Good morning! I have a little bit of a theme this week: I’m going to seek out cars that have the same asking price, because I keep forgetting to include the prices in the poll like you all have asked. This way it doesn’t matter; both cars each day will be the same price. We’ll see if I can keep it up all week.
Friday, we stepped out of our comfort zone price-wise, but it was worth it to look at a couple of really cool little vehicles. I had an idea how this one was going to go, and I was right: For the majority of you, as it was for England Dan and John Ford Coley, LUV is the answer. (Yes, there were literally hundreds of musical references I could have stuck in there, but ’70s truck, ’70s song.)
I honestly could go either way with this one. That LUV, or something very much like it, is the only thing that could possibly replace my beloved Forest Service truck, if any terrible fate were to befall it. But the Honda takes up less space, and I have a weakness for tiny cars.
When it comes to cheap transportation, for my money, big General Motors cars of the ’90s are where it’s at. Yes, the interior will fall apart. Yes, you’ll be just a little bit embarrassed to be seen in it. But as long as you keep gas, oil, and a charged battery in it, you can virtually guarantee you’ll get home. What’s more, you’ll do so in comfortable seats, getting reasonably good fuel economy, and feeling just a tiny bit smug about having spent half as much as the next person did on a Camry with double the mileage. Still not convinced? All right, let’s check out a couple of them.
1990 Chevrolet Lumina Euro – $1,800
Engine/drivetrain: 3.1-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Hays, NC
Odometer reading: 210,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, everything works
We’ve already taken our shots at Chevy for its flagrant misuse of the term “Eurosport.” I’m not going to pile on here. But I do find it amusing that when the Celebrity gave way to the Lumina, Chevy dropped the “Sport,” but doubled down on the “Euro” part. Really all it means is red trim instead of chrome, alloys instead of whitewalls, some added-on spoilers and ground effects, and a center console between bucket seats. It’s “Euro” in the same way that Blink-182 is “punk” (okay, maybe I’ll take one little shot) but it does suit the car’s styling better.
Some Luminas with red trim and spoilers had some cool stuff under the hood, like a 3.4-liter quad-cam V6 and a five-speed stick, but not this one. Here you’ll find a garden-variety 3.1-liter engine and a four-speed automatic, just like Grandma used to drive. It’s not exciting, but it’s durable and gets decent gas mileage. It has 210,000 miles on it, but the seller says it runs just fine, and everything works, including the air conditioning.
The interiors of GM cars this age are often a letdown and this one is no exception. It’s not trashed by any means and the seats actually look pretty good, but the more you look at it the more little flaws you find. The center armrest is toast, and the gray part of the plastic dashboard is warped and coming apart. But it’s an $1,800 car, you can’t expect showroom condition.
Outside, the paint is sun-baked and the clearcoat is coming off. But the seller is quick to point out that it has the same color scheme as a much faster, more famous Chevy, and suggests this would make a good tribute car. I guess, if that’s your thing, then yes, it would.
1994 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi – $1,800
Engine/drivetrain: Supercharged 3.8-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Sanford, ME
Odometer reading: 120,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives but has been sitting, needs some work
“We Build Excitement” was Pontiac’s slogan for years. But as someone who grew up in a town where a Pontiac dealership was the only game in town, I can tell you that there were a whole lot of Pontiacs that weren’t exciting at all: Iron Duke-powered Grand Ams, beige 6000s with bench seats, and the entire LeMans line from the ’80s. You had to get into the upper trim levels before you got to the good ones, like this top-of-the-line Bonneville SSEi.
To give the Bonneville a little something extra, Pontiac bolted a supercharger to the top of its already-famous Buick 3800 V6. It doesn’t magically turn the Bonneville into a sports sedan, but it makes stoplights and on-ramps a lot more fun. This one has only 120,000 miles to its name, but it has been sitting for years and has only recently been revived. It needs brakes and shocks, but more critically, the harmonic balancer is coming apart. That’s not an expensive repair to do, but ignore it and it has the potential to really ruin your day. It might be best to tow this car home.
This one looks quite a bit better inside than the Lumina, but it has a lot fewer miles. And a whole lot more buttons. It’s funny how we’ve now gone so far the other way with car interiors, with virtually no buttons at all in something like a Tesla Model 3. Personally, I like this better; KITT had lots of buttons, so it seems fitting that this car does as well.
It looks good outside, but as I was informed last time I featured a car from Maine, this car has been exposed to road salt, so it’s best to check underneath for rust. In that regard, having spent the last ten or fifteen years in a garage might have worked to this car’s advantage. Rubber stuff is replaceable; rust repair is a lot more difficult.
Eighteen hundred bucks isn’t a lot to spend on a car these days. But I think these two show that you can still have a decent car for that price. Not perfect, but decent. They’ll get you around (once you do a little work on the Pontiac, obviously), and for this price, that’s not nothing. So which one is more to your liking?
(Image credits: sellers)
Don’t know don’t care I closed my eyes and apparently I prefer the Bonneville
The path of ilLumination is not often trod by most. Indeed, only the most elite can revel in the path of Lumina with its future prediction of European currency uniting a continent celebrated here as an option package by forward thinking General Motors. Mark of Excellence, branded on skin from metal seatbelt latch on summer day.
With its trusty 3.1L pushrod V6 and 4-speed automatic, one can waft along with reliable ease. Forced induction? Bosh! Ungainly 90-degree V6 offset crank pins? Flimshaw! Sixty degrees of pushrod V6, with only the most reliable of timing chains as those who have been ilLuminated can attest.
