Who really debuted the first ever mini-van? The title remains hotly contested, between Renault’s Espace, and ChryCo’s Caravan/Voyager twins (not to mention the VW Microbus). But to North Americans and Europeans, that’s a moot point; both were first in their respective markets. The 1984 off-spring of Lee Iacocca came from Chrysler’s S-Platform, a stretched version of the K-Car chassis. (Yes, the very chassis that saved the Pentastar brand with its first-ever federal bailout.) By rejecting the normal rear wheel-drive layout of the time, the Voyager came off as a modern marvel. It boasted a transverse-front wheel-drive layout, flexible seating, good fuel economy, a smooth ride and car-like handling– something that took the other two Detroiters several years to figure out.
By 1987, the vans were refreshed with flush headlights, a revised interior and what would ultimately bring the mini-vans into the realm of true versatility: the extended wheel-base “Grand” editions. And they were grand, with fake wood slathered all over the center console, an Infinity stereo, power everything, and the new 3.0-liter Mitsubishi sourced V6 engine, good for a whopping 140bhp. Mom’s 1989 Grand Voyager LE version proved to be the most remarkable, with the wood-grain contact paper slathered all the way down the side, which began to peel when I inherited it as my high school steed of choice. In the 80’s, simulated wood was tres chic.
The Grand Voyagers were the best thing on the market for larger families. They proved endlessly comfortable on long drives to Ohio, endlessly adaptable with the removable seating (provided you could ever get the really heavy seats out in the first place), and kinda reliable. You know; once you got away from the Ultradrive 4-speed transmissions that detonated like an IED at 40K miles. And the power door locks that could trap you inside your van. And the power windows that would fail. And the speakers blowing out. And the ride height leveler going haywire. And the motor mounts collapsing. And the rear wiper failing. And the self-melting turn signals… OK, so the interior held up remarkably well, and the engine lasted forever. At least the Torqueflite 3-speed transmission would prove unrelentingly reliable enough to create Johnny Lieberman’s most hated vehicle on the LA freeways.
My 10-year odyssey with Beelzebub, the screaming white brick of death, cemented in my mind as a van that was well designed, but not much fun to drive (to a 15 year old). While the Grand Caravan wasn’t exactly full of character, it helped create its own identity by the memories and experiences that occurred within into its cavernous interior. With the seats removed, it could fit 17 teenagers on a pilgrimage to Taco Express. FYI.
Chrysler started building minivans in 1983 and Renault started building minivans in 1984. Not really hotly disputed.
And the VW microbus came out in 1950. So that’s 34 years to play “catch-up.”
VW may have sold the first small van but Chrysler is certainly the first modern minivan.
Check out this extreme shorty Plymouth Voyager I saw a while back – I’ll bet its a handful to drive. I talked to the owner briefly – her husband chopped out the sliding door section a number of years ago. Sadly she said the kms were getting racked up and she didn’t know how much longer it had.
http://flickr.com/photos/daveseven/2751583402/
http://flickr.com/photos/daveseven/2751583390/
You could also argue that the long forgotten Corvair Sportswagon was America’s first minivan. It’s close in size to the Plymouth Grand Voyager. It was supposed to be Chevy’s version of the Volkswagen van.
I was washing cars for a Chrysler/Plymouth dealer when these things came out, they couldn’t keep them on the lot. Chrysler sent a letter to all it’s dealers telling them to stop marking prices up on these.
I love these capsule reviews. In the mid to late 1980’s I was long ago tired of road trips in the family Oldsmobile and longed to someday ride around in a “minivan.” Never got that wish but oh were minivans cool back then.
In high school (early 90’s) the Aerostar was the minivan of choice amongst my friends (RWD makes for great donuts in the winter), but alas, by then I thought minivans were grocery getters and not so cool.
The optional 2.6L Mitsu 4-banger and 3-spd auto that served as the top engine choice in ’84-’86 (until the V6 debuted in ’87) was bomb-proof like the Ultradrive 4-speed was bomb-like. Our family’s ’86 LE (maroon with fake redwood stickers) was a robust and reliable vehicle, but oh the quirks:
– Cold engine throttle setting would not kick down from the day it was new – 35 mph was achievable without ever touching the accelerator on a cold morning.
– Same cold throttle would result in the most heinous transmission “thunk” switching between R and D – every time you would expect to see the tranny laying on the ground. But amazingly, it held solid for 160K miles.
– Air conditiong was akin to a hamster wheezing over a sno-cone. Vent windows in the rear barely kept rear seat passengers from dying.
– Poorly proportioned (non-ABS) brakes (almost rear-biased) made for fun spins in the snow in any steering event.
