worked at a Pontiac dealer in 88. worst car i ever saw. cam shafts were breaking in half at IDLE. PASSIVE BELTS WERE BREAKING. parts came from Korea. they wouldn't air ship. all parts were sent by ocean freighter, 4 to 6 week wait for parts. they had a national holiday once, no parts could be obtained during this time because nobody was working those 2 weeks. last thing. when sold, they were touted as , European designed in Germany cars. the sales dept. really wasn't telling people they were made in Korea. had customers come in for work , and i had to tell them 4 to 6 weeks for parts. they would ask why so long, and when i would tell them where the parts were coming from they asked why. these people had NO idea these were Korean built cars! now a good one. there was a recall for the passive seat belts not working. people brought their cars in for the recall. but, we didn't receive the recall parts yet. now here is the kicker, GM made us keep the car and not return it until the belts were fixed. federal law wouldn't let us release a car with non-working seat belts. talk about mad people. we were in Ft. Myers, fla. some people drove their LeMans down there for vacation. were told we had to keep the car till fixed. they were basically stuck down there till the parts came in! most flew home, then came back down to get their cars. great way to wreck a vacation! also, GM didn't offer ANY help to these people.
@scott8919
5 жыл бұрын
And then people wonder why Japanese cars are so popular.
@Stressless2023
5 жыл бұрын
@@scott8919 I bet 80% of the owners who had their cars "hijacked" during that recall with no compensation ended up trading them in on Honda's/Toyota's lol, or at the very least became anti-GM. I can't even imagine going through that situation.
@303nitzubishi4
5 жыл бұрын
Yet another potentially decent car completely ruined by good old fashioned GM mismanagement. Unfortunately this trend has continued well beyond this vehicles lifespan
@klasseact6663
5 жыл бұрын
@@303nitzubishi4 ...wait, what are you talking about, the lack of cars from GM or the bean counters still doing their thing, LOL.
@MossA-ox7ys
5 жыл бұрын
Cool story bro
@NeighborhoodCarReviews
5 жыл бұрын
MotorWeek Retro Reviews make Thursday Morning that much better!!
@clintonlyle7922
5 жыл бұрын
Neighborhood Car Reviews omg...this channel 😆 Pontiac LeMans! Hahaha
@irrelevant3882
5 жыл бұрын
I love how he said "body roll well controlled" meanwhile that Asian made german economy car was darn near on its side lolll
@frankburns8871
4 жыл бұрын
Well, Thursday mornings suck, so I'm not sure what your comment means. I guess it's the day before Friday, so that's good, but it's the MORNING of the day before Friday, so...yeah, not seeing it.
@chazl2663
5 жыл бұрын
Honey I shrunk the aztek
@V8AmericanMuscleCar
5 жыл бұрын
chaz l LOL 😂😂😂😂😂
@oliverdelgado6952
5 жыл бұрын
Wow sorta does look like it. I wonder if this was the inspiration ? Lol
@hakeemsd70m
5 жыл бұрын
At least the Aztek is fairly reliable and very versatile, the former especially is something that can't be said about this piece of crap LeMans.
@hakeemsd70m
5 жыл бұрын
@jason9022 okay, I'll admit the 3400 V6 wasn't anywhere near as good as the legendary 3800, which is the one engine that GM should have used in the Aztek.
@iluvcamaros1912
5 жыл бұрын
@jason9022 I've experienced the 2.8, 3.1, and 3.5 as well as the Series II 3800. The "High-value" 3.5/3.9 are on par with the 3.8/3.8 SC. I have the LZE 3.5 in my current car and it drives like my previous 3800. The 3.1/3.4 moaned and groaned; they made every vehicle they were in feel like a lazy cow. But the 3.5/3.9 aren't like that at all.
