40 MOTORTREND.COM SEPTEMBER 2019Finalist: 1990s
1996 Dodge Caravan
The minivan that
defined a generation
3.8-liter V-6, was plentiful for
the day. Its dynamic qualities
lived up to the carlike nature
Chrysler had promised.
The bandwidth of the minivan
line was also impressive. There
were eight trim levels for the
Caravan, plus a roomy Grand
Caravan model. Buyers who
couldn’t afford the Caravan’s
$16,575 starting price (just under
$27,000 in 2019 dollars) could
opt for the cheaper Plymouth
versions, and those who wanted
a more premium experience
could move up to Chrysler.
Although our award officially
recognized the better-selling
Caravan, we noted that the
Voyager and Town & Country
were equally worthy of praise.
For our test, it wasn’t easy
finding a 23-year-old minivan
that hadn’t been beaten,
spilled in, and scrawled upon
over multiple generations of
family use. After striking out in
our quest for a Caravan, Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles came
through—shipping us the
world’s cleanest 1996 Chrysler
Town & Country LXi from Detroit.
Finished in the same forest
green as my family’s old
Dodge, it’s not hard to see why
the Town & Country and itsstablemates wowed us back
in 1996. Even today, it still feels
remarkably contemporary, with
nearly all the features a modern
minivan buyer would expect,
like storage cubbies throughout
the cabin and plenty of space.
Only its lack of USB ports and
infotainment screens betray this
van’s age.
The Chrysler still delivers on
the carlike driving dynamics,
too. It drives about as well as a
domestic sedan from the era,
with the big V-6’s 227 lb-ft of
torque and four-speed auto
helping get the Town & Country
going at a decent pace. The
van’s ride is as floaty as I
remember it from when I was a
kid; sitting in the roomy third row
and getting carsick as I stare
at screens—then Pokémon on a
Game Boy, now Microsoft Word
on a laptop—brings back many
memories, good and bad.
Many exceptional minivans
have come and gone since the
1996 Dodge Caravan won Car
of the Year, but none has had
the impact of the third-gener-
ation Chrysler van. Sure, power
doors, Apple CarPlay, and
vacuums are nice, but this COTY
established the blueprint for the
modern minivan to follow. CST
he 1996 Dodge Caravan
was—and remains—the
only minivan to win Car of
the Year. It’s also near and
dear to my heart; a Forest Green
Pearl Coat 1999 Grand Caravan
was my family’s first car.
Personal biases aside, there
simply is no MotorTrend Car or
Import Car of the Year winner
from the decade more worthy
of inclusion in this best-of-the-
best Car of the Year than the
1996 Caravan.
The third-generation
Caravan and the identical
low-spec Plymouth Voyager
and high-spec Chrysler Town
& Country revolutionized the
minivan. The Caravan and its
ilk ditched the boring, boxy
styling of the original Chrysler
minivans and the ensuing
copycats in favor of a sleek
cab-forward design that not
only looked like nothing else
on the road but also helped
maximize interior space.
The 1996 Caravan didn’t just
set the design standard for
the minivan. It set the features
standard, too: dual sliding
doors, second-row captain’s
chairs, and seats that fold
forward, allowing owners to
load in 4x8 sheets of plywood—
the list goes on and on.
We were particularly
enthralled with how the
Caravan drove. Unlike the mini-
vans that came before it—which
we described as “low-enjoy-
ment travel appliances”—the
new-era Chrysler triplets were
all remarkably carlike in how
they drove. Engine power,
coming from a 150-hp 2.4-liter
I-4, a 150-hp 3.0-liter V-6, a
158-hp 3.3-liter V-6 (available
in CARB states), and a 166-hp70TH ANNIVERSARY I UCOTY