Chevrolet Lumina Apv -- Looks Are A Lot With Chevrolet's Lumina Apv

An All Points Visual is the draw of General Motors' All Purpose Vehicle, the front-wheel-drive futuristic van that's sold as the Chevrolet Lumina APV, the Pontiac Trans Sport and the Oldsmobile Silhouette.

In price, performance and size, it's in a crowded field, but so far it seems to be doing well - especially in turning heads. Buying is another matter, but many who look talk serious turkey about picking one up.

And in the case of a tested Lumina APV, it's talk to the tune of $18,511. That includes a fair smattering of options above and beyond the $15,745 base price.

There's also an extra $425 for the seven-person seating layout, probably the major consideration for most buyers. If you get the seven-passenger setup and find you need more cargo volume, the back seats can be taken out as easily as any on the market.

The driver's seat doesn't come out that easily, as you might expect, but for $270 you can make it move six ways by vacuum boost. The rest of the test car's options were tinted glass ($245) and rear defroster ($160 - do you believe GM still makes that an extra, while nearly all the competition has standardized it?) and $256 for sound system upgrade.

This type of vehicle comes in front- and rear-wheel drive, this model being front-drive and the most notable of its competition being the Chrysler Voyager-Caravan and the Nissan Axxess.

One of its main draws is that long snout, and before you tell me

about the sun-absorbing possibilities of that huge 17.25-square-foot windshield, let me agree with you. But let me also point out that it's said to be coated with a metallic film a thousand times thinner than a piece of paper that absorbs and turns away sunlight.

Cruising in the APV, the windshield is only part of a good glass package. Plenty of visibility. The seats themselves are rather nondescript. They're neither benches nor Recaros. They just get the job done.

What engine and transmission choices do you have? One each.

One each? On a General Motors vehicle?

Righto. You don't have to check out ``Roger and Me'' to know it's a sign of these austere times. The engine is a 120-horsepower, 3.1-liter V-6 that returns mileage in the high teens, maybe 20 to the highway gallon with the cruise control on at a steady 60 mph.

The transmission is a three-speed automatic. I didn't know there were any three-speeds left in the world. I thought everyone had gone to four-speeds years ago. That's got to be part of the Roger Smith Legacy.

Probably none of these criticisms will seriously hurt the Lumina APV in the showroom. It's not the kind of vehicle one buys to parallel park, for one thing - more like the kind one buys to vacation, haul cargo or take half the class on a school picnic.

Hey, this is a looker. And Consumer Reports to the contrary, perhaps, looks - especially radical departures from current conventionality - sell cars here.

-- TEST DRIVE POLICY:

Test drives are done by nationally recognized auto writers supplied by Times news services.

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'90 CHEVROLET LUMINA

All-purpose

vehicle

ENGINE

3.1 liter

V-6 cylinder

120 horsepower

DRIVE

Front-wheel

TRANSMISSION

3-speed automatic

FUEL ECONOMY

18 mpg city

20 mpg highway

BASE PRICE

$15,745

-- Options

Package includes a seek-scan AM/FM stereo radio-cassette with digital clock (sound system upgrade available), power windows, door and tailgate locks, speed control and twin (manual) remote sport mirrors, vacuum-boosted driver's seat control, tinted glass and rear defroster. Seven-person seating layout also available.

-- Windows

A 17.25 square foot windshield is coated with a metallic film a thousand times thinner than a piece of paper. The film absorbs and turns away sunlight to keep the front-seat occupants cool. The APV features plenty of visibility all around, as the windshield is only part of a good glass package.