@IanForsythWestCoast
5 жыл бұрын
I bought one of these the first year it came out, 1988. GM, in all its corporate wisdom, decided that they couldn’t sell it as a Pontiac In Canada, so they created a whole new dealership called Passport, and the Le Mans was called the Optima. They had some rebadged Isuzu’s and Suzuki’s selling as Passports as well. After a couple of years, (2+ years, you can’t make this stuff up) they gave up on Passport and changed the name to Asüna, I think the umlauts were over the u, same car, different name, then they gave up on that, and changed all the dealerships to Saturn, Saab, Izuzu, all makes that GM had an interest in. Anyway, I had a wife and two kids under 3, and my 71 VW 411 was starting to age dangerously, (I have a thing for oddball cars) so I HAD to get something new, and it couldn’t be more than $10,000, and the monthly payment couldn’t be more than $200. And I really liked the way the Optima looked. Much better looking than the Tercels, Mazda 323 Protegè, Civics of the day, and the Rabbit was slightly over my price point. So I got a red Optima VL (Value Leader)...4 speed manual, manual steering, roll up windows, power brakes (alone in the power group), no radio, fixed rear windows, no AC of course and no tach. I quickly put in an aftermarket sound system, and tachometer, but being so basic, it was light AF, and those hard working 74 horses moved that thing around like a bat out of hell. I bought it in Vancouver, my home town, which is lucky to see one snowy day every 2 years, but after 4 years I took a job up north, in 1992 where there was real winter, and that little car was parked outside for the next 6 years on Mile 52 on the Alaska Highway, in the snow and cold (it could get down to minus 40 for a week or two then warm up to minus 20 for most of the winter) oh, and after deciding on the 2 door hatchback, we had another kid the next year, so the 4 door would have been nice, but I still liked the styling of the hatchback better. To make a long story longer, we took all five of us regularly back to Vancouver to see family, a 14 hour drive through about 4 climatic zones, plus we took a road trip right across Canada to the east coast and back through the States, we moved to Kelowna, still no garage, Kelowna got a little snow but it could get up to 37 Celsius (98 Fahrenheit) for a good 3 months in the summer. Then I got a job back in Vancouver, while still living in Kelowna, which meant commuting the 4 hour drive every weekend for almost 2 years over two mountain passes, the highest being 3600 metres. My ears would pop when I came down, like in an airplane. Little Red now had about 220,000 Kilometres on it (137,000 miles) and it owed me nothing....other than maintenance, I had a new clutch installed, brakes got done, new muffler, oh and 3 windshields, (gravel roads) that was about it. That never garaged car, with that mileage after 14 years of crazy driving, looked almost as good as new, one tiny little rust spot on the fender where a rock chipped the paint, and ran awesome, until I blew a cylinder on the commute home, and that was pretty much it for Little Red. I wished I knew how to work on cars, with another motor that thing could have gone another 100K. But like I said, it didn’t owe me anything, and it saw me through some huge life changes, and never once let me down. I know it sounds stupid, but that little misfit, orphaned car, that everyone loved to hate, had been my best friend. I’m actually a little choked up as I’m writing this....folks and their cars! eh? Anyway; I just thought I’d step in to give a different story than I was reading here. Happy motoring all!
@rfalco627
3 жыл бұрын
Great story. the paint was bulletproof on those cars. Mine was never garaged for 30 yrs and would wax up like new. This car was pretty much the cheapest new GM car you could buy at the time. This was such an easy and cheap car to work on.
@IanForsythWestCoast
3 жыл бұрын
@@rfalco627 Hey, I’m glad someone else had a similar experience. Yes the paint never faded, or anything. The only thing that fell apart, sort of, was the rubber shifter boot. The plastic clip/anchors broke off so there was nothing to secure it to the centre console. I also didn’t find the steering to be as they said in this review, I liked the road feel I got from the manual steering. I was sad to let that little car go, but 3 cylinders over 2 mountain passes, was NOT going to cut it. I was just glad I was able to limp home. It was at a mileage that I knew it was not a question of if, but when, it would break down, and if it totally failed in the middle of a mountain blizzard, well, that could have been the end of both of us, me and the car. So I dodged that bullet!
