(first posted 2/4/2015) We’ve had a few gen1 Caravans here lately, but they were all the long wheelbase versions, with their inevitable V6 engines, automatics and three-row seating. But in the early years, the Caravan and Voyager were offered in a more…elemental version, including with a five speed stick shift and five passenger seating. They were quite uncommon then, requiring an order as no dealer wanted to stock a stick-shift Caravan. But here’s a survivor, and with the five-passenger seating too.
Strictly speaking, the stick was standard on these, along with the 97 hp 2.2 L four. But as I said, one had to order them, as some friends of ours did in 1987. She was a determined stick shift driver, and was willing to wait almost two months to get her Caravan just like this one.
The five passenger Caravan had a full-width rear seat, mounted further back than the middle seat in the seven passenger version, making for much better leg room. And it had a very roomy storage area behind it. It really was more like a station wagon, and for plenty of folks made more sense, as the back seat didn’t have to be removed to get any kind of decent cargo space.
This Voyager brochure shot shows the five, seven and the eight passenger version with the front bench seat, but not the six-passenger one. But a bit of mix and match will take care of that.
This one’s sporting a front fender from a Turbo Caravan. It appears that a few turbo five-speed vans were made too, but most seem to be automatics. The turbo wasn’t there specifically as a sports model, but purely because Chrysler lacked capacity for V6 engines, and so dropped in the turbo 2.2 as a desperate measure. Full story here.
Some folks might get excited about finding a hemi ‘Cuda on the street; I get excited about finding a stick-shift five-passenger Caravan. There will always be hemi ‘Cudas around; not so these. And that’s what CC is really all about.
Agreed Paul ;
This is what it’s really all about .
A nice rare find .
-Nate
+1
My roommate briefly had a 5-speed Previa, and man what a difference it made compared to the automatics. That thing moved much faster than any other minivan I’ve ever driven.
A coworker had a 5-speed Previa, which he had ordered new. The shifter was mounted on top of the raised floor section over the engine, so fell to hand just like in a small car. With the low centre of gravity, that van felt like a much smaller machine in corners.
Dang, don’t you miss velour? I rode in my friend’s KIA today, with abrasive sandpaper cloth- and my cars all have black leather, and I live in S FLA.
Aw, and I want that van bad.
i had an ’85 Plymouth Voyager with the same drivetrain. I found it enjoyable to drive. With the manual the 2.2 was adequate. Mostly suburban driving averaged about 20 mpg.
I tought that manual transmissioned Voyagers (Caravans) existed only in Europe. Most of the “Made in Austria” Voyager owners I know personally are driving 5-speed manuals. This option is rather popular on euro-markets. Even the GM counterpart Vauxhall/Opel Sintras are equiped mostly with manual transmission. Both of them in this case have 4 cylinder diesel and gasoline engines.
I smashed a stick shift Caravan CV when I worked at the Dodge/Plymouth dealer years ago. It was our parts delivery van. That van was so clunky.
My father’s ’84 Voyager was stick shift. The last stick shift vehicle he ever owned. I don’t know why. He’s just driven automatics since.
I remember in the early 80s, a friend’s family had a full-size short-wheelbase Dodge van with a manual transmission and what must have been a 318. I used to think it was cool as hell. I’m thinking it must have been fairly rare itself.
But back to the subject at hand, I don’t know that I ever saw a manual transmission in one of these, never mind a five-passenger version. I don’t know that I would have noticed this one, but I’m glad that there are people out there that do.
That’s a rare bird. The Big 3 all dropped both 4-on-the-floors in their vans and 3-on-the-trees in both vans and pickups around 1987, when 1. Chevy went to the GMT400 trucks, 2. Ford put out their new 8th-gen F-series, and 3. Chrysler ended production on the venerated Slant Six.
I have an 82 Dodge 318 mini-ram(very short wheelbase) with 3 speed manual w/ o/d on the floor. Fun as hell to drive.
You can see the shifter peeking at over the passenger seat
mine is a 1979 dodge sportsman. its a b200 or 3/4 ton. 318 2bbl 3spd OD.
factory a/c
Now that is a cool van and so rare! Reminds me a bit of my 1980 Ford Club Wagon with a 4 speed manual on the floor. Also had a 1980 Dodge Ram pickup truck, same transmission with the 225 slant 6.
