Junkyard Gem: 1994 Dodge Caravan with 434,475 miles

I have run across quite a few discarded vehicles with very large final numbers on their odometers, including 28 that have traveled more than 400,000 miles. Of those, just two were assembled by manufacturers headquartered in the United States: a 2002 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and today’s Junkyard Gem. Both were born in the province of Ontario in Canada, the Ford in Southwold and the Dodge in Windsor (yes, the same city across the river from Detroit that gave us the Windsor family of Ford small-block V8s).

The highest-mile vehicle I’ve found in a junkyard that was built in the United States by a manufacturer also based in the United States was a 1992 Jeep Cherokee with 355,892 miles. However, six of the 400k-plus-mile junkyard residents I’ve found were built by American workers right here in the U.S.A., all employed by Toyota, Nissan or Honda, and the current Numero Uno is a 1996 Toyota Avalon that came close to traveling a million miles after it left its Kentucky birthplace.

This is a second-generation Chrysler minivan, which followed the spectacularly successful K-platform-derived 1984-1990 generation. The 1991-1995 second-gen vans still rolled on chassis related to those under the original K-Cars, and they were among the final members of the extended K Family (along with the Dodge Spirit, Plymouth Acclaim and Chrysler LeBaron coupe/convertible).

I’m always looking for second-generation Caravans (and their Plymouth Voyager twins) with manual transmissions; three-pedal versions were built all the way through the 1995 model year. Chrysler never bolted the manual up to its production V6-powered minivans sold in North America, however, and this van has a Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 under its hood.

This is a single-overhead-cam 3-liter, rated at 142 horsepower and 173 pound-feet. A three-speed automatic was the only transmission available in the 6G72-powered second-gen Chrysler minivan. Is this the original engine? To be honest, I’d be shocked if such were the case; I learned about the 6G72’s tendency to fail under stress while watching a Plymouth Reliant race car kill a half-dozen of them in one year of road-racing.