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Junkyard Gem: 1993 Plymouth Voyager SE AWD

Under Lee Iacocca's leadership, Chrysler printed bales of money by designing a small, front-wheel-drive van based on the versatile K platform. Chrysler didn't invent the minivan, of course, but those first 1984 Dodge Caravans and Plymouth Voyagers instantly put small vans square in the middle of the American vehicle mainstream (and began the long downward spiral of the station wagon here). For the 1991 model year, the second generation of Chrysler minivans hit our roads, and they were bigger, better-appointed and available with all-wheel-drive. Here's one of those early second-gen vans, found in a Denver-area boneyard a few months back. The 1984 Voyager was a genuine minivan, scaling in at a mere 2,984 pounds (about the same as the current Toyota Corolla). The wheelbases of the second-generation Voyager and Grand Voyager grew just a fraction of an inch longer, but the vans themselves got longer and heavier anyway. The curb weight of today's Junkyard Gem was 4,008 pounds. By 1993, minivans were under sales assault by a new crop of SUVs, particularly the Ford Explorer (which debuted for the 1991 model year) and Chrysler's own Jeep Grand Cherokee (which first appeared as a 1993 model). Chrysler's XJ Cherokee had been siphoning away minivan sales since Day One, having first hit Jeep showrooms at the same time as the first Voyagers and Caravans went on sale. Still, the 1993 Caravan/Grand Caravan, Voyager/Grand Voyager and Town & Country obliterated those trucks when it came to usable interior space, safety, ride comfort and fuel economy. Plymouth used the Voyager name on rebadged Dodge Sportsman full-size vans from the 1974 through 1983 model years, during which time Chrysler attempted to sell their big fuel-swilling passenger vans as sensible station wagons. The Grand Voyager had a wheelbase stretch of just over seven inches versus that of the regular Voyager; the SE was the lower of the two trim levels available for the AWD-equipped version in 1993. In 1993, base-grade front-wheel-drive Voyagers had 2.5-liter Chrysler four-cylinder engines as standard equipment, while front-wheel-drive Grand Voyagers got Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 engines. If you bought a new all-wheel-drive Grand Voyager that year, your van had this Chrysler 3.3-liter pushrod V6, rated at 150 horsepower and 180 pound-feet. Sadly, Chrysler stopped installing turbocharged 2.2 engines in their minivans after 1990.

Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.6M vehicles to fix Takata airbags

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 1.6 million vehicles worldwide to replace Takata front passenger airbag inflators that can be dangerous. Takata inflators can explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 23 people have died from the problem worldwide and hundreds injured. The recall covers the 2010 through 2016 Jeep Wrangler SUV, the 2010 Ram 3500 pickup and 4500/5500 Chassis Cab trucks, the 2010 and 2011 Dodge Dakota pickup, the 2010 through 2014 Dodge Challenger muscle car, the 2011 through 2015 Dodge Charger sedan, and the 2010 through 2015 Chrysler 300 sedan. It's part of the largest series of automotive recalls in U.S. history. About 10 million inflators are being recalled this year. Already Ford, Honda and Toyota have issued recalls in the latest round. Fiat Chrysler owners will be notified by letter and dealers will replace the inflators with safe ones. The company says it's not aware of any injuries in vehicles involved in this recall, but says it has plenty of replacement parts and is urging people to get the repairs done. "Recall service is free, we have replacement parts and dealers are ready to help," Mark Chernoby, FCA's head of safety for North America, said in a statement. The recall includes 1.4 million vehicles in the United States. Takata used the chemical ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate the airbags. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high humidity and cycles from hot temperatures to cold. The most dangerous inflators are in areas of the South along the Gulf of Mexico that have high humidity. The Fiat-Chrysler recall is part of a phased-in replacement of Takata inflators being managed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Owners can check to see if their vehicles have been recalled by going to airbagrecall.com and keying in license plate or vehicle identification numbers. More than three years after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took over management of recalls involving Takata inflators, one third of the recalled inflators have not been replaced, according to an annual report last year from the government and a court-appointed monitor. The report said 16.7 million faulty inflators out of 50 million under recall have yet to be fixed. Safety advocates say the completion rate should be far higher given the danger associated with the inflators.

Fiat Chrysler halts European production as coronavirus hits demand

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is halting production for two weeks at most of its European plants to help protect staff against the coronavirus pandemic and adjust to a slump in demand, the Italian-American carmaker said on Monday. Italy has been the European country worst hit by the crisis and the first to enforce a nationwide lockdown, which has now been replicated by Spain and, to a lesser extent, by France as the virus sweeps through the continent. With all non essential services closed, including car dealers, and people forced home except for strict working needs, many forecast a heavy fall in car sales in March. FCA — which according to analyst estimates produces around 25% of its vehicles in Europe — said the suspensions through March 27 would allow it "to effectively respond to the interruption in market demand by ensuring the optimization of supply." Ferrari, meanwhile, said it closed its two plants until March 27. Ferrari said it had so far ensured production continuity, and it already implemented all the health measures decided by the Italian government at the two sites, in hometown Maranello and in Modena. But it was "now experiencing the first serious supply chain issues, which no longer allow for continued production." Marco Opipari, an analyst at Fidentiis, said a few weeks of closures was not a big problem in an over-supplied European auto industry and lost production could be recovered later on. "The real problem is on the demand side, people are not buying cars now, and sales volumes are expected to be very bad in March, with a real impact on automakers' earnings," he said. FCA said in a statement that production for its FCA Italy and luxury Maserati units would stop for two weeks, extending a temporary closure period already planned for some Italian facilities. Affected plants are Melfi, Pomigliano, Cassino, Mirafiori, Grugliasco and Modena in Italy, Kragujevac in Serbia and Tychy in Poland. The FIOM union said FCA's decision was "necessary". The carmaker said the freeze would help it to resume activity promptly once market conditions allow it. "The group is working with its supply base and business partners to be ready to enable our manufacturing operations to deliver previously planned total levels of production despite the suspension when market demand returns," it said.