The Chevy Lumina: What Was The Last Year For This Car And Why Was It Discontinued?

Chevrolet has been making automobiles for well over 100 years now, and over that span, the American automaker has produced a wide range of successful vehicles. As with many other manufacturers, one of Chevy's bread-and-butter markets is family-friendly cars. These days, that market is dominated by SUVs, but in the 1980s and 1990s, sedans were among the biggest players in the family-friendly sector, and for much of the latter decade, the Lumina ranked among Chevy's best offerings.

The Lumina hit the market in 1989,  and the boxy first-generation builds more than held their own in the mid-size sedan arena, with Chevy offering its early models with the choice of a 100-horsepower four-cylinder or a punchier V6 build that pushed the ponies up to 170 hp. The car would continue to evolve in ensuing generations, with Chevy smoothing out the boxy frame and offering several under-the-hood upgrades.

Luminas were even tabbed as Chevy's offering on NASCAR race tracks, earning pop culture cred with an extended closeup in "Days of Thunder" and netting checkered flags for legends like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. But in 2001, Chevy surprisingly pulled the plug on the Lumina, in large part because it was being outsold by competitors like the Ford Taurus and the Toyota Camry. When the Lumina's 12-year production run ended in '01, it was essentially replaced in the lineup by the wildly successful Malibu, which Chevy still makes today.

The Lumina's rise and fall was one of Chevy's bigger narratives throughout the 1990s. But it wasn't just about the family-friendly sedan. In the early part of the '90s, Chevrolet went so far as to offer a slightly muscled-up version of its family sedan, the Lumina Z34. This high-performance Lumina came with Chevy's FE3 sport suspension package, a few sleek body tweaks, and a dual-exhaust setup.

It also came standard with a 3.4-liter V6 engine capable of producing 210 horsepower and 215 pound-feet of torque, and could go zero to 60 in about 7.1 seconds. Though that's slower than competitors like the Taurus, such acceleration is still impressive for a family sedan. 

The Z34 Lumina was only in production between 1990 and 1994, with fewer than 50,000 made.  According to Classic.com, a standard model in excellent condition can fetch you more than $10,000 today on resale. The Z34 also joined Chevy's Signature Edition lineup with a dash of Dale Earnhardt branding, and one of those in good repair could net you closer to $20,000.

Interestingly enough, if your family was growing beyond the Lumina sedan's five-seat capacity, the APV package gave it a full-on minivan upgrade. Lumina APV minivans were a regular sight in the suburbs in the '90s, with their distinctive look earning them the nickname "Dustbuster." Unlike the Lumina sedan, though, the APV only made it through one generation of design, ending production in 1996.