Since this article came out in 2015 there are so many fewer new vehicles with manual transmissions. One reason I have a 1999 Honda Accord 5MT.
I rode in a stick shift Chrysler minivan! It was the airport shuttle van for a Thrifty Rent-A-Car location. At the time, Thrifty was owned by Chrysler Corporation and most of their cars were Chrysler-owned, leased to Thrifty, to become “one-owner low-mileage used cars” sold at Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealers after their rental stints. This one must have been a dog that Chrysler knew they couldn’t move at retail, and shipped off to Thrifty as a utility vehicle.
Yes!!! I also rode in a stick shift minivan shuttle. I had completely forgotten about it till I read your comment.
Very rare find; reminds me of the ’62 Buick Special convertible, with factory 4 speed, I saw a few years back when I went to lunch. There are more hens teeth to be found in the wild than these.
Never seen one, but some co-workers rented a stick shift Caravan on a business trip in Spain. They were a little surprised at that.
I rode in a stick shift Aerostar, and my FIL tells me he did sell a couple of stick shift Windstars in the 90’s.
Would love for my 2007 Caravan to be a 5-speed, these days I guess the only option is Mazda5.
Nice find, but whatever posessed you to look in the window to check?
I’m probably not the only CC’er who does this, but I compulsively check almost every car I walk by to see if it’s a rare stick-shift. Obviously I don’t bother on cars where there was never such an option. But it does mean that even the most seemingly-boring lineup of Camrys, Accords, CR-Vs, etc might have something to get excited about.
Not the only one who glances between the seats of parked cars at all!!! I listen for manual shifts as well.
The possibility that it might be a stick! I’ve been on the hunt for one for some time.
Anyway, I look inside every car that I consider shooting.
I am the proud owner of 3 5 speed stick shift 5 passenger seated Dodge Caravans. All three of them run with body’s in almost ammaculant condition as well as the I terriers of them. I might consider selling one or two but really don’t know what they are worth now adays… Do you have any ideas? Can call me 9079038031. Daryn Holmes
The Mazda 5 is no longer available with a stick for MY2015, unfortunately. I’m glad I picked my 2014 up when it was still available.
i also had a 5 speed manual Aerostar (yes I’m a manual fanatic, my Subaru Forester is manual). That had the 3.0 V6, a very nice drivetrain. I never knew the Windstar could have a manual. I’ve seen older Mazda RWD (I think) minivans with the 5 speed manual.
And where can you get one of these today.
The first vans were seemingly as likely to be sticks as autos.
I don’t agree. Our friends who wanted a stick Caravan searched all over the Bay Area; none to be had. She had to order hers. The dealers did not want these on their lots.
You are correct. I was not talking about the first Caravans. I was thinking of the old flat faced chev/ford/Dodge with three on the tree or a floor shift if you were lucky. The latest model I recall seeing that way was about an 85 ford with floor shift and 302. You found a very rare bird.
I have driven 2 naturally aspirated 5 speed Caravan/Voyagers of this generation, one with the 2.2 and one with the 2.6. Also owned a ’92 with the 2.5 and 7 passenger seating. Very space efficient and somewhat fun to drive, if slow. I have seen 5 speed Turbos, but they are very rare and, among certain circles, desirable.
My Caravan was already succombing to the tin worm when I bought it, and eventually a weak clutch and a head gasket on its way out caused me to part company with it. I am surprised the brochure didn’t list 2 3 passenger bench seats in the rear as an option? If the spacing allowed for sufficient leg room and the 4 cylinder would get it moving, that would have to be one of the most space efficient ways to transport 8-9 people. I have also never seen a non-brochure photo of a 3 person front bench seat in a Caravan/Voyager.
“This one’s sporting a front fender from a Turbo Caravan, which was actually available only with the automatic.”
Actually Dodge offered a 5 speed manual transmission turbo engined Caravan from 1989-1990. It was not a big seller but it was offered.
Here is an article on it
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1073027_guilty-pleasure-1989-90-turbo-5-speed-chrysler-minivan
A school friend’s folks had a 1984 bare bones Plymouth Voyager with a stick shift. It was like driving a UPS truck with its clunky shifter and clutch feel and if i went over a bump or let the clutch pedal out too in first all the arm rests fell off(no lie) I ended up sticking them all in a box in the back for the duration of its stay with me.
