“Enough torque to keep a radio chat show running for a month” – those were the exact words we used to introduce the Chevrolet Lumina SS AT in 2001. Hard to imagine that the Lumina has been in South Africa for over a decade already.
Even though it wore a proper Chevy “Bowtie” on its nose the Lumina was (and still is) produced in Australia by The General’s Holden subsidiary. And while those countries that are privy to LHD models get to slide around in Camaros we get to drive RHD models made Down Under.
This musclecar heralded the return of General Motors to South Africa at the start of the new millenium, and what a return it was. Employing the 5,7-litre V8 from the Corvette C5 this family car was able to sprint from standstill to 100 km/h in 7,40 seconds. That may not seem quick by today standards but at the time it was as quick as BMW’s 540i and Audi’s A6 V8. This bruiser was even the feature car on our June issue cover.
Grab a Fosters, your mate Bruce and enjoy this classic road test of one of Australia’s best imports.
