The gen1 Caravan and Voyager are finally starting to get a bit thin on the ground, but this one is still a daily driver in Port Orford, as are a number of old beaters. The locals generally don’t have to go far, given the size of the town. And since there’s not a single stop light on the main drag (Hwy 101) or anywhere else, it’s a pretty easy life there, putting around.
Of course the sun does take a toll, but there’s no evidence of the damage that some cars get from being very close to the beach. That seems not to be a common problem in PO, perhaps because most of the town is not right smack up against the beach, and its salty air.
The VIN report based on its license plate indicates it has the new for-1990 3.3L Chrysler V6. Good choice. Well, it was standard on the GCV, so no choice, really.
Since that engine was only offered with the 4-speed Ultradrive, that did represent some very significant risk factors. Our ’92 GCV was on its fourth transmission when it was finally sold with 170k miles on it. The transmission was leaking at the time, although that last one was a keeper otherwise.
I remember borrowing another family’s new 1990 GCV in that year for a school field trip I drove on; I was very impressed with the drive train, especially the new automatic. It shifted very nicely, and the overdrive fourth was a big improvement on the freeway. I tested to see how slow it would go and still stay in 4th; quite low, as long as the road was flat.
That drive went a long way towards me feeling ok about buying one in ’92, even though I rather preferred the Previa. If we had gotten the Previa, we might still be driving it today?
When my young family arrived from Korea in early 2004, I at first wanted to avoid having a car. My funds were pretty precarious. I had no home, job or car.
On the third day of our return to Canada, I bought a 1990 Caravan with like 265,000 km on it. It was filthy but a rented steam cleaner made the interior come back very nicely. It had the 3.0 V-6 and the A604 transmission. I paid $700 for it.
If did stellar duty shuttling stuff from Ikea to our new home but after a month or so, the A604 started acting up. It was go into limp mode whenever it got hot. Then it started stalling due to a leaky head gasket.
I advertised it in Craigslist for $500, fully disclosing the problems. Well, l actually got $500 for it with a bad head gasket and transmission.
It was a decent van. The interior was particularly nice and it was a big as a house.
The Caravan was always super popular in Canada. My niece has three little kids and she has one of the last Caravans made.
I always liked this style Chrysler mini-vans. Especially the top of the line Chrysler T & C. Really comfy interior and well made. Best to have the 3.3 V6 though and have the trans serviced very regularly.
I saw the “V6” insignia and immediately gave this owner a big salute for either excellent transmission maintenance or willingness to fund rebuilding.
These were really nice vans back in their day.
Very rarely seen model here I think Ive seen one only the next gen were more common but ex JDM mini vans are everywhere in all sizes and brands, a mate just aquired a Toyota Wish which is the hinged back door version of the sliding rear door Toyota Isis his daughter has,, lots of room for kids or grandkids.
I had a sequence of Magic Wagons, starting with a 1987 Voyager SWB. The first one will always have special memories for me of family long distance trips when the kids were small. It was a 3.0 Litre 7 passenger. I always looked forward to hefting the back seat out and lugging it into the garage for extra on board storage.
Mine came with 79,000 kms on the clock and two years old, so had done some regular duty. I could almost see some shadows of some printed decals on one side. I got nine more years out of it, on the original transmission.
I don’t believe I’ve seen a copy of this generation of Chrysler minivan on the road for ages. LIkewise the next generation. At one point, this seemed to be nearly the most common car on the road, then poof…all gone….at least here in New England.
Have a silver “Dodge” version , here, in the neighborhood.Paint is bad, not gone.
I know it’s been here since the mid , late 90’s..
The original vans up to 1995 held up pretty well in the midwest. The 2 generations (1996 to 2006) rusted pretty badly. We had 2 Chrysler vans. A 1994 Grand Caravan ES and a 2002 Chrysler T&C. Both bought new. Both with the 4 speed auto, 3.8 V6, trailer package and a “sport” suspension. We sold the ’94 at 234,000 miles with the original transmission starting to fail, and the 2002 was sold to a friend at 160,000 miles on the transmission still going strong. Both vans had popup camper towing duties as well.
We did have the transmission fluid changed per Chrysler’s recommended service for trailer towing. And always at a Mopar dealer who would use the correct Dextron 4 fluid. Many independent transmission and other repair shops would put in Dextron 3, which contributed to the early demise of these transmissions.
They worked well for us and we were happy with them.
