The Plymouth Voyager is more than one of America's best-selling minivans. Like the Dodge Caravan, the Voyager is a true original-a model that created an entirely new category in the automobile market during fall 1983. The Voyager offered itself as a scaled-down version of the van, with more modern conveniences and greater fuel efficiency. And after a few months of warming up to these newcomers significant numbers of people began buying the Voyager and Caravan.

Well, you know the rest. The minivan is now the top mode of family transportation in the industry, and Chrysler has sold more than 4 million of them. Success certainly hasn't changed the Voyager: Except for a slightly bigger engine, some structural reinforcement and interior improvements, the 1994 base model bears a strong resemblance to its groundbreaking ancestor.

On our test Voyager, we added an optional 3.0-liter V6 with an automatic three-speed transmission, a seven-passenger seating group, a luggage rack, air conditioning, a rear defroster and other amenities. That bumped the MSRP from almost $16,000 to $18,581, still a reasonable price for a vehicle that offers both significant roominess and car-like features.