Wouldn’t you stop, open the passenger window, and shoot this Pontiac LeMans? I sure did, even if its occupants don’t seem any too happy about it. Maybe it’s because they’re parked right next to the downtown Library, where illicit activities do occur with regularity, to the point that there are now loudspeakers blasting classical music unto the sidewalk. The first time we encountered that, Stephanie remarked how nice it was to hear classical music on the street. Quite effective, too. Anyway, these folks most likely aren’t here to pick up a clean wardrobe. And just as I pulled off, a hearty “fuck off” could be heard above the opera aria. The sounds of the city, even a smallish one.
First time I saw one of these was at the Pittsburgh Auto Show in 1988?…don’t remember exactly, I just remember disappointment at seeing the LeMans name attached to such a tiny econobox.
Wasn’t this America’s introduction to Daewoo?
If I had to drive around in one of those, I would be in a pretty foul humor too.
This poor car has probably served much more purpose/value than its current occupants. I enjoy classical music but never thought of it as pest-control. What a great idea!
My dream world would include sound sensors at traffic lights and gas stations that would trigger this music whenever they detect elevated bass sounds as these mental midgets sit in traffic, fill their cars, purchase rolling papers, etc.
Back on subject — who sourced these cars? What a blow to the LeMans name.
Yes, perhaps I’m a bit overly timid, but when I shoot old cars in the wild I do it as if I was taking pictures of African wildlife: as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.
As a side note, I’ve seen tourists in Paris get bottles thrown at them by the local dealers when they would try to take pictures in certain locations.
Parisian local, er, `dealers’, of what?
>Parisian local, er, `dealers’, of what?<
Heh, didn't ever get around to asking, but judging from the look of some of the customers, I'd say smack.
Guess I should say something about the Daewoo Le Mans. Never owned or even drove one, but it looks as though the product planning meeting consisted of a guy showing up with an American football, placing it on the table and saying, 'Like that.'
Paris Texas?
My brother had one of these. The thing I remember most about it was how fast the turn signal blinked, and inside it sounded like the heart of a squirrel after nearly getting squished while trying to cross the road. Tickatickatickatickatickatickatickatickaticka
The fact that it did not start reliably after only four years on the road, and that mechanics could never quite find out why, says a lot about this terrible automobile.
Mechanics also couldn’t figure out VWs, but then they were not GM badged. The half-assed GM `mechanic’ community has done the absolute worst to stifle any innovation that the company might dream of (not that it was particularly innovative itself).
There’s a good reason why Panera’s plays classical music – it makes for an inviting, PEACEFUL, pleasant atmosphere to eat, associate and enjoy the surroundings.
The first time I saw one of these Poncho LeMans, I laughed my head off. I absolutely HATED GM in those years, and motoring along in the 1980 LeBaron coupe we we given at the time, I felt on top of the world!
If I was sentenced to having to own and/or drive one of those, I would have sacrificed my integrity to my Creator on a constant basis by being unable to control my tongue, too!
“Wouldn’t you stop, open the passenger window, and shoot this Pontiac LeMans?”
Sure, to put it out of its misery.
Not a tear would be shed, my friend, not a tear would be shed.
LOL!
Yeah, that’s what I thought (hoped?) Paul meant too.
Ahhh….the Pontiac LeMans, just one of the members of GM’s Compact Car Justice League. Which included Chevette, Sprint, Spectrum, the killer J’s and in the lab, was GM’s own Dr Doom….Saturn. The LeMans crashed to earth from planet Daewoo……a shape shifter at heart, the LeMans saw an Opel Kadett and proceeded to copy it, to save time it took out all the good parts.
Daewoo? Do you mean Dagwood? The maker of the Dagwood Lasagna.
@CARMINE:
Now I know you’re one of those FEMA agents who is about to apprehend me and put me on one of those new triple-decker prison trains to the nearest FEMA camp or to the Denver airport!
You must be a reptilian…
Back to the car: I believe the LeMans has the dubious honor of being the first and thus far, the car having the LARGEST BLACK PLASTIC TRIANGLE ever recorded!
