When you think about cars with a historical legacy your mind’s eye might conjure the likes of the Ford Model T, the Pontiac GTO, or the Porsche 911. Less likely to pop up but no less influential or successful was the Dodge Caravan. Like it or not, the original “mini-van” reshaped the American automotive landscape, inspiring a slew of imitators and, along with the K-car, probably saving Chrysler from bankruptcy and dissolution.
The Dodge Caravan was nothing short of a marvel when it debuted in 1983. It combined the familiarity of a front engine, front-wheel drive layout with the capacious cabin of a van and the three generous rows of seating for the kids, dog, and grandma besides. The Chrysler minivan invaded American garages wove its way into the fabric of our lives.
For those of us who grew up in the ‘90s, a used Dodge Caravan was both boon and bane. It was a boon because it was cheap and therefore economical for its size, capable of swallowing a garage band’s worth of amps, guitars, and drums and a heap of rowdy punk rockin’ teenagers. It was also a bane for its tendency to break down at the most inopportune moments on the most desolate stretches of highway. The Dodge Caravan was whatever you needed it to be: a hangout, a camper, your chariot to distant environs known and unknown.
As familiar as the Dodge Caravan might feel, there are probably things about this OG minivan that you might not know. Below we run through some lesser-known facts about the Dodge Caravan.
Not the First: The Dodge Caravan did ignite the minivan craze of the 1980s and ‘90s, but the roots of the minivan go back decades. Similarly sized vans like the Ford Econoline, Chevy Corvair Greenbriar, and Dodge A100 saw moderate success in the 1960s and ‘70s imitating the Volkswagen Type 2. The VW Type had remained something of a niche product with its rear-mounted anemic flat-four engine and popularity among the long-haired set. Its imitators were all truck-based cab over designs that failed to catch on with a wider buying public.
Lee Iacocca Brought the Minivan to Chrysler: The idea behind a front-engine, front-wheel drive “garagable” van didn’t start at Chrysler but at Ford with Lee Iacocca and Hal Sperlich back in the early 1970s. They got as far as a prototype of the van, a trimmed down version of the Econoline complete with a 460 cu.-in. Lincoln V8. Henry Ford II wasn’t big on the idea and the project was shelved indefinitely. But when Iacocca was fired from Ford and made his way over to a foundering Chrysler, he had just the project to reinvigorate the company. Of the $1.5 billion in federal loans Chrysler received, Iacocca invested $500 million into developing the Dodge Caravan. That’s a ton of money to throw at an unproven new model intended to forge a new automotive segment. Luckily for Iacocca, his gamble on the minivan paid off.
Survival of the Fittest Family Hauler: Prior to the Dodge Caravan America’s preferred family hauler was the station wagon. These elongated sedans offered luggage racks on the roof, rumble seats in the back, and in many cases wood paneling connoting their semi-luxury aspirations. Over time the real wood was replaced by plastic wood grain paneling and literal lampooning in Hollywood films made the station wagon vulnerable to competition from a new vehicle marketed to families, the minivan. The virtues of the minivan were quickly apparent. They were taller, allowing for significantly more cargo than a station wagon. Likewise, third row seating in a minivan was much improved over a station wagon’s side-on jumps seats of dubious safety quality located in the cargo area and suitable only for the smallest/most annoying of children.
Of course, the Dodge Caravan didn’t suffice being the better vehicle on a practical basis, it also, famously, offered the same kind of faux wood paneling, just like rival station wagons. A feature Chrysler minivans continued to offer through the 1993 model year (’92 for the Town & Country).
The Dodge Caravan and other minivans of the 1980s easily supplanted the station wagon as the family vehicle of choice. But with the advent of the Ford Explorer and other SUVs in the 1990s, the minivan’s dominance proved short-lived and by the early 2000s it was clear SUVs and crossovers were the ascendant family vehicles. Like the station wagon before it, the minivan’s reputation for family utility had made it “uncool” while SUVs were marketed as “sporty” and “adventurous” even though they were no more likely to be taken off-road than the minivans they replaced and offered significantly less real-world utility.
A Van by Any Other Name: The Dodge Caravan was one of a quartet of minivans produced by Chrysler. In addition to the Caravan there was the Plymouth Voyager (basically identical) and Mini-Ram cargo van. The Grand Caravan and Grand Voyager long wheelbase versions were introduced for the 1987 model year, lengthening from a standard 112-inch to 119-inch wheelbase and offering V6 engines. The Chrysler Town & Country, introduced in 1988, brought back that storied nameplate. Fun fact, Chrysler Town & Country is the only car to feature a non-alphabetical character, the ampersand, in its name.
Convert-a-Seat: Chrysler’s Stow-n-Go seating (introduced for 2005) wasn’t just successful thanks to the catchy name; they were a coup in practicality. Finally, you didn’t need to haul out the back seat for full cargo capacity or find a suitable spot in your garage for the seat. But did you know that wasn’t the first seating innovation Chrysler had featured in their vans?
The first-generation Dodge Caravan briefly offered a “Convert-a-Bed” option of fold flat rear seats for the 1985 and ’86 model years. The third through fifth generations of Caravan offered “Easy-Out Roller Seats” that could be moved fore and aft on a track. And then there were the “Swivel-n-Go” captain’s chairs of the fifth-generation van’s, offered in the 2008 through 2010 models, that could be turned to face the rear seat third row and even included a removable table piece.
Why the Original Got One Sliding Door: The Dodge Caravan didn’t get a second sliding door until its third generation when it was made an option for the 1996 model year. So why did Chrysler wait so long? Because they still wanted to use the Caravan as the basis for a small cargo van, the aforementioned Mini-Ram, and those buyers needed the solid, uninterrupted wall for equipment.
Mitsubishi Motor: The Dodge Caravan’s first V6 engine was made by Mitsubishi, introduced alongside a fuel-injected four-cylinder midway through production of the 1987 model year. The 3.0L V6 made 136 horsepower. The 1990 model got a Chrysler-built V6, a 3.3L making 150 horsepower.
Second-Gen Caravan Major Improvements: The second-generation Dodge Caravan debuted for the 1991 model year with a minor facelift (improving aerodynamics) but with major evolutions over its predecessor. The Caravan now sported four-wheel disc brakes and ABS. Safety improved inside as well with the introduction of dual air bags. Passengers were also treated to new optional captain’s chairs for the second row.
The Best-Selling Minivan of All Time: The Dodge Caravan, Lee Iacocca’s big gamble on an unproven new segment, was a smash hit in its first year, selling over 210,000 units. By 1991, Chrysler was selling over 600,000 minivans across its various brands. To date, Chrysler has sold 14.6 million minivans. Despite their success, Chrysler’s minivan sales dipped below 200,000 units in 2007 and were hit hard by the Great Recession. Combined with the rise of the SUV, Chrysler’s minivan sales never returned to those same heights. Chrysler discontinued the Chrysler Voyager after the 2016 model year, the Chrysler Town & Country after the 2017 model year, and the Dodge Caravan after the 2020 model year, leaving the Chrysler Pacifica as the sole remaining Chrysler minivan, albeit a good one.