Believe it or not, the first-generation Dodge Caravan has been steadily growing on me. This is largely due to the fact that there’s basically no supply left of these highly durable people movers, and there’s a big-time appreciation for survivors like these at Radwood events. Who would have thought there’d be any car show out there where you could show up in mom’s minivan and be welcomed with open arms? The irony is strong with this one, because growing up, you wanted nothing to do with these. This is a LE trim example with the naturally aspirated drivetrain and a minty interior, save for a sagging headliner. Find it here on eBay where it’s listed with just 47,313 miles and an asking price of $9,900.
Though you don’t need woodgrain trim to enjoy a classic like this, it’s hard not to find the Dodge just a little more charming because of it. When Dodge introduced the Caravan, it was a game-changer across the board. And as much as some of us bemoan the status of the SUV, it’s important to remember that manufacturers are, by and large, responding to what customers want. At this time, shoppers were moving away from the classic family station wagon in search of something with more space and function. The modern-day crossover craze is more of the same, but this time, it’s the minivan model that’s being replaced in droves! It’s amazing how minty this Caravan remains, with its lustrous dark suede paint still presenting incredibly well.
That’s one reason a survivor minivan stands out: these were built to be used hard and cast off to the scrapyard after a few families wore them out. No one was thinking of preserving a Caravan back in 1990, not even the rare turbocharged models which went to the same big scrapyard in the sky. This example, with its gorgeous tan cloth interior and beautiful exterior woodgrain, had to have been owned by retirees who hoped the grandkids would visit a lot. The seller does note that it was always stored inside, and it shows. Today, if you find a minty top-trim model with white paint, woodgrain trim, and color-coded mesh wheels, grab it – I bet they’ll be pulling stronger money than this sooner than later, and that’s the ultimate spec, in my opinion.
The engine is a reliable 3.0L V6 that the seller reports benefits from a fair amount of recent servicing. New parts include fresh front brakes, a battery, and a replacement thermostat. With under 50,000 miles, I doubt this Caravan will need much in the near term, which is another enormously appealing aspect of buying one of these as a hobby car: it hauls people and car parts with ease, is dirt cheap to maintain, and will likely continue to appreciate over the next few years. While it won’t be the sexiest thing in your garage, there’s nothing wrong with a practical collector car that is one of the few remaining in near-showroom condition. Buy one while you can.
I appreciate seeing this here.
Really NICE! Personally, I’d prefer it w/o the woodgrain, but I’d gladly drive this one! I’d try to source a set of the alloy, or styled steel wheels and lose the wheel covers. This one’s a real time capsule! GLWTA!! :-)
10g’s FOR A FREAKIN’ MINIVAN??? Well, don’t that beat all. This ought to get a rift of comments, I hope you can be kind. Aside from my MGB and some of my classics, and now my Jeep, I can say, I actually LOVED my minivans. They did it all for me. Used one as a delivery job, kids learned to drive on them, even slept in one.( not too proud about that last one) The 1st was a Plymouth with a 4 cyl. turbo, that wasn’t the best, but I bought 2 once for $200 bucks, one, a basic van, the former person replaced EVERYTHING, brakes, shocks, tires, then the non O/D trans blew and they junked it, and the 2nd, from the same repair shop, was a nicer one, like this, with a blown motor ( @212K), but was from the south and a perfect body. I put the V6 from the basic one into the fancy one, and drove THAT one for tens of thousands of miles. The O/D trans in the fancy one, while some say troublesome although even at 200K, I had no trouble,, made all the difference. The seats were simply the best, and I could drive that van for hours and never get “Asian seat syndrome”. Fact is, I’d like to find some of those seats for my truck. Great find here, I certainly wouldn’t pay $10g’s for one, even if it had the window sticker, but fun to see at least one of the millions didn’t get scrapped. They were another game changer, one we simply can’t ignore.
Had a new 95 Plymouth Voyager. Same engine. Was nice. Wish I still had it today, easy to get in and out of, and these days, that has become a problem for me. I find myself driving my (low to the ground) pickup more because of that reason.