Now the ’95 GC LE that followed – that was another bomb completely (4 transmissions – good riddance). “Just don’t build ’em like they used to…”
I don’t know which minivan engine is the offender, but from my experience this generation of Chrysler minivan has remarkable knack for burning oil. You can usually smell them before you see them. And when you do catch up to them, they are invariably obstructing traffic flow.
It boasted a transverse-front wheel-drive layout… Boasted FWD? BOASTED??? I’m getting dizzy…
*thud*
With the Voyagers poor build quality, no wonder Honda (among others) have sold so many mini-vans. It just goes to show that a lot of people have been ripped off and the big 2.8 should have died a lot sooner.
The VW Microbus anticipated much of the layout (especially the sliding door). Mechanically though, it was ancient. Thus no flat-floor cargo/passenger compartment, no front crumple zone, and no heat. A forerunner, but definately not all the way there.
My family had a microbus, that story is in the “nostalgia” section.
NickR:
“I don’t know which minivan engine is the offender, but from my experience this generation of Chrysler minivan has remarkable knack for burning oil. You can usually smell them before you see them. And when you do catch up to them, they are invariably obstructing traffic flow.”
That would be the Mitsubishi 3.0L V6. Very well known problem (on Mitsubishi vehicles as well). Allpar.com has a page dedicated to it. Caused by premature valve wear. The problem was corrected in 91 or 92 by using a new part. Motors with the heads re-done can get the new part so it doesn’t happen again. The Chrysler built engines were much more reliable. I had a 94 Grand Caravan with the Chrysler 3.3 and the infamous Ultradrive transmission. Great van. Never let us down. Most of the transmissions performed reliably, but failure rate was abnormally high (like certain Honda transmissions) especially if you put the wrong fluid in them. By the looks of the TSB’s issued the problems were pretty much take care of by the mid 90’s.
From the ages of 16-18 I piloted a 1999 Isuzu Oasis, which some of you might or might not know is a rebadged first generation Honda Odyssey. This means that I was driving an immensely reliable mini-van complete with a 150 bhp 4-cyl. engine and 4 conventional doors. It was forest green. Pangs of nostalgia are creeping upon me as I type this…
For a little under a year after that, I drove a 2001 Prius.
And since February, I’ve been driving my pride and joy, a 2001 BMW 540i, M-Sport, with the 6-speed manual. Despite the apparent upgrade, there’s nothing quite like hooking up with your high-school girlfriend in the back of a minivan..
The Espace and Voyager hit the market within months of each other. It is obvious they were both in development at the same time – so it’s kinda pointless to brag about who invented it.
However, the first generation Espace was a lot more innovative (swiveling seats, center seat that turned into a desk, etc.) in its usage of space than the Chryco products.
If you really want to look at who did it first, the Nissan Prairie was sold in Japan and Europe in 1981 – front engine, FWD, 5+2 seating. Probably the precursor to the Renault Espace, Chrysler Voyager and Mitsubishi Chariot products a few years later.
In the late 1970s, Ital Design actually introduced a 7 seat FWD minivan concept based on the Lancia Gamma platform – but some genius at Fiat thought something like that would never sell so it was thrown away.
@ Mike: “Hydramatic” is a General Motors trade name. The Chrysler four-speed auto was called Ultradrive.
@ Thinx: The Chrysler minivans originated conceptually with a Ford concept called Mini Max, in the mid-seventies. Hal Sperlich and Lee Iacocca were big on it then, but they couldn’t convince Henry Ford II that it was worth the tooling investment. When first Sperlich and then Iacocca landed at Chrysler, they revived it there. So, it wasn’t an entirely new concept even in the states.
Gotta give Chrysler its due here. Nobody had a worthy competitor for the Caravan/Voyager until the 98 Honda Odyssey. GM and Ford’s first read drive minis (Astro and Aerostar) did the job for those who needed to tow trailers, but that was about it. GM’s second effort (the dustbuster vans) were awful and Ford’s Windstar was closer, but still no real competitor. The Japaneese tried more carlike versions (Mazda MPV or Honda’s first-gen Odyssey) or vehicles that were just plain odd (Toyota Previa). The Caravan/Voyager led the pack on features and configuration through the last generation with the stow & go seats. This was the first MoPar with mass market appeal on a sustained basis since the 40s. I think that the new version is the first new generation ChryCo minivan that fails to jump out in front of its competitors. Odyssey and Sienna have caught up, but it took over 20 years.
And the VW microbus came out in 1950.
Not even in the same ball park except in interior room. And like the Corvair and Falcon vans, would you really want to be involved in a front end crash while driving one?
The Caravan/Voyager were a brilliant idea (modern amenities) in an attractive package. Too bad about the reliability, but as others have said – there’s a reason why Toyota and Honda rule this market as well.
