This 1985 Dodge Mini Ram Van isn’t solid gold, of course. It isn’t even as Solid Gold as the 1980s dance party and variety show of the same name. But it is gold’ish inside and out, and the seller even painted the wheels to match the repainted exterior. They have it listed here on eBay in Youngwood, Pennsylvania, and they’re asking $10,000, or you can make an offer.
All that color lingo being said, it’s solid gold, as in being what the seller refers to as Gold Dust Metallic outside, with matching wheels, and gold’ish tan vinyl seats that look much darker than what the tan seats in my ’87 Dodge Mini Ram Van looked like. They refer to it as a survivor, but then go on to say that it has a “restored body,” so we don’t know if that just means it’s been repainted or what was involved with that. They do say that it was not driven during inclimate weather, so that’s good.
The bottom has been “fluid filmed,” which is a fairly big thing these days. While trying to avoid college after high school, I started a commercial cleaning service and built it into a successful business with 14 employees and four Dodge vans. Three of the vans were full-sized B-series Dodges, but the one I drove was a 1987 Dodge Mini Ram Van, and it was really nice. It was exactly like this one but plain ol’ white, and it didn’t even have a rear wiper!
The seats were so comfortable, and the driving position was perfect. This van looks as nice as mine was back then so far. I even put the little convex round mirrors on the side mirrors because of the huge blind spot over there. My van didn’t have a window on the passenger side sliding door, though. Throughout the mid-80s, Dodge offered the Mini Ram Van based on, of course, the game-changing Caravan. Here’s what the rear cargo area looks like. Nice, I didn’t have sound-deadening material in mine, did they even make that in the late-80s? I had a factory rubber mat on the cargo floor rather than carpet, but carpet may have been nice.
The engine is a Mitsubishi-sourced 2.6-liter SOHC inline-four (the same as in my van) with 105 horsepower and 142 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a three-speed automatic sending power to the front wheels, the seller says it runs and drives “excellent,” and is smooth and quiet at highway speeds. It has “New brakes, calipers, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, all belts, hoses and battery.” I kept my van in the garage for about eight years after selling my cleaning service, after finally going to college for an architecture degree. It was 100% rust-free and like new, and I sold it around the year 2002 for a very painful $900! If I wanted to relive that era, I would love to have this van, although not at $10,000. Any thoughts on this solid gold Mini Ram Van?
I’m not going to knock the condition of this Dodge minivan. It’s clean, looks solid ( I didn’t see any underside pics that would be important. ) Paint looks great, looks like they were going to do something with the interior and stopped. But the price? Ten Grand? It will be interesting to see if it sells.
Eeep, okay, you all can see what’s happening here, even the most mundane vehicles, due to their shortage, apparently translates into 5 figures. Condition aside, I never thought I’d see the day. The non-window van is so rare, I’ve used the common sense thing too much, but of all these vans I’ve come in contact with, dozens, easy, I’ve never even seen one of these. I’d say not many were sold, and the ones that were, were usually some sort of maintenance or supply delivery, and were driven into the ground. No experience with the 2.6, mine all had the 2.2 or V6s, but the author is right, of all the vehicles I had, the Chrysler vans had the best seats, by far. I’d like one for the Jeep, but try and find one. Again, they aren’t going to get $10gs, and with only 62 viewers, I’m surprised such a low number, and no bids. It sure is a nice one, make a great little camper.
With the prices of cars… surely motorcycle sales must be up ?
I am singing the song 🎶 “Gold on the Ceiling” from the Black Keys “El Camino” album see this vehicle.
This would have been a better Album pix (good color ) instead of the Chrysler Town and Country.
Good luck with sale and hope it brings a new high to boost the average price.😎