My bad; I forgot about the stick/turbo combo. Fixed.
The only stickshift caravan I ever saw in the flesh was a Turbo. I’m sorry to say this was at a salvage yard 🙁
I sort of remember driving a turbo stickshift in the 80s. I think I rented it, but I might have borrowed it.
I think people forget how humble the early Mopar mini’s were. The only wheelbase was relatively short, just one sliding door, 4 banger only power, usually coupled to an automatic – slow, but competent enough for the times.
The humble early mini’s sold well to a humbled American auto buyer. After 1979’s OPEC II and the rotten economy of the early ’80s, folks were willing to give a roomy vehicle that promised decent fuel economy a try. And, thank God for Chrysler, their quality and performance was decent enough on this product launch to avoid alienating yet another group of buyers for life. They were actually three for three when counting front drive platforms – the L, the K and the S (minivan).
In hindsight, maybe Chrysler should have kept the first gen mini around as a short wheel base only model after the updated and bigger mini’s came out. A modestly priced Plymouth product might have made a nice long term entry level product.
Having had one new (’85 Caravan C/V finished inside), and I don’t really consider them humble. For the time, they were hot stuff, as nobody had ever considered being able to have that kind of hauling ability in something that approximated a car.
You’d have never considered them humble if you’d have seen them swarming at the annual Pennsic War (Society for Creative Anachronism), unloading tons of medieval tentage, armor, and everything necessary for 10 days of living in medieval splendor and cut off from the mundane world.
For some buyers, maybe the young buying their first family mobile, these were trendy.
Humble in two senses……
My parents generation were also buyers, and they were coming out of their 3rd or 4th large V-8 powered traditional car, looking for financial refuge at the window sticker and at the pump. A lot of the early versions sold with modest equipment levels, and a 4 cyl. 112″ wheelbase vehicle with leisurely acceleration was a wholesale change from a 1978 Ford Country Squire with a 460 under the hood. The fist Voyager I saw up close was an ’84 in 1984 that belonged to the parents of my sister’s college roommate.
The second sense is that these evolved into rather pricy loaded vehicles with so-so gas mileage. By the time I bought one in 1999, Chrysler’s Town & Country was a credible luxury car alternative and mid trim models were $30K, about $40k today with just a few options, the top versions start heading toward $50K.
Comparing the typical ’85 Caravan to the typical Town & County, Sienna or Odyssey of today is a significant contrast.
CC effect: I saw a Gen2 stickshift Caravan in the junkyard yesterday! It was red, just like my stickshift ’92 Plymouth Voyager was.
For some reason, it seemed like all the Gen2 5-speed models were red. No idea why.
My 92 Caravan stick was red also, lol 🙂
My stickshift Voyager was red.
I rode in one of these once. I had a co-worker who was an extremely frugal fellow, and he went out of his way to buy a zero-option minivan. I don’t remember what other features were missing (could you buy one without A/C?), but I do remember that shift lever poking out of the floor. Until then, I hadn’t realized a standard tranny was available.
So what kind of gas mileage would one of these get in the real world?
I love finds like this…they appeal strongly to my reserved, minimal nature. I keep telling my wife that when kids do arrive…oh it will be a minivan. And not just any minivan, a mini-minivan, the way they were invented. A Transit Connect or NV200 that is designed for global cargo hauling,, not just fat kids and soccer balls. They’ll be lucky if it has windows and upholstery in the back! I cannot wait to have a vehicle that my kids are embarrassed about.
EPA was 18/26. I got 23-25 city, 28-30 highway. Combined with the huge tank (designed with the gas-sucking 3.0/V6 in mind) I could go a loooong way between fill ups.
That’s when driven empty. Loaded down with people or cargo, you had to beat it like a rented mule to make it get out of its own way. Gas mileage dropped through the floor.
My aunt drove a brown, manual SWB Aerostar for many, many years – bought new in ’89 and kept until probably 2001 or ’02. It was a distinctly no-frills vehicle – about the only option was A/C and when that broke, they didn’t get it fixed – but it schlepped their family of 6 around without too much drama. Could very well have been special-order, but Aunt Eileen has always preferred manuals, to this day; her current car is a manual CRV.