Say what you will about these, I had a 4-door one in the late 90s and I didn’t feel it was too bad.
Disclaimers-I was in Korea, it was my first car in Korea, they depreciated rapidly so I got it for a song, and repairs are cheap there. I paid 700 bucks for a 4 year old loaded car with power windows, locks, AC etc and alloys. It was either this or a used Hyundai Excel. This thing ran rings around an Excel. It had a nicer interior, was much faster and actually handled great. The driving position was very Germanic, and it even had a nifty multi-adjustable seat.
I was intrigued by it’s German roots, and was cognizant of the fact that as an Opel, it was the 1984 European Car of the Year. It reminded a bit of my Jetta, the last car I ever owned in Canada. Did it break down? Yes. Did it matter? No. As I said, I got it cheap. Now, if I had paid the $6995 plus options in the US market, and had to finance it, as it fell apart before my eyes and depreciated alarmingly, that would be a different story.
If I had to point a finger at any one factor that caused issues in these cars, it was the quality of the copper windings in the wiring. Not just cars, I remember buying things like AC adaptors and other household electrics that would fail because of broken wires from too much bending. The Koreans couldn’t wind wiring to save thier lives then. For example, I remember having to wiggle the harness where it went into the drivers door periodically when the power locks quit. I’d be good to go until the next time, and another wiggle would bring them back to life for a while. I also had maddening check engine light and stalling issues that my neighborhood mechanic just couldn’t figure out. One such head scratching day I pulled at the underhood harness and it stalled.
It was the harness! More crummy quality wiring. He put in a brand new harness (dirt cheap there) and problem solved.
You didn’t have to deal with *US* GM mechanics. When mechanics are actually competent, it is easy to get Daewoo-derived cars repaired. I know because I drive one!
My son had the same wiring issues with his Daewoo Leganza. I guess they’ve figured it out by now.
I’d absolutely shoot that car…after asking the occupants to get out and stand a safe distance away.
I dunno… i might be inclined to include them in for the same price. 🙂
Just like the NUMMI Nova, dealers would tell older buyers ‘We brought back the LeMans”, and then younger ones ‘It’s a Korean Import!’ Some dim bulbs actually think Korea is part of Japan.
Here’s why I hate these cars so much, copied and pasted from Paul’s original CC of these cars at http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/11/curbside-classic-1990-pontiac-lemans-the-lows-and-rocky-mt-highs-of-gms-deadly-sin-12/
The Wedding DJ
November 18th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
My sister bought one of these POS’s new in 1990. She came over so we could see it, and my reaction was “A Korean car? What the hell did you buy THAT for?” She pointed out the Pontiac nameplate, which meant nothing. I told her if she didn’t want to buy American, at least the Japanese know how to make cars, and if I had been at the dealer with her, I would have done everything I could to talk her out of it. She, and the rest of my family, was pissed at me for some time, and I guess i don’t blame them.
Well, within four years and several extended stays at the dealership, the car was used up. The final straw was when the camshaft snapped in half, exactly what it was designed to do. The only value the car had was for scrap. $7000+ down the drain in 4 years. No, I didn’t say “I told you so” or anything like that, I felt bad that she had been ripped off like that. Even I expected that thing to last longer than it did.
She now has a Solstice, so the experience didn’t sour her on GM.
It was still fast enough to beat an Iron Duke powered Celebrity… Sigh. Here’s my comment from that same thread…
Hey don’t forget that the advertised top speed was 108mph! Which leads me to a motoring story from my life.
One of my high school arch-rivals, Jay (guy was a real a-hole and just got under my skin, we had a palatable dislike for each other) had one of these crap boxes (sedan, automatic) as the 2nd car he owned. (His father worked for GM and Jay had an 1985 A-body Cutlass Ciera V6 as his 1st car.)
My ONLY car in high school (earning my license in 1993) was a 1982 Chevy Celebrity, a family hand me down. Deep brown and tan two tone paint with a rust colored interior, mighty Iron Duke 151 CI 4-cyl and three speed auto on the console. Jay and I were both on the high school golf team which lead to many epic back roads of Ohio races to practice at “Pike Run Golf Club.”
