This week’s Motorweek Retro Review Reaction is the totally not exciting 1992 Chevrolet Lumina minivan… the APV.
Miserable.
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I had a 1990 Lumina Euro 3.1 it was a really great car but, I had to replace the head gaskets a few times.
I remember seeing it. It looked really futuristic for the time and wasn't as depressing-looking as the other offerings…in my opinion.
I don’t have too much experience with this platform other than a coworker owned one and I drove it a few times to pick up lunch. I would say, compared to the Caravan and Windstar of the 90’s, I actually preferred the Lumina. I preferred the higher seating of the Lumina. It felt more like a cargo van than an imitation of a car. I can’t say I’ve ever driven a 90’s minivan that inspired confidence to push it around in traffic or through the twisties. 🤷🏽♂️
I grew up in the back of one off these
Lumina euro lost identity
The next generation was boring
A friend of mine has this exact van and has almost 400K miles on it. He is anal about maintaining it and it has definitely paid off. It still looks and runs great.
When I was younger, my family rented the Lumina sedan on a road trip. I drove it, as a young teen at the time, and it was awesome!
I remember when these first came out. Unfortunately, a lot of my first sightings were these involved in collisions with bashed in front ends because drivers weren’t used to the long nose.
THis is the dust buster minivan. GM was cheap with the interior materials which they could had made better. I think they were scrambling to come up with a minivan to compete with Chrysler
On problem with the design is the curve of the front door window which caused a tall person to hit their head on
If you are talking the 1996-2000 Chrysler minivans, they had cheap plastic materials in the interior. Chrysler and GM are cheap
Unfortunately, the Lumina APV and its siblings (Pontiac Trans Sport and Oldsmobile Silhouette) were not done very well. They didn't get a decent V6 until 1992. Didn't get ABS until 1992. Didn't get an airbag until 1994. The 3800 V6 was decent but the supercharged version would have been much better.
Growing up, my friend's parents had a Lumina APV. They said APV stood for All Plastic Van. To its credit, it lasted them well over 10 years fairly trouble free. Yes it was kinda "interesting" to look at, but we had an Aerostar, which also was rather "interesting" to look at. We all agreed, however, the Toyota Previa, which we all called "the squish van" was by far the wackiest looking van of the late 80's / early 90's era.
Never had one thank God
Optional 15 inch tires…what was regular ? 13z 14z
Material quality was marginal. I remember the vast expanse of dash near the windshield being made of literal press board (the kind used in school art class) covered in a cheap vinyl. This material did not hold up at all. It was common for these vans, with only a year or so of use, to have that entire press board area buckled, curling, and delaminating.
GM has broken my heart too many times for me to ever consider getting one ever again
My 1990 Lumina van is easily the best vehicle I have ever owned. From the standpoint of someone who works on their own vehicles the 3.1 is a great, reliable, easy to work on engine. The 3.8 looks like a nightmare to work on in that vehicle. Glad I did not have it. The 3.1 was more than adequate for hauling fully loaded. Yes, the seats were heavy, and you had to have a place to store them out of the vehicle. I finally had to park the vehicle because the steering rack was wearing out. I hated to do it because the engine started right up and ran great with 240,000 miles on it. No transmission problems. The front end was no problem whatsoever for parking. In fact, I could park this thing effortlessly and precisely. In comparison I can't park my 2005 Dodge Caravan to save my life, lol! Anyway, the best vehicle I have ever owned. From a purely business point of view Chevy made the Lumina APV TOO good. I wanted to drive it forever.
We had a used 91 and kept it for 20 years.
The good old Dustbuster… : )
I owned 3 brand new ones. a Chevrolet an Olds and a Pontiac. Great vans. Just ahead of its time.
I had a 95 Lumina minivan (no longer called APV) with the shorter nose, terrible POS. Great drivetrain (3.8) and I loved the plastic panel and seats, but GM fit and finish was worse than a 72 Fiat. Those seats could be moved in different positions depending on passengers and size/shape of cargo. They were small, light, and easy to remove. The benches in a Caravan weighed 50-70 lbs each and Stow n Go didn't come along until 05, which is when the Saturn minivan came out. I have to say, your comparison with the Relay is WAY off. Sure there are similarities, but then a 79 LTD has the same DNA as a 05 Town Car, doesn't mean they should be compared. C'mon, your research needs work.
I remember when the Lumina APV was first intro'd back in the early 1990s, along with the Olds Silhouette and the Pontiac Trans Sport. Although I never owned or driven either, I remember finding them interesting vehicles. 🙂
I remember when the lumina mpv came out. At the time I thought what was gm thinking. Aardvarks. I rode in many of the 3 versions. I love when the 1997 chevy venture came out. Especially in maroon. I think it was so cool.