@richardivey1585
3 жыл бұрын
I too had a red AeroCoupe 4spd and loved it. It could hold an amazing amount of stuff with the back seat lowered. Gas mileage was awesome: I once got 500 highway miles on a tank of gas and had to stop because my bladder gave out before I ran out of gas. The seat was all-day comfortable which was a pleasant surprise at that price. Knowing how to put it in reverse was the best theft-deterrent available. It ran for well over 100K miles and never gave me trouble.
@IanForsythWestCoast
3 жыл бұрын
Yes!! I got about that in highway driving as well. We’d do the 1200km drive from the north down to Vancouver in a straight 14 hours and usually only stop for gas twice. When we drove across the country, and hit the flat straight prairie, I thought there was something wrong with the gauge and we were going to be stranded. I don’t know how many miles I went on that tank of gas, but I know it was the width of two provinces, because I recall commenting about that. Lol. When I finally broke down and bought snow tires for all four wheels that thing could go anywhere, I thought they just wanted to sell me two extra tires, but I relented and became a believer. A FWD car with 4 good snow tires gets around better in snow than an AWD with all-seasons. And for sure, that trunk with the seat folded down was like Mary Poppins’ carpetbag, things just disappeared into that thing. I once bought a table for six with chairs, and everything fitted in, the table for six (legs left on) and all six chairs were somehow jigsaw puzzled into place. I took pictures because nobody would have believed it. It was 12 years old, never been garaged, and was parked outside and driven in 6 minus 25 degree winters and had about 225,000km on it when it blew a cylinder climbing a mountain pass. I loved Little Red, but its time had come. And for an orphaned car I never had a problem getting it fixed, even getting a clutch replaced in a small northern city with one GM dealer and I had the only Optima they had ever seen. I never saw another one on the road until I got back to the big city. That crazy little car suited me fine.
@busman7228
2 жыл бұрын
Long story
@BDBBailey
5 жыл бұрын
I owned one of these with air conditioning. I actually liked the car a lot. It was a 5- speed and I actually put a super trap muffler on it. Sounded like a pissed off bumblebee. It was great on gas and was an overall fun car.
@julienbee3467
2 жыл бұрын
And good style
@tonybolstad9514
Жыл бұрын
A pissed off bumble bee 🐝 🤣🤣🤣
@michaelhungate7506
Жыл бұрын
I haven't seen one of these in 25 years.
@stevendaleschmitt
Жыл бұрын
@@michaelhungate7506 there's a good reason for that.
@michaelhungate7506
Жыл бұрын
@@stevendaleschmitt yeah I know they were absolute piles of crap.
@v88dicky32
5 жыл бұрын
Available in the U.K. back then as the Vauxhall Astra, and the 2.0 16v GTE was pretty fast. They're actually appreciating in value today!
@daewooparts
2 жыл бұрын
I had a 4 door GTE in the states as well as a 2 door 2.0 Aerocoupe, unfortunately a tree fell on the GTE & destroyed it ,I completely gutted its motor, brakes & most of the parts as they wasn't available in the USA
@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY
Жыл бұрын
Right Hand Drive Pontiac LeMans in New Zealand has been sold from Holden dealers
@franzchong5889
Жыл бұрын
@@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY they were lucky in an era when Australia was subjected to Cloned Pulsars and Corollas just before the new age Astra came along in 1991 to get the good stuff.
@slotec
5 жыл бұрын
The Opel Kadett gsi was very popular in Europe, especially the 2.0 16v.
@Ash-928
5 жыл бұрын
In England it was called the "Vauxhall Astra". The GTE version was awesome fun, I think some had 2.0 8v engines too, but the 16v engines known as "red tops" are still sought after cars.
@pauloararaquara
5 жыл бұрын
Here in Brazil, too. But our GSi unfortunelly had a 2.0 8 valve version with 121 hp, instead the incredible 2.0 16V 150 hp from Opel.
@Daniel-wx3qn
5 жыл бұрын
A convertible GSI was a dream of all 90's boys in Brazil, but a sw version called Ipanema was terrible ugly. Here in Portugal there are a few in really good shape still running.
