Junkyard Gem: 1988 Pontiac LeMans Sedan

Tue, Feb 7 2017

During the 1960s, the Pontiac LeMans was a sporty, rear-wheel-drive midsize car, the GTO's cheaper sibling. Through the 1970s and into the middle 1980s, the LeMans became a bit less youthful-looking but remained a traditional rear-wheel-drive Detroit machine with a V8 engine option. Then, starting in the 1988 model year, the LeMans name went onto a South Korean-built version of the misery-inducing, front-wheel-drive Opel Kadett E. These were dark days for the Pontiac marque; here's the proof, photographed at a San Francisco Bay Area self-service wrecking yard last month.

This one didn't quite make it to the 100,000-mile mark.

These cars were very, very cheap and sold reasonably well, but nearly all of the 1988-1993 LeManses are hatchbacks. I have seen a total of two Daewoo LeMans sedans during the last decade, and this is one of them.

Under the hood, 74 raging Opel/Daewoo horsepower.

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In this car's homeland, it benefited from extremely macho South Korean voiceovers in its television advertising.

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In the United States, the ads for the LeMans were all about the hatchback, and all about cheap excitement.

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By Murilee Martin