The Cutlass with it’s V6 power completely kicked my little 4-cyl a$$. Remember both the Chevy and the Oldsmobile were loaded down with 4 adolescent corn fed Midwestern males during these impromptu races, along with 4 golf bags in the trunk. (Which the A-bodies handled very well.) I could get the Chevy to tap the 85mph indicator on the speedo but superior hp and torque carried the Olds right past me ever time. (BTW my cornering and decision making were superior, but more power covered his mistakes.)
Eventually he beat the Olds into an early grave, and his GM employee father bought him a new LeMans. Finally I thought I had the bastard. That little Korean crapbox wasn’t going to beat good old American Iron. I thought I had him at least evenly matched with 92hp vs his 70+. I don’t know if it was good gearing. But even driving hard enough to get the old Chevy airborne (if my mother reads this, forgive me, if dad reads it, I’ll have that beer with you soon) on a long straight stretch his top speed carried him past me. 🙁 Still raises my blood pressure to this day.
The LeMans was an abomination as a Pontiac, just like the G3, but it was still just good enough to give my nemesis the upper hand.
Oh well, I bet when I go the high school reunion my woman will be younger and prettier than his. 🙂
My sister and BIL test flew one of these Lemans when new theory being european car cheap coz built in Asia and bought a Toyota it was awful they have a pet test track to test cars on and having been on it a car which is a copy of the worst Vauxhall in decades was not going to score well. Shoot it definitely occupants included mind you if you get stoned enough maybe a lemons would be ok to drive.
Meh. Drove one of these from Rotorua to Auckland a couple of years ago. Had the loudest stuck valve-lifters I’ve ever heard, and felt like it was made of the cheapest possible materials in every possible area. I believe that car is now dead, which makes the wolrd a happier place.
In Canada we suffered with these things longer than anywhere else and also had more variants. I remember it being called the Passport Optima (Passport also sold Isuzu and eventually Saab), and it was also called the Asuna LE and sold through 1993 with a snazzy aerodynamic nose. They were actually pretty popular here, at least until the salt of our roads caused them to shrivel up after two or three winters.
Can you imagine how bad they were when they were sold here in Australia in 1994-1995? I don’t believe they sold many, not to many people were that stupid. Then they facelifted them and sold for a few more years. The evolution is now the Cruze I suppose!
I got stuck with one of these on a business trip back when they were new. Only car that has ever smacked me hard on the side of the head during normal driving. I swung into my usual hotel cutting an angle across the parking lot ramp, as always. It rolled so much and was so narrow and pinched inside, the top of the door frame hit my left temple.
Sticking a “LeMans” badge on it added literal insult to actual injury. Imagine what European visitors must have thought when they drove one of these.
*Worst*New*Car*I*Have*Ever*Driven*
Which one was worse, the lemans or the aspire/festiva?
Second worst car I’ve ever driven, in regards to the current competition of the time. A friend I worked with bought one new, and was proud of her purchase and it’s “Pontiac” pedigree. I had to borrow it for a work errand, and the few hours I spent in it are hours I’ll never get back. I felt bad for her, and kept my opinions to myself — no need to pile on.
MarcKyle — I’ve driven the Festiva, and it was so much more enjoyable/entertaining than that miserable LeMans.
Poor Kadett…
“Wouldn’t you stop, open the passenger window, and shoot this Pontiac LeMans?”
Yes, but you chose the wrong tool. A 12ga shotgun to put a couple of magnum buckshot loads between the headlights would have been your better play here.
Hmm, some Eugenians are not as mellow as you’d think…
I remember these cars as an European Car of the Year back in the 80’s. By the time we got them in the States as a Pontiac, their sell-by dates had expired.
I can remember one day on the lot, a guy drives up in a year-old LeMans, wanted to trade it on a Tercel or Corolla. Only a slight upgrade. Much to my surprise, he didn’t even flinch when we offered him $500 for his 1990 LeMans. He’d said he’d already been to three other dealers, and offered a similar amount for his car in trade. Apparently he needed to get more out of it to make into another car (I don’t remember the exact details), but it wasn’t going to happen with us.