You’re right about the fluid being crucial. The correct fluid for the Chrysler transmissions is ATF+4, not Dexron (no ‘t’ in it). There were—probably still are—con artists (»KOFF!«Scamsoil»KOFF!«) claiming to offer “universal” transmission fluids, or additives to “convert” Dexron to ATF+.
Sorry, I’m going by a poor memory, but you are right.
This is a little OT but I was just thinking about this. Many if not most automotive companies are now seeing transmission fluids as an engineered component of the transmission. So using “the cheap stuff one size fits all fluid” at the local auto parts store can be a bad and expensive fix for transmissions. So one has to be mindful of where you take a car for transmission service.
Funny how the updated gen one Caravans and Voyagers with the big aero headlights now look more dated than the original version.
I hope a few of these rigs are preserved in some museums. They had quite an impact on the marketplace when introduced in 1984.
Just like the Ford Taurus when it arrived in 1986. Oh yes, they had issues but that is a side note.
Yep, there is at least one of these in at least one museum. Car number one was a metallic tan Plymouth Voyager LE with woodgrain appliqué exterior trim, the optional 2.6-litre Mitsubishi Astron engine, and an automatic transmission. After its brief career in the media spotlight, it was relegated to a hard life as a yard car, a company thrasher for shuttling people and stuff around the WAP grounds. Eventually a posterity-minded employee persuaded Chrysler management to rescue and restore it and put it on display. That was done; for years it had a prominent place at the WPC Museum in Auburn Hills, proudly wearing shiny new-old-stock trim and “PLYMOUTH VOYAGER” badges.
That van was on hand for the 25th-anniversary-of-the-Chrysler-minivan event at Windsor Assembly Plant in 2009, but a funny thing happened on the way to the party: the Plymouth Voyager LE became a Dodge Caravan LE. That wasn’t a difficult swap. All it took was a different (but same-size) grille and a few nameplates. Probably to avoid embarrassment. Oh, yes, a Plymouth Voyager. We, ah, don’t make those any more.”
I think a well preserved 1st gen of these is at the Henry Ford Museum. I know they had one.
I was about eight years old when these came out, and I misread the badge as “Carvan”. Made perfect sense to me; it seemed like a 50/50 mix of car and van.
I rock a ’95 as a daily. 220k on the clock, but just swapped the 3.0 v6 for a fresher one. A lot of first and 2nd gen were driven into the ground, and alot of the remainder went to the crusher under cash for clunkers. Caravans/Voyagers were 3rd or 4th on the list of most turned in cash for clunkers cars.
Chrysler minivans were so ubiquitous for so long, I imagine that there are many readers here too young to know how revolutionary they were when they first appeared. I will not forget how amazing this vehicle was at the time. Unlike the CUV boom currently wiping out the USA, these vehicles were strikingly different from what came before.
This generation could be the epitome of that era’s design language that began with the VW Rabbit and then exploded across the industry. Suddenly the grotesque excesses of the Personal Luxury Brougham coupes were replaced by highly efficient, voluminous FWD boxy designs. But no one was really prepared to see this taken into a van market.
It was quite a revolation and a spectacular sales success. It saved Chrysler.
I was always of the opinion that the K car saved Chrysler. The minivans and then the redesigned Dodge pickups in the ’90’s were cash cows and allowed Chrysler to soar! All was awesome until it was sold to Daimler Benz. We know what happened from there.
Plus folks moved on to CUV’s and SUV’s but the minivan market was strong enough Chrysler stuck with it while GM and Ford bailed on it.
Of the great automotive game-changers in US history (Model T, Beetle, Prius), the T-115 Chrysler minivan is interesting in how it’s the most appliance-like and, hence, the most disposable. The Prius was the most sophisticated, but Toyota-level quality keep those going. The Ford and VW are so simple, they’re very easy to find replacements.
But the minivan? When those let go, they’re not worth the effort or expense to keep them going. Not exactly a big support network. I can’t imagine there being any NOS sheetmetal for them, either. Even if there was, who would be replacing the rusted-out body of a Chrysler minivan when the value would be a fraction of what it would cost?
It’s a real shame because I, for one, like the T-115 just as much as the others.
This is mine
’88 Caravan V6
Lookin for a caravan or mini van in Los Angeles. Cheap 4cyld. Prefer. At $100 to $500. Runs ..reg. clean title. Cargo ok. No rust or junck.