Most certainly an unappreciated survivor, this1993 Plymouth Voyager base model was a Car Coral find at a national Mopar only car show. A real cream puff unmolested Minivan with a 2.5L 4cyl and a 5 speed manual trans. Sold here in Minnesota new at Rosedale Chrysler Plymouth in Roseville Minnesota. The van has ZERo rust. The underside is amazingly clean. Trying to connect with the original owners to learn the story of the van. I had been looking for a 4cyl Minivan to test a theory that by adding a small turbo to another 4 cylinder engine build, since I have been through a few 4cyl turbo Mopar builds, this would add needed performance AND fuel economy to the vehicle. Imagine it is 1993 and GM tried to tell pickup truck buyers that the full-size Silverado 4×4 Ext cab pickup truck would be powered by a 4 cylinder with a turbo charger. That is exactly were were are in in 2023 for about 4 years now. Why did Ma Mopar not simply add a turbo and intercooler to their power train larger vehicle offering? Because the market was convinced that they needed a V6 or a V8 on the side of their vehicle. More cylinders, more power. With turbo charger technology, nothing could be further from reality. The marketing department at the big three listened to the uneducated consumers, and even thought the engineers know better, the engineering departments lost the battle. Once again, sales drove the decisions, not logic.
Since I have been through a few builds I have some leftover parts to use up. True car guy logic, I have a new set of pistons, a new head, and an extra turbo, intercooler, tires wheels, let’s buy an entire vehicle, build the engine and plop it all in. The van runs and drives great with but even with the tired TBI 4cyl, is a real dog and can barely get out of its own way. Maybe it is working by design but wow, it is really slow. The manual trans helps and is extremely odd to drive. The 5 gears is a major improvement over the 3spd automatic transmissions, these vans came with, with the 4 cylinder at 65MPH the RPMs were through the hood. The 5 speed cruises at highway speeds at a nice comfortable RPM where conversations among van occupants can be had.
Here are some photos. I gave the van a shampoo and rise with the high heat carpet extractor, not that it needed it but I could tell the carpet and upholstery had never been cleaned. I also replaced the old hard 14′ tires with an extra set on new Uniroyal tires I had for the ’90 Plymouth Acclaim before going a different direction on the wheels with that car. Car guys will understand, using up the parts and pieces you have on hand is a huge thrill.
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