Plymouth Voyager

Introduction

What made the Voyager special was the fact that it was "garageable". Prior to 1984, American built people-movers, including the first Chrysler people mover to use the Voyager moniker, were "full-size", and whilst offering capacious seating and space for a family as big as the Brady Bunch, their main drawback was that they were too large to fit through a standard height garage door.
 
Realizing customer demand for something a little smaller, Chrysler released two versions, the Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan. The Voyager had a wheelbase of 2845 mm (112 in), overall length of 4468 mm (175.9 in), and overall height of 1641 mm (64.6 in).

The basis for the 2nd generation Voyager was the Chrysler S platform, which was closely related to the K-cars (Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries). It was a front-engine, front wheel drive design and Chrysler offered two engine options - a 2.2 litre transverse four-cylinder or a 2.6 litre Mitsubishi-sourced four cylinder.

The 2.2-litre engine was an inline four with a bore of 80 mm (3.13 in), stroke of 86 mm (3.4 in), and compression ratio of 9.1, requiring unleaded gasoline since it had a catalytic converter. Maximum power was 74 kW (101 hp) at 5600 rpm with a maximum torque of 164 Nm (121 lb.ft) at 3600 rpm.
 
The 2.6 litre engine had a bore of 91.1 mm (3.59 in) and stroke of 98 mm (3.86 in) with a counterbalance shaft to make it run smoother and quieter than most four cylinders of the era. Maximum power was 73 kW (99 hp) at 4800 rpm and maximum torque was 193 Nm (143 lb.ft) at 2000 rpm.
 
Two transmissions were offered - a three speed Torqueflite automatic or a 5-speed manual transmission. On vehicles equipped with air-conditioning, the condensing radiator was placed side-by-side with the engine cooling radiator thus eliminating the conventional stacked configuration and improving the efficiency of the engine cooling radiator. An electric fan was provided for each unit. The Voyager was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1985.

The Voyager and Caravan had a drag coefficient of 0.43 due to wind tunnel testing and use of computer-aided design. The driver and front passenger had their own doors, while a sliding right-side cargo door was included for rear passengers and was supported at three points on needle bearings for easy operation. The centre and rear bench seats were removable because of the use of quick release anchors. A rear hatch allowed access to the rear area.
 
The front suspension was an "Isostrut" design with springs of different rates than previous front wheel drive Chrysler models. The spring seats were redesigned, and a one piece strut assembly tower with isolator bushings was used to create separate paths to isolate noise and vibration. The rear suspension used a "tube and casting" axle with leaf springs. Steering was a rack and pinion, and it was shod with P185/75 R14 tyres.

On 1984-1986 Voyagers, five-passenger seating was standard on all three models. The five-passenger arrangement consisted of two front bucket seats and a rear three-passenger bench seat. On base and SE models, the front buckets could be replaced by a 40/60 split three-passenger bench seat, bringing the total number of occupants to six. Seven-passenger seating was an option on SEs and LEs, with dual front buckets, a middle two-passenger bench, and a rear three-passenger bench.

SE models could seat up to eight, with both the additional middle two-passenger bench and three-passenger front bench. So, depending on configuration, the base model could seat up to six, the SE could seat up to eight, and the LE could seat up to seven. On base models, the front buckets were low-back items, upholstered with plain cloth or vinyl. On SEs, the buyer could choose between low-back buckets with deluxe cloth or high-back buckets in upgraded vinyl. LEs came standard with high-back front buckets, upholstered in either luxury cloth or luxury vinyl.

For 1987 the six- and eight-passenger options were withdrawn, leaving seating for five standard and for seven optional on the base and SE, and seating for seven with high-back front buckets standard on the LE, Grand SE, and Grand LE. Deluxe cloth upholstery was now standard on base and all SE models, with the luxury vinyl optional on SEs. On LEs, luxury cloth came standard and for the first time, leather seats were available on the LE models. 1987 also saw the Voyager receive minor cosmetic updates as well as the introduction of the Grand Voyager, which was built on a longer wheelbase adding more cargo room. It was available only with SE or LE trim. The Generation 1 Voyager minivan was offered in three trim levels; low base, middle SE, and high LE, the latter bearing woodgrain-imprinted vinyl on the sides. From 1989 you could option a turbocharged 2.5 litre engine.