Minivan Milestones
We rank every Chrysler family hauler through the ages
The humble minivan might not get a lot of positive press these days, but there’s no doubt that for nearly 20 years sliding-door specials dominated the people-moving market.
Here’s how we rank every version of the world’s most successful passenger van.
1984-1990
First is best? That’s certainly the case we’re making for the original Dodge Caravan/ Plymouth Voyager/Chrysler Town & Country, which emerged out of the ashes of its parent company’s bankruptcy to take the family segment by storm. There was simply nothing like them available at the time, and it’s no stretch to call their seven-passenger packaging a passenger-car revolution.
So much originated with the original Chrysler offering: sliding doors, a low and flat load floor, the ability to easily remove rear seating, and a high driving position.
The decision to employ front-wheel drive meant no intrusion from the drivetrain into the rear seating area, and borrowing its engine from the successful K-car greatly reduced costs. Plus, you could get wood panelling on the Town & Country, as well as a manual transmission with a turbocharged engine.
2017-PRESENT
The Chrysler Pacifica rose from the ashes like some luxury-seeking phoenix for the 2017 model year. Available in both standard gas and plug-in hybrid editions, the Pacifica made the case for premium vans, because it could be packed with a surprisingly long list of features and offered far better materials throughout the cabin as compared to its predecessors. And all this without sacrificing any of its practicality.
The Pacifica intended to prove that an EV could serve as a family’s main ride. It was pricier than any version that came before it, and Chrysler didn’t see the volume of its past glory days, but it managed to reach an entirely new subset of customers seeking an alternative to the increasingly crowded SUV market.
1991-1995
The second-generation Chrysler minivan refined many of the concepts found in the original model. Allwheel drive became available, integrated child seats were an option, and both short- and long-wheelbase (Grand) designs remained in the mix. The vans were eventually offered with ABS and dual airbags, engine options improved to include the venerable 3.8-litre V6, and even the five-speed manual stuck around in base-trim vans for a few years.
2001-2007
The 2001 to 2007 editions might have killed off Plymouth (the Voyager nameplate shifted to Chrysler’s short-wheelbase option before disappearing entirely) but they introduced a feature that would come to define the model for the next decade:
Stow ‘n Go seating. Rear seats could fold completely flat into the floor, and it became a major marketing tool.
Minivans were no longer the players they once were, and this generation was the last major effort from Chrysler at staving off the inevitable before turning its attention to SUVs and crossovers.
1996-2000
All-new versions of the Caravan, Voyager and Town & Country appeared for the first time in 1996. The minivan segment was hot, and so Chrysler had a little more trouble standing out from a crowd that included competitive offerings from Honda, Ford and Toyota. Notable new gear included a driver’s-side sliding door and a new four-cylinder engine.
2008-PRESENT
At some point, Chrysler just stopped caring about its minivans and relied on its past reputation and aggressive pricing to lure budget-conscious families into showrooms. The Town & Country would exit in 2016, while the Grand Caravan ghost-walked into the future and remains on sale alongside its dramatically improved counterpart.
This is the generation that gave us both the Grand Caravan R/T and the Volkswagen Routan, a de-contented, re-badged van that did little to improve the fortunes of either brand. The Dodge would eventually see the installation of the best V6 ever offered in a Chrysler minivan — the 283-horsepower 3.6-L unit that debuted in 2011 (which is also offered in the Pacifica).