Automatics changing my view.

[3Cheers4RealGears]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I'm a GM guy at heart, and I'll admit the GMC Safari/Chevy Astro is not a great van by any stretch of the imagination. They're reliable, cheap to fix, parts are easily obtainable, but to actually drive one is hell. Of all the vans my family has had over the years, I'd say that the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager vans seem to be the best.

Believe it or not, I used to have a short-wheelbase Voyager with a stick shift. Paid $13k for it and drove it until it died. Of course, once we had twins plus a 2-year-old, it couldn't quite fit all our stuff, so you have to imagine a stick-shift Voyager tooling down the highway with a U-Haul trailer stuffed to the gunwales with kid gear. No, really. Stop laughing...

[Jay2TheRescue]

I've never seen a stick shift minivan...

[3Cheers4RealGears]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I've never seen a stick shift minivan...

I was misremembering, it was a Caravan, not a Voyager.

They made them up until about 1995. I think mine was the last model year. The dealers would get one so they could advertise a super-low price to get people in the door. They never thought somebody would walk in and just BUY the thing.

The shifter was a pretty smooth 5-speed, actually. I learned on an old Ford panel van with a 3-speed on the column, so the Caravan looked pretty good by comparison.

As recently as 2010, you could get a minivan with a stick. Check the last two items in this:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...ission-feature

I love the guy who amped up his 20-year-old turbo (yes, turbo) Caravan to do a 12-second quarter mile.... Oh, wait, this is a fuel-economy page, isn't it? Sorry, planet.