There’s something about vehicles that left the dealership with accessories ordered by the original order that still remain with the car decades later. To order off the buffet of options when already plunking down a significant sum of cash for a new car requires either supreme love for the vehicle you’re about to own or a desire to have the best on the block, or both. This 1987 Plymouth Voyager looks like it was coolest minivan in town when it was new, and still comes off as a bit of a rockstar today. Find it here on craigslist for $8,500.
I know, I know – a minivan? Cool? Never! But you are talking to a van guy, and a van guy with a bunch of kids for whom vans make an awful lot of sense. The Voyager was a smash hit when it showed up, and consumers did take to this new class of vehicle like moth to a flame. In my biased view, this was one of the first times consumers got something they actually needed and the manufacturer realized the rewards of selling it to them. No one today needs a 3-row SUV that still has no meaningful luggage capacity when loaded with people. The minivan actually could ferry people and their gear with ease.
Anyway, this is what I mean about accessories: how many first-generation Voyagers are still running around with factory running boards still attached and that haven’t lost the little decal reminding you you’re driving a Plymouth-branded minivan, and not the more commonly seen Dodge version? Very few, I guarantee you. Plus, this one has two-tone paint, factory alloy wheels, and the interior shows a handsome woodgrain-style dash as well. Factor in the minty interior, cassette deck, and roof rack, and it’s clear the first owner was very excited to own a Voyager.
The 3.0L Mitsubishi-sourced 3.0L V6 produced 136 b.h.p. and 168 lb.-ft. of torque. The seller notes it shows just 92,000 miles from new, and it lived its life in Colorado, which generally treats older vehicles quite well. The brakes, tires, and battery have all been replaced. The seller also reports it comes with a healthy assortment of maintenance paperwork as well. They don’t come around like this often, if it at all, so for minivan fans like me, it’s a home run. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Barney for the find.
Nice one. We are on our 4th Chrysler made van, the first a ’91. We have done everything with our vans you can think of. Cross country high speed runs to towing trailers with race cars or lumber on them. Hurricane evacuation is a speciality with ours with kits stored in back and a portapot in the middle, and the second car on a trailer behind it.
This is really great. I’ll even go so far as to say special. Seeing the dealer installed running boards still in mint condition is a treat. These were everywhere and Chrysler certainly had a huge hit on their hands. The interior looks phenomenal too. I don’t always go for after market rims, but these really look sharp here. We never owned one, but purposely rented Caravans a couple times for long family trips. We a family of 5 plus my inlaws. We rented a 2008 with the stow n go seating, and that thing swallowed up everyones luggage with room to spare in the back. 70 to 75 mph on the highway without breaking a sweat. And decent fuel mileage too. Bobhess showing his towing his car and trailer shows just how versatile these are.
Jeff. I agree. This one is a Rockstar. Hope it gets saved and preserved. Great write up. Thank you.
They even had stick shift available for a pretty good run.
Bought a 5-speed with the 2.2 engine new in ’84. If wound to the 6K rpm limit it was no slug and had verrrrrry long gearing. 26.5 mpg overall. Handled pretty well, too. Parted company after 16 years at 190K miles as still regret it.
I can’t think of a more influential US vehicle that changed our lives so dramatically, except maybe the Model T. With as many as were sold, 16.6 MILLION, almost 1/4 million its 1st year( 1984) there’s bound to be nice ones remaining. It was a hit from the get-go. I had several, my kids learned to drive on one, I used another ( A Plymouth Turbo) for a package delivery service, easily repaired when rarely needed. I changed a timing belt in a truck stop once( and my dislike for timing belts) With hundreds of thousands of miles, it was without question, the most dependable( minus the belt) reliable vehicle I owned, except the semi trucks, of course. One of my minivans had those running boards, I think 1 fell off, rust was the biggest killer, as always. This changed everything in that, everyone jumped on the minivan bandwagon, and literally moved America. Stan mentions a stick, of all the minivans I encountered, only 1 had a 5 speed, and only on a 2.2-4 cylinder, I believe. After Pintos, the old man had a side business repairing damaged cars from the ins. auction, he went with Chrysler minivans. Most with front end damage, I saw quite a few. I don’t think we’ll ever see anything like them again, oh, another thing, if it wasn’t for the minivan, we may have lost Chrysler altogether. I heard an interview with Lee Iacocca, and he said, he didn’t take a dime out of Chrysler until all debts were repaid. He didn’t have anything nice to say about the car industry today. That guy should have been our nations president. Great find.
Our 2021 Chrysler has all the good stuff of the early ones but with a huge boost in power and a 9 speed automatic transmission that really gets it off the line. Only gripe is the lousy dashboard controls. Can’t do anything without taking your eyes off the road. Usually have the copilot with me anyway so that solves the problem.
Altogether we have had 5 Chrysler minivans. At one time we had 3 at once, a Plymouth, a Dodge and a Chrysler Town and Country. The Dodge and the Plymouth were both 5spds. with 2.5 4 bangers. I think they were our favorites.
Interesting that it still has the running boards, but the hubcaps are MIA.
Picture #13 in the Craigslist ad shows a temporary dealer tag that expired April 11, 2014. Makes you wonder how old these pictures are. Nice van. I just hope the pics are recent.
Given that the wheels vary in the pictures, I’d say that these are not all current pictures…. if any of them are.
I am also concerned that there aren’t a full set of exterior pics, just lots of closeups that don’t give a full idea of the condition.
