While General Motors lagged in powertrain and chassis development in the ’80s (the Buick Grand National, which slapped a turbo on a pushrod six of Kennedy-era origin doesn’t count), the behemoth’s design bureaus were still turning out some attractive stuff. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that styling was pushed off the same unfortunate cliff from which engineering had been unceremoniously shoved in the 1970s. As such, the sci-fi-ready Chevrolet Lumina APV, launched for 1990, plucked at the heartstrings of a few Americans who were not yet hip to the badness of the era’s domestic vehicles. So why not make a limo out of one? After all, if Donald Trump can have his own custom-branded Cadillac limousine, shouldn’t the proletariat at least be afforded the opportunity to ride in all-purpose luxury?
Bob Halpern of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, took the sentiment to heart when creating this particular machine. In fact, he apparently had two Lumina APVs converted for eight-passenger VIP hauling by adding a five-foot stretch and a custom interior. At the time, Cadillac and Lincoln limos were cresting $50K, and sales of the elongated beasts were tanking. Halpern figured the APV could make for a compelling and more affordable alternative.
Fast forward to today, when upfitted, business-class Sprinters count as acceptable fancy-folk transport, and it seems that Halpern was merely a prescient dude left waiting for the world to catch up—although we imagine the three-pointed star helps make the Benz’s swank-trousers business case. The Lumina, after all, wore only a bow tie. You know, like a Chippendales dancer.
As reported in C/D’s June 1992 issue, our John Phillips drove one of the stretch Dustbusters—auspiciously named the Concorde Lumina APV—not long before Chrysler poached the Concorde name for its entry-level LH car. He proclaimed the maximum minivan “among the best-driving, best-suspended of its ilk.” Why and how Phillips has so much experience with the Concorde’s ilk is beyond the scope of this blog post.
Sadly, the crimson-interior Concorde featured in our pages reportedly has been totaled, leaving this van of lesser provenance as the last XL APV left standing. There is, however, good news. For 4200 American dollars and a trip to Hendersonville, Tennessee, what’s purported to be the sole remaining Concorde Lumina APV could be yours. Roughly 70,000 miles are on the odo, and the van needs some frame-rail rust repair under the stretch, but the interior seems solid. The seller claims that “everything is stock besides the stretch,” although the television has been upgraded to a modern flat-screen unit and digital entertainment comes courtesy of an Xbox, rather than a period-correct Sega Genesis. Like a proper and courteous Craigslist citizen, the our intrepid Concorde salesman is even throwing in a Haynes manual and a copy of our June 1992 issue.
Buy it, and you’ll have what’s apparently the only Concorde Lumina APV in the world. We’re willing to wager that Concorde ownership is far more fulfilling than whatever it is you were planning to do with $4200 at that sketchy Dollar General in Farmington, New Mexico. We formally invite you to find out.
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