Chevrolet Lumina History

Chevrolet Lumina

The Chevrolet Lumina sedan and minivan were introduced in 1989 for the 1990 model year as a new range of vehicles from the Chevrolet marque of General Motors. Consumers were confused by having two different vehicles (the Lumina sedan and the Lumina APV minivan) share the same name, and the concept was eventually scrapped when the Lumina APV was replaced by the Chevrolet Venture in 1997.

Chevrolet Lumina is also the name of a rebadged version of the Australian Holden Commodore, sold in the Middle East, South Africa and Thailand from 1997. The Chevrolet Lumina Coupe, sold in the Middle East, is a rebadged Holden Monaro, a coupe version of the Commodore.

1990

The Lumina was a replacement for the Chevrolet Celebrity sedan & coupe and Monte Carlo coupe. All Luminas were built in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

The North American Chevrolet Lumina was based on the mid-size GM W platform, which was shared with the Pontiac Grand Prix, the Buick Regal, the Buick Century (after 1996), the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and the Oldsmobile Intrigue. The Lumina was the largest sedan out of the W-body family up until 1997, when GM upsized their W-body cars.

In 1988, the Lumina became the nameplate under which Chevrolets were to be raced in NASCAR. As a result, NASCAR received many letters complaining about the unfair advantage of Chevrolet racing an "aluminum" car.

Early Lumina ads included Disney animated characters from Fantasia under license from Disney; In return, the Lumina was made the official car of Disney World. In one sequence, advertising the car's spacious interior, cartoon hippopotami were used to demonstrate the Lumina's wider rear door swings which Chevrolet claimed made for easier access to the rear seat area. While popular, the ads were soon cancelled when focus groups revealed that they remembered the Disney characters better than they remembered the car itself. Some refer to the Lumina as the Mickey Mouse car.

Engines:

• 1990 2.5 L (151 in³) Iron Duke I4
• 1990-1994 3.1 L (191 in³) 60° V6
• 1991-1994 3.4 L DOHC(207 in³) Twin Dual Cam V6 Z34 only

1995

The Lumina was completely redesigned for 1995 with the Monte Carlo resurrected as a 2-door version replacing the Lumina coupe, while the Euro model was dropped, replaced by the LS trim. This Lumina was also used for police, including a limited number by the New York City Police Department, and taxi duties since the demise of the Chevrolet Caprice in 1996. The Chevrolet Impala was introduced as a replacement for the Lumina in 2000, only for the Lumina to be sold for rental fleets. Production of the Lumina ended on April 26, 2001.

Engines:

• 1995-2001 3.1 L (191 in³) L82 60° V6
• 1995-1997 3.4 L DOHC(207 in³) Twin Dual Cam V6
• 1998-1999 3.8 L (231 in³) L36 90° V6