@PetrolHeadBrasil
4 жыл бұрын
@@Daniel-wx3qn Ipanema não é feia!
@weaksignal8009
3 жыл бұрын
Didn't the US get the Daewoo!! Tank approved.
@runoflife87
5 жыл бұрын
Not a bad car for the 1980's, but the decision to assemble it in South Korea was the biggest mistake. Should've come to the US straight from Opel factory.
@keithjackson286
5 жыл бұрын
My cousin had one. It drove fine, but it literally fell apart in her hands. One of my worst mistakes was suggesting it for her for her 1st car.
@spook5756
5 жыл бұрын
Had one as a rental back then. It was kind of terrible.
@redevilrrr
5 жыл бұрын
Those made in Germany as Opel Kadett's in Rüsselheim plant were quite decent cars. They were simple and easy to run, had rust issues common for 1980's European small cars but mechanically sound.
@frisco-2.0
5 жыл бұрын
@@redevilrrr wrong! The were build in Bochum, not Rüsselsheim.
@hondatrix
5 жыл бұрын
Even those assembled in Europe were crap...
@cadsux
5 жыл бұрын
I've always called this one the Pontiac "LeMons".
@1greenMitsi
5 жыл бұрын
they just shouldve called it Pontiac LOL
@aaronwilliams6989
4 жыл бұрын
I was calling it LEE Mans until my uncle corrected me. Those WERE some pretty bad and sorry cars.
@casualsuede
5 жыл бұрын
2:06 When you see the moving camera tracking the car doing the 0-60, the camera wasn't mounted on a car, the cameraman was running alongside with the LeMans.... ;P
@aidaaliten8817
3 жыл бұрын
its so slow that cameraman can run faster
@davidpistek6241
5 жыл бұрын
I love how this show brings in reviews of strange or significant stuff, always good
@realbuckybarnes1753
4 жыл бұрын
😆 dead
@hugochavez4382
5 жыл бұрын
What a horrendous thing to do to the LeMans name. Good riddance to what Pontiac wound up becoming.
@nutz4gunz457
5 жыл бұрын
Standard equipment includes defective steering and brakes. The big 3 really left the door wide open with a welcome basket for Toyota and Honda.
@RoadCone411
5 жыл бұрын
Even within GM's own family, there were better cars than the LeMans. A base Chevrolet Nova of this vintage was more expensive [but not ridiculously more expensive] and as it was based off the contemporary Corolla, it was a far better car. Built by US workers, too. I'd even think that the similarly-sized Chevrolet Spectrum (based off the Isuzu I-Mark and built in Japan) was a far better car than the LeMans. Fast forward 30 years and there is no more Daewoo, killed off by GM who, outside of North America, preferred to use the Chevrolet brand for cheap, crappy cars built in Korea. And yet over the same period, Hyundai and Kia - which first came to the US in the mid-1990s - have a significant market share and now make mostly respectable vehicles that no longer compete solely on price.
@andydhillon1977
3 жыл бұрын
I agree 100%. Our family had only imports. We mocked Anerican cars in the 80's and 90's.
@ender519
5 жыл бұрын
I was the unfortunate owner of a 1988 LeMans and these things were built nothing like the original Opel was. Daewoo has never been great at building cars IMHO but these especially had atrocious build quality. One failure after the other, and this was with a car that was maintained and not abused. Parts were expensive and/or difficult to find, dealers ended up disavowing them, and they had nothing feature-wise or mechanically to offer.
@jakobholgersson4400
5 жыл бұрын
Wait... build quality was EVEN WORSE than the Opel? If true, this thing has to be on-par with Yugo.
@ender519
5 жыл бұрын
@@jakobholgersson4400 I don't know if I'd go that far as to say it's on par with Yugo, but it ain't good and certainly not on par with Kadett's in EU from what I was told. Every Pontiac dealer around me hated those things and advised against buying them, every time I brought it in for service I got "the look" from the service advisor.. The parts for the car were sourced all over the place.. engine came from Brazil (Holden), tranny was german, electronics were mixture of german and korean, and this was not a vehicle that Daewoo designed, they simply slapped it together with a hodge-podge of parts and modifications for the US market. And again, Daewoo has not shown a good track record of assembling cars even when they DO design it. Having owned a LeMans I automatically blacklist any car that has anything to with Daewoo which these days is GM Korea
@jakobholgersson4400
5 жыл бұрын
@@ender519 Opels are terrible to begin with. There's a reason that what we see here was the last generation Kadett.