I like your comments on a car tests well and then own one. I experienced that with the kia soul. My daughter and I test drove a bright year one about 5 years ago. Then I looked at a 2 and 3 year old soul; they were literally falling apart. Good video.
Yep remember these…. They didn't keep those huge UV reflective windshields very long, I can only imagine what those cost to replace when cracked.
Being a tech back in those days and wondered how a van with such a long nose had the rear hidden for repairs on the 3.8… Though honestly all of the mini vans had the plugs hidden. They probably would have fared better with the SC 3.8 considering the Previous came with a SC.
I actually kind of liked these as a kid/ teen.. a friend of mine’s mother had one… obviously looking back I can see why the second generation Honda Odyssey was such a slam dunk hit…
Mine lasted 10 years 350thousand miles no complaints.body looked new even when sold
About two years ago I bought one of these ('93) for my wife. It also has the 3.8/4spd and the 7 seat arrangement. I paid $700 for it and it had a little over 300,000 miles on it. It needed some work, but after I replaced the motor mounts, oil pan and gasket, radiator, AC compressor and condenser, steering rack, pump, and lines, and a few interior pieces, it was a pretty good running vehicle. It's still a good dependable vehicle, now at 314K, for my wife and three kids, and we've even taken it on a few road trips from Indianapolis to Detroit to visit my parents. I enjoyed reading up on the history of these vans when I first bought it. A couple of thoughts on your review:
Regarding why the Lumina name was shared between this and the sedan, I think it has more to do with function than anything else. The Lumina sedan was intended to replace the Celebrity, which was offered as a sedan and as a station wagon, like many '80's cars. The Lumina did not have a wagon version, but the minivan was introduced at the same time. While the Lumina APV shared little with the Lumina sedan in terms of design and parts, they did replace versions of the same previous-generation vehicle, so at the time the shared name probably made sense.
The Saturn minivan that you reference would have been much newer than these and probably had little in common with the APV. There were three generations of true minivans from GM–this one (1990-1996) was the first, the 1997-2005 Chevy Venture, Pontiac Trans Sport (Montana after 1999), and Olds Silhouette was the second, and the 2006-2008 Chevy Uplander, Pontiac Montana, Buick Terraza, and Saturn Relay was the third. The first generation was built at the North Tarrytown, NY plant (which was closed when these were discontinued) and used a Saturn-like "composite space-frame" design, while the second and third generations were built at the Doraville, GA plant (which was also closed when these were discontinued) and used a conventional steel unibody design. Your Saturn could only have been from that third generation.
I do really like the seating setup on the APV; I don't think it feels narrow at all. The second row of seats can accommodate three child seats, something my '92 Buick Roadmaster (which definitely feels like a wide car) cannot do. If it's lacking in any dimension, I think it would length–these have almost no cargo space behind the third row of seats (but then, you can easily remove those back two seats if cargo space is needed). I suppose if some of that ridiculous dash length were sacrificed–if the seats could have all somehow been moved forward some relative to the front wheels and a more conventional front end formed–then there would have been some cargo space behind that third row. When I first went to look at this van when I was considering buying it, I had never looked at a Lumina APV up close, and I was kind of shocked at how small it looked on the outside. With that in mind, the interior dimensions were all the more surprising.
The Lumina APV might fall short of 2023 expectations, but I like older vehicles, and this one gets the job done. It's fun to drive simply because you feel like you're flying the space shuttle, and the flexible seating/cargo area makes it really practical. Appreciated your even-handed approach to the vehicle's unusual styling.
"Do one thing every day that scares you." _Anonym
Your review is spot on. A lot of minivans were rushed. They were somewhat underpowered. The transmissions in them were notoriously bad. The interior quality wasn't the best. I feel this is the reason why the trend faded quickly. People saw a lot of minivans for what they were not much.
Great 👍 show ! My parents back in the owned full-sized station wagons from GM and eventually owned a Chevrolet Astro van. My parents didn't like the Lumina van styling at all .
I had a Pontiac Transport back in 93. I kinda liked it, never had a problem with it, but traded it in for an S-10 Blazer after 2 years.
As I've talked about my Saturn Relay, basically a high end Chevy Uplander with some chrome strips, it's clear much of Jon's assessment is true with that plaform in general. If anything the Uplander felt like a quarterhearted attempt. Even my high end level 3 with heated leather seats would hardly muster 2001 standards. By 3006 it was sorely out of date even if it has fresh updates.