A buddy of mine ordered one just like this, in white. It drove pretty well, actually. He had it for quite a few years while his kids were small.
During my brief auto sales career, we had a manual trans Safari on the lot once. The shifter was right alongside the seat, which was kinda strange to drive.
We had minivans for 22 years (1987-2009) and I never knew there was a 5-passenger model that wasn’t just an 8-passenger model with the rear seat taken out. Was this available on the Grand models, or just the standard SWB? We only ever had Grand Voyagers/Caravans, and they were all 7-passengers, IIRC.
Only on the swb versions. And it might have been dropped at some point.
Just going off of memory here, but I believe the 5-passenger model was the standard configuration on the base spec SWB Caravan and Voyager through 1995. Starting with the 3rd generation in 1996, all minivans were 7 passenger.
My ex had one of these, before I knew her. Plymouth version, in yellow, with the stick. She said she kind of liked it. She was shocked when I bought my minivan years later that nobody offered one with a stick anymore.
Great find! Any first generation (or second generation, for that matter) Caravan is rare in my parts, but these were rare even when new. I kind of like the 5-passenger set up, with more leg room and the huge cargo area. The rear bench seems more fixed, and less like its just kind of floating around. That cloth looks especially plush.
If you couldn’t tell, I like this car!
A neighbor had a north of 200k miles stick 4 cylinder 1st gen that was given to him, and it was trouble free. Don’t remember the seating configuration. Sadly he passed at a young age and the van disappeared shortly afterwards. He said it was slow, but it gave him good service.
Apparently cheapskate Canadians occasionally convert these to VW diesels as well. Jalopnik had one as NPOCP and there are a few videos around.
The early ones even could be had with factory refrigerators with ice makers. My brother in law was bummed that he didn’t know about that when he bought their first one. We have had 3 and have put around a quarter of a million miles on each. The current one , a 2003, is starting to leak oil so it may be time to put it out to pasture and replace it. My wife loves the room for her kayaks and whatever else it is required to haul.
Is that really true about the first T-115s? I had no idea. Unless those were aftermarket versions.
I had an 80 Ford Econoline shorty van with the 300 cubic inch 6 cyl, and a 4 speed stick shift, which I understand was kind of rare. Most were automatics, and if they were manual, they’d be more likely a 3 on the tree. The stick shift in my van was set back to clear the inside engine cover.
DrZhivago138,
I don’t know when manual transmissions were dropped from full-sized vans, but you could still get one in a full-sized pickup as recently as 5 years ago.
Apparently, GM was listening to potential buyers and is offering a manual transmission with the 4 cylinder-equipped Colorado/Canyon, just as Nissan and Toyota still do on their “small” trucks.
Not sure if I replied 6 years ago – sorry if I already did, but I had a 1980 Ford Club Wagon, two tone red and white. It had the 300 cid 6, and 4 speed on the floor. No power steering!
Nice looking Minivan and my folks in July 1995 wanted a stick shift 95 Voyager, but they settled for a 3 Speed Torqueflite instead. I imagine the oar/handle for the transmission is a wee short since I remember sitting in my 95 Voyager and while something by the seat bottom is reachable I imagine having to move the oar/handle to the right would require some leaning toward the passenger.
Owned a 84 – 4speed and 92- 5speed. Both went 250,000 km with very little mechanical work. Power was a high rpms, so you really had to use the gears. Later V6 motors were much more enjoyable to drive. 4 cylinders on flat land could get 30-35 mpg, but had to row up hills . billc
Now this one I like. Especially the styling. MUCH better than what came later. I also love the manual transmission. Only thing I really don’t like is the FWD. Rip the rear seats out and this could be used for a camper type vehicle, much like the old hippie type vans of yesterday. I do stay away from turbos, as I have found them to be unreliable and short lived (on other peoples cars) An engine can be designed and built to hold up under boost, but most manufacturers don’t do it, or do it well enough. I considered using a supercharger on my V8 powered Chevy S10, I could have gotten quite a bit more power, but I would have been sacrificing reliability and engine longevity. And that engine is well built. I built it that way because I did not every want to have to rebuild it.
