The original Plymouth Voyager was a twin of the Dodge B-series van from 1974 to 1983. Beginning in 1984 the Voyager name was applied to a new vehicle based on the Plymouth Reliant car. It was first introdouced as a "magic wagon", meaning that is was very similar to a station wagon, however it had more cargo room and removeable seats.The Voyager minivan, along with the similar Dodge Caravan (later joined by the Chrysler Town and Country) and the French Renault Espace were the first modern minivans; the Chrysler minivans are credited with creating the entire market segment for these vehicles in North America.

The Grand Voyager minivan was longer than the Voyager in both length and wheelbase, and had more cargo space. In addition, engine choices were different in most years to compensate for the greater weight of the Grand Voyager. Otherwise, the two vehicles were substantially the same.

Together with it's nameplate variants, the Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Voyager, Chrysler Town & Country and Volkswagen Routan, the Chrysler minivans have ranked as the 13th bestselling automotive nameplate worldwide, with over 12 million sold.

The first Plymouth Voyager was manufactured from 1974-1983 as a rebadged Dodge Sportsman with 12-15 passenger capacity. The Voyager was Plymouth's first truck-bodied vehicle in many decades.

This Generation I Voyager minivan used the Chrysler S platform, which was closely related to the K-cars (Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries). The Voyager was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1985. A three-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission and a five-speed manual were available with the four-cylinder engines, including the turbocharged 2.5L engine offered only in 1989 and 1990.