The memories are strong with this one. Not because my parents owned one, but I worked at a Chrysler dealer in the early 90’s as a teen. I always liked them, even though I hated dragging the A604 transmissions around on a pallet for warranty returns. A five ton would pull up a couple times a month and I’d always have 4 or 5 A604’s to load up.
I drove them all, 3.3 V6, 3.0 V6, 2.5 I4, 2.2 I4, turbos, 5 speed manuals. The “new” 1991-95 models were my favourite, my boss the Service Manager had one for a demo. I really liked the ES model Caravans with the matching wheels in white or aluminum and the Voyager LE models.
Back then the “Magic Wagons” were always innovating, duel sliding doors, built in baby seats, fold flat seat storage etc. I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed by American ingenuity in a vehicle.
Lee Iacocca was on top of the world, he is an automotive business icon. Unfortunate how his replacement sold out a healthy Chrysler Corp. to foreign interests – end of an era for personal gain.
I never understood how Iococca passed over Bob Lutz for his successor. May Eaton have a warm place for eternity.
Even though I was 10 in ’84 and my mom went shopping at a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer in ’86 I was never hauled around in one of these; our family’s needs and budget were Horizon-sized, and friends with bigger families’ parents all went for GM A-body or Ford Taurus wagons.
I do remember how popular it was and Bil Keane even replaced the generically-’60s station wagon in The Family Circus with one (including a memorable showroom scene with the salesman telling the parents “Lee Iacocca stands behind all of our cars” and the kids looking for him there!) which at the time was a point of it being a true cultural phenomenon.
These minivans were such a hit that it’s not hard to believe that if it were not for their success, Chrysler would surely be a distant memory by now.
I learned to drive stick shift in one of these. My neighbors the Ryans only drove manual transmission vehicles exclusively. They had a new 5 speed 4 cylinder van the mom had ordered, and she would drive me to school along with their son. She patiently taught me on the gravel road leaving my house, and that how I learned. Thanks, Lois!
Apparently I learned to drive manual trans in quite a rare vehicle!
I was single and 25 when the vans hit the market. The LE versions had good equipment, wood sides, and one option package gave you cruise, pw, PDL, Ps. Few more options were available. I had picked out my mother’s cars for years. I was shocked when she walked into my office and said she had bought a new van. She had wagons for years and traded an 81 loaded Pontiac Grand LeMans in on a new Voyager. I drove it and loved it. Despite being single, I had dogs and a cottage on a lake. Within a few weeks I was driving a loaded black Dodge Caravan. That would be the first of 4 vans. My cousins drove them too and family events looked like a Chrysler commercial
most of these i see are/were blue oil burning, rusted, hubcap missing junk sitting in run down trailer parks… oh but they always were babe magnets for single dudes in town… ;)
One of the best vehicles I’ve ever owned. 1997 Grand Caravan with the 3L. Tow, haul, 4 kids and a wife. Drove it til it couldn’t drive no more. I do like the Pacificas today, but kids are all grown and dont really need the volume they provide.
I was selling Dodge’s at the time and when the Mitsu V6 arrived it was if the Caravan and Grand Caravan had been reinvented which was a sales persons dream
I don’t know. I think it can be a cool vehicle to drive, particularly if there’s not many left these days in original stock condition. Although I was too young at the time this was offered, I remember this generation Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager.
A friend owned a 2.5 5sp like this. I drove it. I am of the blue oval tribe, but I had to admit that it was pretty nice. More than enough power for what it needed to do, even with the air on.
I am a Blue Oval tribe member too. We got into the Chrysler mini vans because we were a supplier to Chrysler (we made the parts that held the front wheels on) and the discount lured us in. My Caravans were all auto and felt they had enough power too.
Owned one of the 4 cyl. 5 speed Voyageurs, an 84 model. Roomy and a pretty good family vehicle but gutless as all get out, I remember once on a trip we had to downshift from 5th to 4th gear every time you hit a long upgrade because it was so underpowered. Oof. Traded it for a 92 Chevy Astro Extended with 4.3 Vortec. Wow, what a difference! Alas, had to sell it when divorce happened and ended up driving a Chevette. Back to gutless!
Was it a 2.2 or 2.5? A big difference. 2.5 had a longer stroke and more pull. I remember they even sold 2.5 turbos with sticks later on. The Mitsubishi V6 as here, was a great engine, but only automatic if I recall corectly. That would have been the one to get.
my first two were 2.5s. I avoided the turbo model and switched to the V6 when available. One of them did have trans issues, refusing to downshift when coming to a stop. Went to the dealer many times and they never fixed it. All 5 of them had power window issues with the driver’s door.
Pretty sure it was a 2.2. We bought it for $1500 and we’re pretty happy with it except it being underpowered, around town it was fine. Actually what killed it was the AC compressor died and the repair was gonna cost about what we paid for it! In later years my 2nd wife had a 99 Voyageur that we drove forever…it got rusty and dented but last I knew it was still going at 340k miles for the folks we gave it to after they”borrowed” it for a year.
Sweet looking van. Although I was way too young at the time to drive a car, I remember both vehicles. Between the Dodge Caravan and the Plymouth Voyager, my favourite was the Caravan. I can’t remember why, since they were mechanically the same vehicles.
they were twins except name badges. Fabric in the interior, dash trim, wheel covers, everything was the same. My mother bought a Voyager LE and I bought a Caravan LE. Other than color, they were the same.
This one was on eBay a while ago, and I emailed the Craigslister asking if it was the same seller or if they bought it from them and are reselling. It’s been over a week and they haven’t gotten back to me so I assume it’s a scam. Especially because “wire transfer” is listed as payment method and asking for text.