Back in the early/mid 90’s my uncle (by marriage) used to own a ’88 Plymouth Voyager that had a 5 speed manual and 8 passenger seating, I was surprised to find out his car was a stick shift instead of an automatic, the manual version definitely seems to be uncommon.
A few years back there was the facelifted early 90’s Caravan for sale near my parent’s house and it was a 5-speed. A Caravan is no where on my list of desirable cars but since it had 5-speed written on the window I had to stop and look inside. Being born in the mid-1980s I remember riding in quite a few of these but had never seen a manual one.
I have a friend who lives in upstate NY who had one of these and drove it until it crumbled into a small pile of iron oxide, because by the time she started thinking about replacing it, Chrysler wasn’t making stickshift vans anymore, and trying to find one on the used market was a needle/haystack exercise.
I love the fact that the person who’s driving this car has a pair of drumsticks on the passenger seat. I wonder if they’re a gigging musician? The original minivan would be perfect for the role of hauling around a drum kit…
While I drove an original T115 for a couple of years, I didn’t own it. It was borrowed from my in-laws, who had it as a fourth vehicle. It was a great kid hauler. I knew the lower line models had a stick, but I think I may have only seen one or two, ever.
Still one of my favorite models from the 1980’s, even though they’re routinely looked down upon by the folks who could use them the most.
The first-gen minivan is rare as it is. This has to be the rarest of them all. I did, however, see a SWB 1988-1990 Voyager on my evening jog a week ago, albeit in poor condition. I rarely see any first-gen minivans on my commute, though.
I wonder how difficult it would be to get parts or service should the manual trans require it, since such an option was so rare to begin with?
I always knew that the first and second-gen Chrysler vans offered a manual, but I have never seen one in person. The third and fourth generation only have a manual in Europe.
I rented a Mopar turbo minivan back when they were new. I had it for a week and loved it. Didn’t know that a stick was available at the time, circa 1989. In subsequent years I came across a lot of magazine articles and web pages about hot rodding these little boxes. Chrysler had a catalog of go fast parts for the 2.2 turbo, I still have a copy of mine, of course they were not thinking of the minivan but others like Gus Mahon did.
One minivan that sticks on my mind was a car carrier conversion. It had been cut behind the sliding rear door and enclosed. The extension was a low flat platform taylor made to carry a vintage mini to the race track.
These minivans are a blank canvas for imaginative hot rodders with all the parts that were available from Mopar. Turbos, bigger turbos, special heads, AWD drive trians…etc. You would think you would see more of them.
Yessir, that IS what it’s all about, Mr. Neidermeyer…. Finding and driving rare gems(not Wayne Carini rare, but…) and appreciating them.
That’s why I love owning my Alfa 164S, my Datsun 200sx, and my two 80’s RWD Corollas. Lol
While, I can’t afford a Ferrari, these cars turn just as many heads and always get conversation from other people. I love owning CCs. 🙂
Love those 80’s Chrysler minivans… The pioneers of the genre.
Although, I would prefer it’s “manlier” version, the mini Ram Van… The one without the excess window greenhouse.
To me, it looks less Mr. Mom and more work truck… Gimme one with a 5 speed and turbo, and now we’re talking. Just like the one, Dale Gribble drives, on King of The Hill. Lol
Funny, how Chrysler put a turbo on everything in the 80’s. The New Yorker/E Class turbo was just as fast as the Daytona Turbo Z/Lazer Turbo… And THAT was slow. Lol
I live in Windsor Ontario where they built these. The very first one built was a Gold with Tan interior Plymouth Voyager. After Iacocca drove it up on the stage in 1983, it was used as a yard vehicle at Windsor Assembly. Someone mentioned that it was the first one in the late 90s or early 2000’s. It was taken out and rebaged as a Dodge Caravan most likely because the Voyager and Plymouth name were discontinued. Last I knew it was at the Walter P Chrysler museum.
One of the guys in my department had one of these minivans, I think I remember him having a problem with the transmission and not finding many options for replacing it (don’t recall what the problem was, but might have been stripped gear).
