Hello everyone! I am writing today to hopefully find out some general information about my 1981 Plymouth Caravelle. To be honest, I cant find out a bit about this car! I know that the Caravelle was only manufactured in Canada and I believe this is complicating my search for parts. She has been posted in this forum before by her previous owner, so I have been able to read through some conversations but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information. Some say she is the same as a Diplomat, other say she is similar to a Lebaron, and I have even heard Grand Fury. Does anyone know where I can find parts/information? My only other car before her was a 65 Mustang which has info readily available, so I am on unfamiliar ground here. Ive re-used some old photos of her from her previous owner's post as I have not had time to go out and take my own.
Info on Caravelle I worked in sales at Chrysler dealers from 1975 until 2000. The Caravelle was sold by the Chrysler-Plymouth dealers in Canada. The Diplomat was sold by the Chrysler-Dodge dealers in Canada. As a footnote Chry-Dodge dealers sold Dodge trucks and Ply-Chrysler dealers sold Fargo trucks which were only available in Canada and I believe discontinued after the 1976 model year whereas after that both franchises sold Dodge trucks. The Caravelles and Diplomats were viirtually the same car except for the badging and depending on the year a few exterior trum pieces. Any Diplomat part should work and fit your Caravelle.
Yes, the Canadian Caravelle is the same as the Diplomat, and yes, its also the same as the U.S. Plymouth Gran Fury. It was just the name badges and minor trim differences and the Dodges would have had a slightly different grille than the Plymouths. Heres an explaination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Gran_Fury
hey, hey, hey My Hot Wheels size Chrysler woodie wagon looks a lot like this one ! This one would be good to have. Caravelle was also a sub-model of the K-car, wasn't it? I don't remember seeing any in wagon form though, just four door sedans.
The Diplomat and Caravelles were rear wheel drive cars which were completely different from the K-Cars which were much smaller and Chryslers first front wheel drive car.
There was a Caravelle K-car sedan variant sold in the US; so the name was used on BOTH RWD and FWD Mopars over the course of the 70s and '80s. FWD Caravelle: http://www.allpar.com/model/caravelle.html RWD Caravelle: http://www.allpar.com/model/dodge-diplomat.html
Your Caravelle is the same as the American Gran Fury of the same year. It is also the same car as the LeBaron and 5th Avenue sedan. Under the skin, they are platform mates of the Aspen and Volare, just a little longer.
Not exactly true...the Aspen and Volare are "F"-bodies, while the Gran Fury/Diplomat/Fifth Avenue/Caravelle are all "M"-bodies - there are differences. Not huge, but enough to be considered different bodies.
You are very much correct Patrick, yet under the hood, suspension, etc, etc are all the same. Little know fact but when it comes to the 2-door models of all mentioned, it's the same door aswell for all 4 door models. This als makes me wonder "if" the front windshield is the same also. I can't say for sure prior to 1979 but I do know the entire front clip from a Volarie/Aspen bolts rite up to the 80 and above Diplomats etc, there was a 4-door Caravelle sedan that drove around here for years with colour miss matched front clip, just like the Mexican version, yet a 4 door.
A buddy swapped the complete front doghouse off an M-body Fifth Avenue onto his '79 Volare several years ago, after swapping in a 440! Talk about a bastard, but a cool-looking bastard that would roast the rear tires!
From what I can see, the only difference between the F and M bodies is the length between the wheel wells. If the doors and cowl are the same, and they have to be since the two share a dash, and the entire front clip matches up perfectly, then the basics of the cars match up, and the knowledge from one will transfer to the other. They were 'odd ball' Chryslers, too, in that they used transverse torsion bars, not longitudinal as the previous Mopars had done since the introduction of the "Torsionaire Suspension".
Thank you I've been lurking on posts for sometime now and just realized I never thanked everyone for all the information! It has proved very helpful for finding parts as well as just being able to talk about my own car. So thank you... I am going to try to get more active on the site now that my schedule has opened up some.
Not "oddballs" at all, since ALL F- & M-body cars; as well as the last "B"-body, all "J"-body, and all "R"-body cars ALL used the "J"-shaped, or transverse, torsion bars. Used from 1976 - 1988 inclusive on those cars mentioned. The last of the longitudinal bars was with the 1978 "C"-body cars
