Chrysler Minivan Thursday Outtake 2: 1985 Dodge Ram Van

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

In another of repeated examples of stumbling on a variation of the same car twice in an outing, this Ram Van (later called Caravan C/V) was shot about thirty minutes before today’s featured CC. Caravan C/Vs were never that popular, probably because Chrysler preferred to build more profitable loaded passenger versions. Or was there another reason? After all, this is the Transit Connect of another era.

I bought one of the first long-wheelbase C/Vs in 1987 for the tv station, and it acquitted itself very well, although the young bucks driving it were miffed not to be in a big Econoline like the big stations’ crews drove.

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Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Monty Monty on Mar 19, 2010

    +1 to Syke for "They could haul, however" but it should read: "They could haul ass, however." I had a 87 Ram Van with the 2.7 V6, and with no load other than me in it, that little van smoked an awful lot of cars trying to hole shoot me at intersections. Add to that the bonus of laying flat sheets of 4' x 8' plywood or drywall in the cargo area, and it was an awesome little van. If I could find one as nice as the featured one in the article, I would buy it tomorrow.

  • Moparman426W Moparman426W on Mar 19, 2010

    I remember a few years back there was a monster truck with this type of body on it. I don't recall who drove it but it had tank tracks. Does anyone remember who had it and what it said on the sides?

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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