The 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 4×8 sheets of plywood—the list goes on and on.
We were particularly enthralled with how the Caravan drove. Unlike the minivans that came before it—which we described as “low-enjoyment 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-hp 3.8-liter V-6, was plentiful for the day. Its dynamic qualities lived up to the carlike nature Chrysler had promised.
Other Ultimate Car of the Year finalists:
- 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air HERE
- 1949 Cadillac Series 62 Sedanette HERE
- 1972 Citroen SM HERE
- 1968 Pontiac GTO HERE
- 1986 Mazda RX-7 HERE
- 2013 Tesla Model S HERE
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 its stablemates wowed us back in 1996. Even today, it still feels remarkably contemporary, with nearly all the features a modern minivan buyer would expect from a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica or 2019 Honda Odyssey, 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-generation Chrysler van. Sure, power doors, Apple CarPlay, and vacuums are nice, but this COTY established the blueprint for the modern minivan to follow.
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