He was definitely a manual transmission fan; I don’t think it mattered to him whether it was a family car or not, he wanted the standard transmission. Around the same time he had the Dodge minivan he also had a Fiat Spyder, also manual, which he sold when he bought his next car, a 2000 VW Passat V6 (of course also with a manual). I think he had problems finding the Passat with the manual (especially with the V6)…but he found one. My Uncle also bought a manual Passat around this time, but I think it was the 1.8T rather than the V6 (my cousin now has that car).
I knew two people (on opposite coasts) who had 5 speed Caravans (or maybe Voyagers) in the early ’90’s. The eastern one belonged to my in-laws. They didn’t keep it long – and the stick shift was one reason.
I wish there was a better shot of the instrument cluster. We had one just like this (’87 5-speed, non-turbo — except ours was blue on blue color scheme). The two large gauges in the cluster are a speedometer and an ENORMOUS fuel gauge. No tachometer. Only an idiot-shift-light when the RPM got too high.
I don’t see it here, but on ours, there was a collar located below the shift knob that you had to pull up on in order to be able to shift into reverse. As you can imagine, it was kind of a PITA.
I’m going to look at an ’86 5 speed Caravan on Tuesday! He’s asking $400 but said he needs it gone quick and to make an offer! It runs and drives, just has brake problems. I’ve been looking for one for over 10 years, I found one or two online, but they were always to far away. I didn’t know you could get them with manuals until one of my exes said she couldn’t drive her dad’s work van. I looked at her like she was stupid until she explained it was a 5 speed. That was over ten years ago and the one I just found is ten minutes from my house. Anyway, this is my first manual Caravan, actually first Caravan period. Is there anything I should look out for when I look at it? Any help would be greatly appreciated! -John
That’s amazing that you’ve found a 5 speed manual Caravan today. It was in 2000 when I bought my ’85 manual Caravan. Also had a 1980 Ford Club Wagon with the 300 cid 6 and 4 speed, no power steering. Also an ’88 Ford Aerostar with the 3.0 V6 (I think Mazda) with a 5 speed manual. Around town I averaged around 20 mpg with the Caravan. 97 horsepower with the manual was fine, actually enjoyable to drive. A very basic model though, the seats didn’t even recline. I did like the fold down arm rests, some Honda CRVs had those a few years back, but the manual transmission CRVs omitted them.
I looked at it today. It’s a little rougher than I thought, but if I don’t buy it, he’s going to scrap it. I can’t let that happen! Plus, he had another 5 speed Caravan and before scrapping it, he pulled every unusable part off of it and all those parts are included. It hadn’t been started in 2-3 years and he put a battery in it and it fired right up, runs very well actually! It needs new brakes so I can’t drive it home but he offered to tow it to my house. So that’s the running van, a ton of parts, and a tow for $400! I’m worried it’s more work than I can handle, but I don’t think I can pass it up. It’s a completely stripped down model, no a.c., manual windows, ect. I prefer that though, I don’t need all that power stuff. It’s white with a light blue vinyl interior, it should clean up nicely. The gas tank needs replaced, is it pretty easy to get to? Like I said, I am worried it’s going to be to much work, but I feel like it will be worth it. I really don’t want to see it get scrapped.. what do you guys think?
It does look a little rough, but for $400 with a tow and some parts, it’s hard to go wrong. Plus these early vans are getting quite rare so it would be great to save one from the crusher!
Rough? Other than the rocker panels, that thing is in good shape. I also live in the Northeast, so…
Dude, save that thing. Those 1st gen Chrysler minivans are very rare, especially in running and driving condition.
Wow, that 80’s classic even has a nice shine to it… With a lil polishing and buffing, it would look even better.
Go for it. 😉
The more comments I get, the more determined I am to buy it. Lol I think it will make a good project for a first timer like me. Parts are readily available, and inexpensive if I need a parts that isn’t included. I was supposed to call him today and let him know for sure, but my dad has been in the hospital since last week because of a collapsed lung and that was the only thing on my mind today. He said he was ready to scrap if I didn’t want it, so I really hope he didn’t scrap It today. I’m calling him first thing in the morning, I hope I can catch him before he does. Keep your fingers crossed! I’ve been worried about all the work, but once my dad is out of the hospital, he’ll be off work for 6 to 8 weeks, so he plans on helping me when he feels better. A father son project sounds awesome. That definitely helped my decision. I can’t wait to get it and post some pictures! Thanks for the advice!