@tomyaaah
5 жыл бұрын
Well, just because the successor (the Astra) had a new name to fit with GMs naming policy. The Kadett was actually quite an okay car, especially the GSI. And the build quality was undoubtedly better than the Astra F, which was just... horrendous.
@REPOMAN24722
5 жыл бұрын
@@jakobholgersson4400 At least the Yugo worked when maintained, by work I mean would get you from A to B albeit crudely, these kadett's were worse in reliability. @ender519 Holden in Australian not Brazilian.
@Trance88
5 жыл бұрын
Wow. I had no idea that this car was Korean made! Its essentially the Chevy Spark of the late 80's!! It even has similar performance numbers of a Spark!
@franzchong5889
4 жыл бұрын
really.i thought it would be closer to say a chevy sonic or what was a holden barina.i own a spark and it's very similar also korean but feels german.
@JJPMustang
5 жыл бұрын
A neighbor’s son got one of these used as his first car around ‘92. I don’t think he had it more than a year or two before it started falling apart.
@weedmastersr
5 жыл бұрын
Literally any car gets destroyed when it's someone's first car.
@JJPMustang
5 жыл бұрын
@@anthonyg6221 I sold my first pickup truck after completely restoring the body and it was around town for several years. And I was NOT nice to it (ever). 4.3L 700R4 and an open differential. These on the other hand, were garbage.
@scdevon
3 жыл бұрын
Sounds like he got one of the good ones. LOL
@hunterv5040
5 жыл бұрын
Lol I forget these ever existed!
@gumballguy34
5 жыл бұрын
Everyone did
@cubdukat
5 жыл бұрын
@@gumballguy34 With the exception of Pontiac. Daewoo snuck this back over here as one of the early Daewoo models. I think the Nubira was the car that replaced the four-door version, and the Lanos replaced the hatchback.
@robs1852
5 жыл бұрын
We all wish we could forget
@gumballguy34
5 жыл бұрын
@@cubdukat I always forget that Daewoo actually sold a few cars under their own name for a short period. I've only ever seen one Daewoo in the states and it's owned by some old guy in my town.
@halohunter5217
3 жыл бұрын
@@gumballguy34Many people will remember thanks to MadTV. NAME'S TANK!
@michaelkelly5192
4 жыл бұрын
The LeMans was a "hold my beer" reaction to the Merkur XR4Ti.
@chaseman94
5 жыл бұрын
Aztek..I am your father. And the Ford Aspire is your distant cousin.
@realbuckybarnes1753
4 жыл бұрын
This should be top comment
@panchopantera7321
4 жыл бұрын
And the Ford fiesta the step brother!
@chaseman94
4 жыл бұрын
@@panchopantera7321 and I'm guessing the Honda Crosstour
@OLDS98
5 жыл бұрын
Thank you for sharing "more GM footage". I look forward more old classic GM footage and Lincoln footage.
@scdevon
3 жыл бұрын
It's a stretch to attach any GM heritage to this Korean junk. This is more like free entertainment from the MotorWeek vaults.
@darnezzi
5 жыл бұрын
I remember seeing these when i was a kid. They were somewhat popular. This car looked very very modern in 1988. Especially for a small car. I suspect most of the ones sold in America are all in junkyards now.
@Guy-qq5nq
2 жыл бұрын
We actually have a silver one in daily use where I live
@Krzrrazrrokr
Жыл бұрын
They're so old the junk yards probably crushed most of these years ago
@bghoody5665
3 жыл бұрын
I remember when I first saw one of these cars - my shocked reaction was "Didn't the LeMans used to be a really cool muscle car?"
