 15 years in my Aunt’s basement.
I do not miss lugging that third row seat out of my ’97 T&C. The second row Captain’s Chairs were so comfortable. When we had our ’90 Caravan we did that same trick, Once I borrowed the third row seat from my brother’s Caravan and we had 8 passenger seating for a trip to LA!
Oddly enough, 1984 would see Di-Noc on the top trim level of another category creating vehicle, the Jeep XJ Wagoneer. Even though they made these through 1990, and a similar Briarwood model for 2 years after that, I don’t remember seeing a lot of them on the road. My neighbors did have one, but the exterior wood was deleted.
My 89 Caravan w/two tone opt. Just picked it up from a 95 year old WWII veteran. 81K. Having so much fun. Drove it from Michigan to Wisconsin a week after picking it up.
as i was saying even though i did not grow up in this minivan i would love to sit inside to see what it looks like because i have never been in a 1989 Dodge Caravan before
I’ve seen a 1st gen Honda Odyssey around town, white with wood DiNoc … pretty neatly applied, either by a dealer or owner. Has anyone seen something similar?
When the Cable Guy Came to my grams house to do our TV he had a woodie caravan about a 1990-92 LE Model with wood trim on it and when it pulled away I could hear the exhaust is that an exhaust leak or how these vans are?
Does anyone know if there are any promotional video show pcasing the 1993 Plymouth Voyager?