Dodge Caravan

Chrysler introduced the Dodge Caravan minivan along with its rebadged variant, the Plymouth Voyager in November 1983, for the 1984 model year — followed by the Dodge Grand Caravan and Plymouth Grand Voyager long-wheelbase (LWB) models in 1987, the rebadged Chrysler Town and Country in 1990, and the Volkswagen Routan in 2008.

Chrysler manufactures and markets its minivan series worldwide. Together with its nameplate variants, the Chrysler Town and Country, Chrysler Voyager, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town & Country, the Chrysler minivans have ranked as the 13th bestselling automotive nameplate worldwide, with over 12 million sold.

Overview

Chrysler introduced the Dodge and Plymouth minivans in November 1983 for the 1984 model year, using an extended derivative of the Chrysler K platform, the Chrysler S platform. Chrysler followed with a long wheelbase (LWB) model, the Grand Caravan in 1987, also based on the Chrysler S platform.

The idea of a modern minivan had been conceived by Lee Iaccoca and Hal Sperlich during their earlier tenure at Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford II had rejected Iaccoca's and Sperlich's idea (and a prototype) of a minivan in 1974, then rumored to carry the name "Maxivan". After Iaccoca moved to Chrysler Corporation, he recruited Sperlich to also join Chrysler and together they created the T115 minivan — a prototype that was to become the Caravan and Voyager.