If you have where to park it off the grass , grab it before you lose the chance .
.
-Nate
I’d go for it. The price is good, no cost to tow it, and there can’t be many of these around. Worse case if the rust on the door couldn’t be easily fixed maybe one from that area could still be found in a junkyard. Looks like there’s not any rust around the wheel wells. Maybe some others could tell you about the gas tank. There’s probably forums out there for Mopar minivans from this era. I think you’ll like driving it – and it may end up being practical.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to go ahead and buy it. I’ve been wanting to drive one for years. I have a store on eBay and do alot of travelling buying stuff to sell, goodwill, flea markets, etc, so the van will be perfect for hauling, and hopefully cut down on my fuel costs. I’m going to call him tomorrow and tell him to go ahead and two it to my house. I will post some good pictures when I get it cleaned out. Thanks for a all the advice everyone, I appreciate it. If any of you guys that have one need any parts, let me know. I won’t be able to store all the parts, so I’m going to keep the essentials and help other owners if I can. I’m going to get impatient while getting inroads worthy, you guys have me super excited to drive it! Thanks again!
You’re welcome, and true – if the engine is running as it should it would be hard to beat the mpgs you’d get having all that cargo capacity. The interior of the featured Caravan in the article is the same as mine was. Really makes me wish I kept it. Trouble was – after all 3 kids started driving there wasn’t room for it. Even now with just 1 at home, I have a company vehicle, SUV and truck. We’re probably losing the company vehicles, if I had some extra $ I’d love to find something like this to fill the space. It would be for personal use, around town errands, Mainly to get a manual transmission ‘fix’ – I love manuals. My Subaru Forester is manual, would use that for work – but it’s 14 years old and as you probably know manual transmissions are becoming scarce, so it’s replacement will probably be an automatic.
I’ve seen Mopar forums where conversions for the V6 Caravan/Voyagers were done to 5 speed manuals from I believe a Dodge Avenger. It was a direct bolt in fix. Comments by owners were it made for a wonderful drivetrain, acceleration and fuel economy improved. I guess it didn’t make business sense to offer the V6/manual as a factory option. I think you’ll find power with the 2.2 4 with the manual just fine – I even found it fun. There’s something about a manual in a minivan and SUV…which is why I enjoy driving my Forester. Best of luck.
I got ahold of him before he scrapped it, but now I have other issues. They transferred my dad to a hospital 45 minutes away because his lungs are worse than they thought. I drive up here everyday to be with him and between fuel and other expenses, it’s using up most of the money I had to buy the van. He said he’d hold it for me, but not for long because he needs it gone. I’m thinking about setting up a Go Fund Me account and see if my friends and family will help. They will probably think I’m crazy, but they know how bad I want to save the van and I have to at least try. Wish me luck!
I looked up some of the ridiculous things people put on go fund me, so I figured what the hell, might as well. If anyone wants to help me save her, the link is
https://www.gofundme.com/2bbv75vd
I know it’s a long shot, but you never know unless you try. Thanks guys! -John
My uncle used to own a 1988 Plymouth Voyage 8 passenger minivan with the 5 speed manual and have rode in it a few times.
The two seat, 6 passenger vans did exist. Our first mini-van was an ’87 Voyager with a 2.2 and 3 speed auto. The drivers seat was a conventional bucket, but the front passenger seat was extra wide and had a lap belt for a center passenger. (No going back and forth between front and back like in our ’90 7 passenger.) There was one full width back seat with only one position to latch it to the floor. Would have kept it longer, but the Chrysler dealer’s repaired head gasket lasted only a couple months, so got rid of it and bought the ’90.
I grew up in the 80s and my dad always stuck with midsize station wagons because he needed seating for up to 6 and the wagons theoretically did a better job since you could seat 6 without comprimising cargo since they sat 3 in the front back then and kids could sit in the front row. 6 people in a a body century wagon was cramped as hell though. I envied my friends who had minivans.
Today i have a family of my own and its minivan all the way!
The other advantage, especially up north where A/C wasn’t yet a given even in mid-market cars, was that the rear side door windows on a wagon rolled down (unless you were stuck with a GM A/G body or first-year K car but those were the exception).