I wish they made a new Gen 1 Odyssey…to me it’s a perfect size and doesn’t need a billion doodads.
Dave M:
I wish they made a new Gen 1 Odyssey…to me it’s a perfect size and doesn’t need a billion doodads.
They do. It’s called a Mazda 5. I think this is the closest thing out there to the original 4 cyl minivans.
Dave M. the Kia Rondo is in the same ballpark. Not an endorsement, just an observation.
The Mazda5 is a few inches narrower than a 1st gen/JDM Odyssey or original Chrysler minivan. The Ody has the nice Magic Seat which gives you a well behind the 3rd row, the Chrysler had removable 2nd and 3rd rows.
Mike and RF: Hydramatic is a GM tradeword for their brand of transmission. It is not the same as Chrysler’s 4 spd.
My father had a red 1986 Dodge Caravan SE. By the time it was 10 years old, the A/C broke, the transmission had to be replaced and the mirror knob broke off. Those seats were very heavy to remove.
Ford, Dodge and Chevy all had popular minivans in the early 60’s but space and driver safety were badly compromised by their rear wheel drive configuration. Chrysler’s front drive layout was the first design to provide a flat load floor, three row seating and suitability for normal garage parking. My ’91 Grand Caravan with the 3.3 engine was great for long family trips. Two adults and two adult size teenagers with a week’s worth of ski gear could comfortably make the trip from Southern California to Park City averaging over 70 mph at 22 mpg.
I had a ’92, a Plymouth. I avoided all the slushbox problems by finding the rare 5-speed manual transmission model. Build quality was crap, but it got 25-30mpg, and had a whole lot of room.
I kinda miss it.
Spot on review. I have a ’94 Plymouth Grand Voyager inherited from my mom, who in turn bought it from her sister, who bought it new with all the bells and whistles.
The rear door fell off its rails a few years ago and now it’s permanently closed, the rear wiper hasn’t worked since the Clinton administration, the tape player stopped working about 2002, the speakers are wearing out, and then there was the water pump blowing out for no apparent reason, but the beast holds everything a college kid ever needed and is still reliable enough to drive back home every once in a while without fear of being stranded. And if things go from bad to worse, the seats are very comfortable to sleep in.
Dave M: (about a VW microbus) “would you really want to be involved in a front end crash while driving one?”
Even at their utmost top speed, there would be no damage whatsoever. The average fat american can sprint the 100m faster than a VW Bulli.
–chuck
“Airhen :
December 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
With the Voyagers poor build quality, no wonder Honda (among others) have sold so many mini-vans. It just goes to show that a lot of people have been ripped off and the big 2.8 should have died a lot sooner.”
Typical head in the sand – Chrysler sells more minivans than ANYONE. 2008 YTD from Honda website:
Honda Odyssey – 128,543
Dodge 116,822 Caravan
Chrysler 110,411 Town and Country
Close enough to 2:1. Sorry, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good blatant untruth.
BTW I had a Plymouth Voyager as an inherited company car once – not something I would buy, but no issues either. One of the people who worked for me there had a new Honda Odyssey. Nothing to brag about compared to the Plymouth that I could see and I am critical.
If you guys really want to get technical about this, the very first minivan was the 1935 Stout Scarab.
But it would be hard to dispute that the first truly successful minivan on a mass-production scale was the ’84 Chrysler.
Straying a bit off the subject of who was the first mini-van, The 89 MPV we had when I was growing up was a winner to me. RWD, good ride, good build quality and can smoke the pants of the chrysler in a drag race (torquey 3liter v6). Ah, and need I not mention the optional 4WD (which unfortunetaly my father didnt opt for). It was actually more SUV than mini-van but still a mini-van.
The only real gripe I had as a young child was the lack of a sliding door in place of a conventional swing-out door. At the time I thought sliding doors were quite fascinating and never missed the opportunity to open and close the door of the cousin’s 93 base Caravan. However ours felt like a superior vehicle and stayed in the family for 13 years. We finally sold it with 275k miles on the clock and a busted transmission for $500. Its still chugging around the island of Puerto Rico as i write this. ( probably with a rebuilt engine and tranny).
The MagicWagons were terrific family cars, if you could keep a transmission in them. A person running alongside picking up the parts that fell off was also helpful.
Did those things came equipped with Chrysler’s 2.2 or 2.5 Turbo four?
I’ve read some tales about some very cool turbo screammers in the internet.
Wow, this really brings back memories. My parents bought a 1989 DGC because I was born and my sister came along later on in 1992. I remember we always took this car to L.A. and Santa Cruz. Sadly it was poorly made and at 10,000 miles you can hear the sliding door squeek and at 35,000 miles the tranny bombed. It was really in innovative minivan though I gotta admit.