Ick
How much can you tow. Does it have a tow package. You can find out by the VIN number from the dealership.
Dude, dont say “minty” ever again unless you are refering to gum or i will personally duct tape you to a tree…i question your intelligence at this point…
Get a grip on yourself.
More like get a vicegrip on yourself. Minty may refer to almost mint. Too bad they don’t make Minty flavored duct tape for Everyboby Loves Raymond.
My grandparents had a 1988 Plymouth Grand Voyager top spec white paint full wood panels and tan cloth upholstery 3.0 V6, automatic and full aluminum running boards my grandfather sold it with 56,000 miles after he traded up to a new 2002 Tacoma crew cab. He also had bought a new 1990 Ram 2500 Conversion Van with the 360 V8 and it had the TV with full reclining sofa and chairs it was a massive van that only ever saw 9,000 miles before he passed in 2004 and it got sent to my cousin down in L.A. where it got totalled on the 405 freeway at 15,000 miles in 2007. It got all of about 8mpg if you had a tailwind and he also ordered it with a way to tow and 4.10 rear end which made it overgeared and it was a dark blue bottom half llighter blue accents and white top. Never thought I’d say it but old blue was a 💎
Potential buyers may be concerned with the non-working voltmeter.
Hmmmmmmmm
…”it’s important to remember that manufacturers are, by and large, responding to what customers want.” Thank you Jeff for this comment. We Barn Finders sometimes lament what the manufacturers are offering, noting “if they only built (fill in the blank with your desired but unavailable model) they would sell millions of them.” These massive companies with all of their resources know what is currently favored by the market. And it’s SUV’s of all flavors, and trucks, mostly nicely-equipped ones.
My personal lament is a manual transmission full size truck. But one hasn’t been available for over a decade (?) and I’m pretty sure they aren’t coming back. This noted, I was pleasantly surprised that Ford is offering a manual transmission on the lower trim levels of the Bronco. I saw one recently. I’m eager to see how many they actually sell– will the enthusiast interest turn into sales?
Back to this Caravan: it has period-correct in spades.
Automotive history is littered with duds, cars that just didn’t catch on. I was working in Zagreb in August 1983 and saw the minivans being driven there and wondered why they weren’t being sold in America. When I came home a month later and stopped by my local dealer for state inspection a salesman showed me a brochure for a new minivan they were going to be selling and asked me what I thought. I said that I’d buy one if it had a V6 and an I-beam rear axle instead of swing-arm (it looked like Ford’s Twin-I-Beam) rear suspension. We bought a blue 1988 that had the woodgrain and rally wheels. It was a quantum leap ahead of our 1982 Rabbit as a family car. The inability of the dealer to correctly repair the transmission caused us to trade it on a 1993 GMC 4×4 Jimmy at the end of 1999. But Lee Iacocca guessed right on these, they were the right vehicle at the right time. My 40 year old son has two of these, from the last few years they made them. I keep getting emails from the dealer that sold me my 2016 Patriot wanting to buy it back, and I’m trying to convince the Office of Management and Budget (my wife) that it is a sound financial move to sell the Jeep, buy this, and pocket the difference now that I’m retired and don’t need a 4×4.
Hoping it’s time for the moneyed melinnials to get nostalgic about these crap cans so classic station wagons will start coming back down out of the stratosphere.
We bought our 1st new car in 1999. Special order GMC Safari. The only problem we had with it was fuel pump failure, but only replaced 3 times.
The Chryslers also were troublesome if you didn’t keep the tank full of gas.
The Safari was awesome for 15 years and 180,000+miles. Transmission never failed but near the end a headgasket caused coolant to leak into the oil. Traded it in 2015 for a new Traverse that has had 3 power steering issues and at 59,000 miles the transmission blew and it has a raw fuel smell if you don’t turn off the outside ventilation. Should have had the Safari engine rebuilt!
