At $4,000, Could This 1994 Chevy Lumina Z34 Light Up Your Life?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Lumina Z34 was once Chevy’s answer to Ford’s SHO Taurus. Let’s see if this handsome coupe comes with a price that will have buyers answering the call.

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The 2012 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid we looked at yesterday was painted a factory yellow, making it look a bit like a big wedge of cheese. As we all know, mice love cheese, and at $16,000, the crossover Cayenne came in with a squeaker of a vote, earning a super narrow 54 percent Nice Price win

The category in which yesterday’s Porsche plays—that of mid-sized crossovers—has for decades been one of the most popular among the car-buying public. As such, certain other categories, including station wagons, minivans, and big personal coupes, have seen their sales suffer.

Today’s 1994 Chevy Lumina Z34 hails from an era before the great crossover coalescence. Not only that, but it’s a pretty cool-looking ride in its own right.

The Lumina was Chevy’s mid-size family car of the ’90s, having taken over that role from the earlier Celebrity, shouldering it through to 2001. While the Celebrity had been offered in wagon, four- and two-door forms, the W-platform Lumina pared the model line down to just a sedan and coupe. That coupe would later morph into the reborn Monte Carlo, letting the Lumina’s light fade out with just a single, four-door model. Before that happened, however, Chevy gave the Lumina some pretty big balls to play with.

This Z34 edition is the sporty Lumina, sort of like the Chevelle SS of its era. What puts the meat behind the standard Lumina’s potatoes is a major upgrade to the mechanicals, including a 210 horsepower 3.4 liter 32-valve V6 engine, tauter FE3 suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes. A Getrag five-speed was made available in the model, although this car rocks the more expected 4T60 four-speed automatic.

Wrapping that all up is a body that sports revised bumpers, grille, and rockers, along with a rear spoiler and functional vents on the hood so the engine can know the weather report firsthand. Model-specific alloys round out the appearance part of the package. The interior of the Z34 also saw some upgrades, featuring bolstered bucket seats and a leather-wrapped three-spoke sport wheel.

This one sports Torch Red paint accented with sliver striping over its Z34 aero kit. According to the ad, there are a modest 106,000 miles on the car, and while it looks pretty good for its age overall, there are some notable chips in the striping wrapping the car and a sizable—but not paint-puncturing—dent on the passenger side front fender. Below all that, the factory alloys look un-marred and appear to be wearing new tires.

One of the cool features of the Lumina coupe is the beer tap door handles set into each door’s B pillar. That was a bit of whimsy that GM seemed to like at the time as it employed the design across a number of different models. On the other side of the door, the Lumina met the era’s passive restraint requirements by mounting the seat belt to the door, allowing occupants to either slide below the buckled belt when entering and exiting or to unbuckle the belt in traditional fashion like a sane and responsible human being.

The rest of the interior is color coordinated in no-nonsense gray with somewhat institutional fuzzy cloth upholstery and Barcalounger-soft seats. The driver’s seat looks like the foam cushions are in need of some work, but at least the surrounding upholstery is intact. Nothing else looks to be an issue here.

A little more wear and tear is evident under the hood. Nothing stands out as problematic, just a bit grimier than we might like. That might be due to those functioning louvers allowing in dust and dirt. Per the seller, this is a “good running and driving car” that has just seen a refresh of its plugs, wires, and cam cover gaskets. It has also passed its smog test and comes with a clean title. Do you think it could be worth $4,000 as it sits?

That’s quite the conundrum since the reason for the model’s exclusivity is a lack of general desirability when new and perhaps even less now that we’re supposed to all like crossovers instead of coupes.

What’s your take? Is this hot Lumina a deal at that $4,000 asking? Or do you take a dim view of paying so much?

You decide!

San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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