Bidding Adieu To The Popular Dodge Grand Caravan

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, American families craved a vehicle that drove like a car, had a ton of space, could achieve decent fuel economy and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Enter the Dodge Caravan. Designed from the ground up to appeal to families, this vehicle was revolutionary. Its boxy shape provided lots of room, but because it was built on a car's platform it drove nicely and sipped gas the way conventional vans and trucks never could.

Chrysler's foray into minivans ignited the decades-long popularity of these bland family haulers. Minivan sales peaked at 1.37 million in 2000, and have been on a steady decline ever since. In 2013, minivan sales barely hit 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. And although journalists have been writing about the death of the minivan for years now, we may actually have a final date for it: May 6, 2014.

That's when Chrysler announced it would kill off its mainstream minivan, the Dodge Grand Caravan. It plans to stick with the more upscale model in its lineup, the Chrysler Town & Country, which starts a full $10,000 more than the Grand Caravan and likely rakes in more profits. But the Caravan is a staple in Chrysler's troubled history. It became a massive success for Chrysler after the first one rolled off assembly lines in 1983. In fact, it sold so well that it arguably saved the company from bankruptcy in the 1990s. Between the Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country and Plymouth Voyager, the company has sold more than 12 million units over the course of three decades. 

On Tuesday Fiat, the Italian automaker that now owns Chrysler, announced its intentions to kill the Dodge Caravan in 2016, closing the book on one of the great automotive stories of the late 20th century. In honor of the vehicle's demise, we've compiled a brief history of the Caravan, highlighting its evolution through each of its five generations.

Head on through to mourn with us.