On our third Chrysler minivan: Had a ’94 Caravan, ’05 T&C (“what’s this button do? Dang….the seats are heated!” Big step up from 94 to 05!) Now a 2015 T&C. Plenty of room, seats fold flat for cargo, love it. Our daughter insisted we drive to her wedding in the ’05 which by then was in rough shape but she said we had all of our family adventures in it (she was homeschooled) so she wanted to take it to her wedding!
Nice story, OF. Mini vans had “family” plastered all over them, and nothing more valuable than family memories.
Very true!
personal taste here… ive always thought they were 1 of the ugliest vehicles ever built… well, i would have to mention k-kars in here too’, but here in east tenn most of these ugly creations are seen in run down trailer parks with at least 1 or more ‘hubcaps’ missing as they limp down the road blowin their bleu smoke…
When production of the Caravan ended in Windsor, it moved to Mexico. With some body alterations it became the 2008 Dodge Journey. The Grand Caravan production remains in Windsor to this day.
I’m kinda surprised that, at a $10K asking price, the dealer didn’t make this “perfect”, by replacing the headliner and fixing the voltmeter gauge.
Had a Plymouth Voyager. Replaced the tyranny ,smokes like you wouldn’t believe. Remember going through drive through and being asked to turn the car off because of the smoke!
Can you believe that a minivan is now “collectible”?
I find it funny that they called Chrysler Corp the inventor of the minivan because of these things when you have been able to buy a Volkswagen micro bus since the 60s.
I don’t really consider these thing’s to be collectable but this would make someone a decent ride for a few years.
I agree 100% with what you said. (This doesn’t happen too often with me, so that is either a good thing or bad thing for you, lol)
One person’s ’57 Chevy is another person’s ’90 Caravan.
Owned 5, from the first one, bought based on the printed material, none yet in showrooms, 2.2 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission, the only thing it could pass was a VW van, got over 200,000 miles on all but one (which got hit by a tree in a windstorm), the 2000 was the best of them, never replaced a muffler or a cat, valve jobs on the V6’s at 140,000 miles but worth it, told adult kids if they did not reproduce I was getting a 2 seater, they didn’t, I did. This one, if the milage is correct could give you another 150,000 useful miles.
I’ve often wondered if nice full sized vans will be
next to start going for silly money?
So the Chrysler minivan was originally conceived by a guy named Hal Sperlich. He was also the guy who created the Mustang, which Iacocca pushed through ,(and got the credit!). Showing his next great idea of a Ford Festiva grafted into a minivan. When shown to HF II, his reaction was, “We are NEVER building a P.O.S. like that”. ..and Hal was effectively, “screwed”. Moving to Chrysler he got a BUNCH of ideas after looking at this along with his fellow Chrysler Engineers:
https://silodrome.com/talbot-sunbeam-lotus/
They realized that, though RWD, the engine compartment was large enough for FWD…
When Iacocca was shown by Sperlich what Chrysler was working on in the late 70’s ,it was something called a ‘minivan’… OOPSY DAISY to FoMoCo, and , say what you will, (and have), about the 1st gen Chrysler Minivans, this vehicle is a deserving time capsule. Best of luck to the new owner!
Purchased at an estate sale for a third of that price?
Best family hauler, ever. Wife started with a Dodge Caravan with 105HP. Had to turn off the AC to merge onto the freeway. 3 years later, 1989 Plymouth Voyager LE that she owned for 10 years and 189000 miles. One head gasket change was all in the way of unscheduled maintenance. Our family loved it and still talk about vacations where stuff and people were stuffed everywhere and the luggage went into the geek carrier on top. Still not sure an SUV is superior to a Voyager. 4WD maybe but the Voyager handled the worse the Sierra Nevada snow with no issues. Great blast from the past.
Our 88 had the V6 and had absolutely no problem keeping up, or handling the drive from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach through West Virginia every year. Like the Chevy Astro, they sold an AWD version but they never caught on for some reason.
We never had an AWD one. If I recall correctly the AWD ones didn’t have Stow ‘n’ Go seats which would’ve been more important to me anyway. However, the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica (basically the updated Caravan) has BOTH Stow ‘n’ Go and AWD! That’ll probably be our next one-in about 6 more years!