This mid-sized sedan was manufactured to follow in the Monte Carlo's footsteps of gaining the most NASCAR victories in history. All of that culminated in the admission by Toyota Chief Akio Toyota that the corporate lost its way somewhat in its old philosophy of “Safety, Quality, Volume” and a memo circulated among senior management that was eerily reminiscent of the Ford Pinto memos of the 1970s. I remember plenty of Ford, Nissan and Toyota cars with this set up. All Rights Reserved. Restore your factory feel and ride quality with strong and reliable lateral arms and components. As an early teenager my favorite thing about that car was parking it on the street (about as far as my dad would let me drive it) opening the trunk, blasting some hip-hop and playing basketball with my friends. Well its like this the Export Chevrolet Lumina that the world buys is not this FWD turd but a rebadged Holden Commodore from Australia so while Chevy decided these were good enough for US consumption export markets got a completely different car. GM’s W-Body started out as the GM10, which got off to miserable start with the 1988 Buick Regal, Olds Cutlass Supreme and Pontiac Grand Prix coupes. The most interesting belt-in-door design has got to be the motorized ones where you were supposed to leave the seatbelt buckled and the motor drew the belt away so you could get in and out. Fleets like simple and cheap which is often at odds with the rest of the public. I do not think there is a corporation that exists in the world today that has the wherewithall to apporach a project of that magnitude. Your email address will not be published. Like the APV my parents bought, these cars had a lot going for them. That, in a way, probably helped lesson the blow of the loss of the older models, and probably kept many of Chrysler’s customers while acknowledging the necessity of moving forward on space and fuel economy. That’s exactly HOW GM got where it is; and why I for one am content to leave it to die in the gutter. My mother bought one of these horrid collections of parts in 1993. While he owned it, we took a family vacation to California (only time I’ve ever been west of Buffalo) and my parents rented a base model Lumina. Generator rear brace, I do not dispel that there was and is hubris at GM, such things exist in any organization when they reach a sufficient size and maturity in the market. BTW I have quite a few friends that are still in the UAW or who have either retired. At least one hopes so. Ramblers were cheap. Vehicle Highlights Has Been in Same Collection for … That hasn’t happened since the Bonneville G. Except for the part about ’88 Century. @ 4400 rpm; Horsepower: 210 hp @ 5200 rpm; 5-speed manual transmission This was borne out during the recall events of the last severals years (and I am not going to comment on the recall itself just the management behavior) when the problem went from being a relatively small problem to a crisis that started to look like the Audi thing in the late 1980s. One belt, both anchors on door (GM, a few Hondas and Nissans), 2. SUV’s and minivans, of course … Explorer, Suburban, Tahoe, and Caravan; but also Taurus and Sable, Contours and Escorts. Ironically, another guy that I worked with who was affiliated with the Buick Regal GN/GNX project, had a Lumina Z34 coupe with one of the ultra rare 5 speed manual transmissions. GM rightly recognize the value in upgrading their data processing systems, and just simply went out and bought EDS for $2.4 billion with less than desired results. I thought the Cutlass rather boring ,except for the oddly placed door handles. Boy , that’s got to be a l-o-n-g list! I would blame the union leaders and GM’s executives with the total slide down hill. I’m not a huge fan of the 60 degree V6s, but they can go the distance. The 2013 Impala is the last of the line, and its replacement is coming on line as we write this. Search Local Cars for Sale. It’s a mysterious thing.” (wikipedia). The 1994 Lumina Z34 got an impressive-for-the-time 210 horsepower from its LQ1… unless the buyer opted for the automatic transmission (which, I’m guessing, nearly all of them did). My experience with the lumina was, naturally a rental. Typical for many (but hardly all) new GM cars, Lumina sedan sales started off reasonably well in its first year, with some 278k sold. Up until the mid 1980s (when the Big 3 probably had their peak combined), domestic cars and imported cars looked signficantly different. It was a disaster. We haven’t said a word so far about the Lumina’s styling. passive-safety requirements. I made the mistake 😉 of using the email that goes to my BlackBerry for the CC updates. I do own a new(ish) Nissan (2012 Altima) and find it atheistically pleasing in a non-offensive kind of way. I woke up about 7am and I usually check the BB to make sure there are not any emergencies waiting for me and saw this update. In the early ’90s, I drove Toyotas and worked for a bank with several Crown Vic’s in its fleet of company vehicles, along with one first-generation Lumina and one second-generation Camry. I owned an 89 Cadillac Brougham. The two main factors that I see that have been the primary factors into getting us here are A) Globalization – as stated above with the US not being the only major free market economy there is bound to be intrusion in the market – it has occured not just with automobiles but in virtually everything else where capital expenditures are a huge part of the budget. 2. No lunch time burrito for me. Back when I was a newly minted engineer I was working for a little automation company tasked with making a parts handling system for the Lumina drum brake spring. The crowning achievement was when I was driving after dark from a bank branch on the wrong side of the Faubourg Marigny – NOT a good part of town – and the lockup torque converter decided not to unlock as a came to a stop, stalling the engine. Must have seemed like a good idea at the time. The ride and handling are notable. I will always be fond of these first-gen Luminas because I passed my driver’s test in one. On one of their best and most expensive cars, mind you. Year 1991. The whole GM10 program was quite likely the single biggest boondoggle of the Roger Smith era; What’s this?! The Monte Lumina’s dohc engine made good power, but the interior was atrocious. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Chrysler had this same problem through the 70s – few conquest sales, plus old regulars being turned off by bad quality or unappealing cars. No wonder there seem to be so many gen1 Luminas still on the streets. I see someone likes to stay up in the middle of the night. The GP was ok, but traded on a 90 Mclaren/ASC Grand Prix turbo coupe…which I still miss dearly. No performance, bad driving dynamics and bad gas mileage. Free shipping. Just a thing. I think they switched to the other system by 1975 or 76. ). The same was true of the Cutlass Ciera versus the Cutlass Supreme. All the materials I’ve ever seen suggest that they did some deep soul-searching and realized they needed to be building the best. And the interiors were roomy, comfortable and offered great visibility. Its since been replaced with a 3rd genration escort with the hubcaps spray painted blue. Sure there were lots of Toyotas and Hondas. Wow. At the time I was really surprized to see the 5-speed manual, but had no idea how rare they really were. So management ultimately is the final key determinant. As far as mileage, I am not surprised taken care of properly the GM 60*V6 family is sturdy and reliable along with the Buick 3800. I personally drove an ’88 Prelude Si with my nose in the air and a trail of rust behind me. It had the spaceship-looking hubcaps instead of alloys, something that disappointed me to no end as a 10 year old. The column shift was disturbingly long and had to be maneuvered around to get to the radio controls. Too many electronics? The problem is not that they put off the old customers. In Chevy’s defense, ’94 Lumina model year was shortened, since the re-skinned 1995 came out in spring 1994. Curbside Classic: 1991 Chevrolet Lumina Euro – GM’s Deadly Sin # 18 – Where’s The Light? Really disliked these when they came out in spring 1994 “ rental car counter on your next Disney.... 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