I hope David Tracy over at Jalopnik doesn’t see this. He worked for several months to get one of these over in Germany. He had his German friends buy it on his behalf, took three weeks off to fly over and tried fix it up enough to pass the German Hauptuntersuchung. While it made for interesting stores it failed the test badly.
My parents had an 88 and 89 short wheelbase but v6 and auto. The first was fully loaded power windows etc, (bought used at a bout 2-3 years old) the 2nd was fairly bare bones ( bought when the first died in the late nineties). They had replaced a K car wagon and Datsun station wagon. Before that family trips with 3 kids in the wagon were a bit tight (we did have a full size van used only for vacations and hauling things). When my sister moved out the third seats were pretty much always in the garage and the last row three person bench was mounted in the 5 passenger position (they had multiple mounting points in the floor). With the bench in that spot there was a lot more room. When we would take the family dog we would often move the seat back to the rear most position so the dog could lay in the middle of the car on a trip. I have fond memories of these. they were very useful little things.
@Mopar4wd- that’s what I remember about the seats from my parents’ ‘84-you could put that rear full bench in the middle with lots of legroom or just take out the middle bench and leave a huge space in the middle. In that configuration it reminded me of most of the air cooled VW transporters I owned- the middle seat was always long gone. I don’t think you could put the middle bench in the back position in the Mopar. I also never knew about the front bench option and have never seen that in person, ever! Ours had the 2.6 Mitsubishi and the 3 speed. Did well off road (sorry, mom and dad!)
in the late ’90s My brother needed a cargo vehicle – something more practical than his 5-speed ’83 Celica GT hatchback – for hauling guitars and amps. He bought a clean, low-miles 84 Voyager. The 2.2-automatic was a sluggish, but steady plodder, that could at least get up to, and maintain speed on the highway. However after two months, the automatic was dead. The ’83 Celica remained his guitar-hauler for another decade, while the Voyager got parked behind the house. Had the Voyager been a stick, it could have been more useful than the backyard storage shed it became for the next dozen years!
I bought a new Caravan in 1990, the short wheel base three seat version. 3.0 V6 /auto.Loved it. The Mitsu V6 was a winder ran well but the valve guides wore at over 100k, The three speed auto was much better than the four speed in my brother’s Caravan, which died early. Just like the one in my later Town and Country. The featured car’s blue grey upholstery was just like my van. We put a lot of family trips on the van. Once I even borrowed the rear seat from my brothers van. We had two, three across seats behind total seating of eight for a trip to Disneyland. Fun times.
That was a VERY ingenious thing you did there with those seats! I did the same thing in my ’96 Aerostar by taking out the 2-seat bench, moving the 3-seat bench to where the 2-seater was (the mounting holes are the same), and getting ANOTHER 3-seater from a wrecked ’95 at Pull-a-Part. My only regret is that I never took any pictures!
I currently have an ’05 Astro; those came from the factory with 8-passenger seating. No need for seat swapping here unless you want the fancier seats from the higher-end models. With the back seat out you can still seat 5 while having a TON of cargo room!
I feel like this is an AA admission speech . Automotive Anonymous. My name is Dave and I have a 1989 Plymouth Grand Voyager SE 2.5 turbo van with three speed automatic transmission.
Thank you folks , I feel better already.
I have 3 , 5 speed Dodge 5 passenger seated caravans in really good condition. Straight bodys, all the glass and pretty clean interiors as well. Will maybe consider selling if the price is right. So as rare as these Van’s are, what would be the value of them as of 2021? Can email me at nyradsemloh78@gmail.com
You may have 3 of the few left in the world!
I currently own the spiritual heir to these – a 2016 Kia Rondo (5 passenger, not 7 passenger) with a 6 speed manual trans. I’ve only seen a couple of others with the 6 speed. It would be even more rare south of the border because Kia did not sell the 2014-2020 Rondo at all in the U.S., only in Canada (and the rest of the world as the Carens).
I also once owned a 1990 Mazda MPV (RWD) with a 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual, and I have owned two Mazda 5s – both 5 speed manual.
Of the 15 cars I have ever owned, only one has been an automatic.