The oddball doorhandles that we needed a vice-grip to open? Only the finest minds of GM could have created such an American opportunity for field improvisation. Again, the Luminescence shone upon us.
The harmonic balancer is not the only unbalanced part of the Bonneville. Its undercarriage soiled as if it left at the Bonneville flats themselves. The brakes broken, the shocks shocking.
There is only one choice. Revel in the warm glow of Lumina.
The Bonneville was a pretty good car for GM. To me, this is peak Bonneville. And the gold basket weaves? Just let me untuck my flannel shirt and crank of the Nirvana and Blind Melon playlist…..
A 3.1 vs. A 3.8 supercharged?
“My Bonnie lies over my driveway…”
Bonnie, because I can still hear the ad where Patrick Stewart says “Pontiac Bonneville S-S-E-I”
Definitely gimmee the Bonnie, Luminas are TRASH
Pshht, that bonnie is barely broken in.
I assume when you propose to make the Lumina into a tribute car to a more famous Chevy, you were referring to Cole Trickle’s Daytona-winning Mello Yellow Lumina.
I’d rather do a Taurus with a cougar on the hood
Bonnie for me. Even with the extra work, it will be a fun and more interesting car when done.
Full-size highway cars were the ride of choice for longer-travel construction workers for many years.
Two or three guys could knock down travel costs and travel/snooze in comfort.
Bonnie fer this builder.
Got to take a trip in a previous GEN Bonneville, the owner had a shop install an aftermarket Code Alarm system, and they ruined his poor dash, the whole thing squeaked like the dog from Snatch, was still a better ride than any Lumina I’ve been in.
They’re both fine for the money so I picked the lower miles one that might need more work but will spin those front tires a few extra feet.
I’m fond of the gonzo styling of this generation Bonneville, and the supercharged 3800 seals the deal. No disrespect to the Lumina, though–if the paint didn’t look so cruddy, I’d be tempted to buy it as well.
As a former Bonneville owner, I’ll take the SSEi all day, every day. The Lumina is fine, but the Bonnie is so much more car, even without the blower, that this one being the supercharged model is just icing on the cake.
I can hear the exhaust sound of both of these cars in my head right now.
Having had hand me downs of almost this exact Bonneville and a W body Grand Prix I can tell you the Bonneville is an exponentially better car. For me it would be worth a little extra work and money to get it going.
No idea why anyone would go Lumina here. The 3.8 is the better engine, and 120k is better than 210k. I do actually like those Lumina coupes, but not with 100k extra miles.
yes, the Bonnie needs some work, but once it’s done it’ll be a much rewarding car than the Euro pretender. And it looks better inside and out, too.
If you don’t need a daily right now the Bonnie is the right choice
Can you put a manual in the Lumina?
Yes, not sure how much work it would be, but there are definitely manuals that would bolt up. I am 90% sure there was a factory option for that so it should be pretty simple? Maybe?
The Gen 1 W bodies had a manual as an option, gen 2 dropped it in favor of auto only. The lumina and Grand Prix could be had with one. Could even get a 5speed with the 3.4 quad cam, I drove a used one I considered buying it but I was still in college and a car payment was really a no go.
You can even put a 6-speed in, if you want. Pontiac G6 GTP with the 3900 came with the same F40 gearbox that a lot of similar-era Saabs used, but with the GM Small Corporate/’Metric’ bellhousing that matches the Lumina. Would be fun to just take the whole lot and have a 240hp/240tq 6MT Lumina, but, just a manual swap is doable with off-the-shelf parts.
You could since the 3.4 was offered with one (Holy Grail! or Glorious Garbage!) but this isn’t a sporty car by any means – better to leave it with the slushbox, it suits the car,
Blower and buttons equals Driving Excitement.
Give me the SSEi.
I wanted to vote Bonneville so badly, and against most other GM FWD cars of the era, it would have won. But that Lumina makes me want to paint it up as a Rowdy Burns tribute car, stick a Ford 8.8 in the back, and shoehorn a small block Chevy and 4 speed in it.
My mother had that Bonneville as a grocery-getter in Hilton Head. It was her favorite car ever.
The Bonneville is twice the car that the Lumina is. I’m surprised that anyone would choose the Lumina. The Bonneville even looks to be in much better condition as well. If it weren’t so far away I’d even consider buying that car.
Lumina design has aged a lot better than the curved inflated ugly domestic 90s design language on the Pontiac, imho. Plus 2 door vs 4 door.
I see what you’re saying and you are right that the Pontiac is not exactly a pretty car, but I am nostalgic for the million button interiors that were in Pontiac interiors of this era.
I want one of these Luminas purely because it would serve as an excellent base for a Daytona USA Hornet replica. The Hornet is my Mr. Regular’s Crazy Taxi.
Edit: spelling
Boy, this was a tough one. I really like the styling of these Luminas, but the 3.1 is so outmatched by any 3.8, let alone a supercharged one. Those H-body cars are so roomy and comfortable inside too.
I went with the Lumina, because at this price point I think it’s always best to go with the one that’s already working vs the one that needs A, B, and C. That always leads to D, E, and F. Especially when F could easily be completely rotted out rocker panels and subframes with these cars.
No contest… the Bonneville with the supercharged 3.8 is easily the one to go with over the Lumina with the 3.1 even though the Bonneville needs some work and routine maintenance done to it before putting it on the road. Once that is done, you’ll have a much better vehicle than the Lumina could ever be.
Also the GM H-body cars were better overall compared to the W-body cars.
You couldn’t be more right. The Bonnevilles/88-98/Lesabre-park aves from this era were excellent cars.