Chrysler celebrates 25th anniversary of minivan

The year was 1983. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States of America. Lech Walesa was the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. The Internet was created, and the first mobile phones were introduced to the public.

The first 1984 Dodge Caravan was built Nov. 2, 1983. To see a commercial for its sister minivan, the original Plymouth Voyager, Click here or click the "25 Years Ago" link under the thumbnail photo of the vehicle on the NTC home page.

That year, U.S. astronauts completed the first space shuttle spacewalk; Michael Jackson performed the “moonwalk.” The Baltimore Orioles won the World Series … and Chrysler hit a home run with the introduction of the first minivan.

The Chrysler Corporation (as it was known then) was first to market with the minivan in 1983. However, the development of the minivan began even earlier than that, in 1977, as a reaction to new customer needs identified in the marketplace. Some have called it a response to the "Baby-Boomlet" when the post-WWII Baby-Boom children were starting to have children of their own.

Chrysler pinpointed a potential vehicle market that needed to deliver a few simple premises: fuel-efficient, easy to step into, family friendly and smaller than the Dodge Ram Van.

Harold "Hal" Sperlich (left) and Lee Iacocca

The driving forces behind the minivan idea were auto executive Lee Iacocca and designer Hal Sperlich, who wanted to produce a similar vehicle during their days at the Ford Motor Company. But Henry Ford II had rejected Iacocca's and Sperlich's idea (and a prototype rumored to have been called a "maxivan”) back in 1974.

So when Iacocca left Ford and was in the midst of turning around the then-ailing Chrysler Corporation, he and Sperlich (who had been scouted to Chrysler by Iacocca) supported and directed the creation of the T115 minivan.

The T115 became Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, and a first-year production Caravan is displayed at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.

The fifth-generation minivan, a Chrysler Town and Country.

On Nov. 2, 1983, the first minivans rolled down the assembly line, and those 1984 model-year Caravans and Voyagers quickly appeared in dealerships throughout the U.S. alongside the Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant K-cars. The launch of the minivan in 1983 created an all-new product segment.

The newest fifth-generation minivans – Chrysler Town & Country, Chrysler Grand Voyager and Dodge Grand Caravan – encapsulate more than 65 minivan-first features and more than 25 years of development in minivan leadership.

As the leader in family transportation, Chrysler and Dodge minivans take the “family room on wheels” concept to a new level.

With more than 12 million minivans sold worldwide and over 260 awards – including 2008 “Minivan of the Year” and “International Truck of the Year” by the International Car of the Year organization – Chrysler and Dodge minivans are continuing to make history.