@quentinwooten30
5 жыл бұрын
I'm 1000%sure they're are none of these left on the road
@manfromnantucket9544
5 жыл бұрын
I was thinking the same lol
@herbiehusker1889
5 жыл бұрын
Not true. I saw one just the other day.
@quentinwooten30
5 жыл бұрын
@@herbiehusker1889 was it on the road tho lol
@howardkerr8174
5 жыл бұрын
Sorry, but I was quite surprised to see one of these just this week. The one I saw was a white 4 door sedan.
@anglia24
5 жыл бұрын
There is an 1988 on e bay right now.
@ericbritton9346
5 жыл бұрын
The Pontiac LeMans was an cool car in the 80's, I was a fan of th four door sedan, light blue and red colors fit the car.
@MaestroTJS
5 жыл бұрын
Well, he could laugh at the Chevette and T1000 all he wanted, but I think the owners of those had the last laugh compared to the owners of this hunk of s***.
@PearComputingDevices
5 жыл бұрын
Maestro_T agreed. The Chevette might have had some shortcomings, at least it was reliable for the most part. GM and Dawoo equaled junk! I knew plenty of people who overturned their odometers on their little Chevys, I don't know of any of these little Opal cars lasting very long.
@MaestroTJS
5 жыл бұрын
@@PearComputingDevices Yeah, I remember seeing Chevettes/T1000s around for years, but these either didn't last or so few sold that it's hard to say. But I always got the impression they were VERY poorly made. I think any time I saw one, side trim was missing, and that's just you can SEE. Imagine what wasn't working internally. Hyundais were also really bad at the time, and Daewoo wasn't even up to their level.
@PearComputingDevices
5 жыл бұрын
Maestro_T They were the type of cars sold on game shows, because nobody else wanted them. Not even fleet models sold well to my memory. I am not out to bash on the marker or the car but Daewoo had never had a good quality image to start with. I remember the early Excell built in that partnership and it was of no better in terms of build or ride quality. But the price tag was ok. I remember when GM bought up the remaining stock in Daewoo I thought they were nuts. Anyone who has owned or worked on an Avaeo (hope I spelled that right) probably would agree. I think what's really helped KIA and that partnership in America is the fact most American cars are of not much better over all in their segments. Plus they're just really cheap with a good warrantee. That's smart marketing.
@PearComputingDevices
5 жыл бұрын
Jovan Thompson lol the price is right. lol
@Johnny96ri
4 жыл бұрын
I would rather have a Chevette.
@mysock351C
5 жыл бұрын
I was hoping to forget about these things.
@Doncarpenterradio
3 жыл бұрын
I had one of these. It was a good car for what it was. Took it on a 2000 mile round trip and averaged 40 mpg.
@embrj1453
5 жыл бұрын
It was a good car in Brazil as Chevrolet Kadet
@Magnero
5 жыл бұрын
Same year as my Fiero. I think mine held up better haha
@hakeemsd70m
5 жыл бұрын
Heck yeah. The Fiero is 1000 times the car that this dimwitted piece of crap LeMans is.
@Magnero
5 жыл бұрын
@@hakeemsd70m 😁
@dennissmith9577
5 жыл бұрын
Parents bought a brand new '89 Pontiac Lemans GSE after driving the Opel Kadett version while on a family vacation in Germany. Night and day difference! The Pontiac was an absolute garbage! It got lemon lawed back to GM.
@Ash-928
5 жыл бұрын
In the UK it was called the "Vauxhall Astra", this version was the "Mark 2". The GTE versions were awesome fun.
@johnrossewingiii3270
3 жыл бұрын
In Germany we bought an Opel Kadett 1.4 i, in Admiral Blue, with 5 speed. Reliable car which ate every year an rear exhaust pot, rattled and shaked like a rattle snake inside due to different plastic materials which did not work together. When we took the car from a great Opel Dealer we left the forecourt just to return through the back gate into the mechanics area. The lid from the glove box had come down and needed adjustments to close. Not a sign of quality for 19785 DM costing car in 1990. All the problems should then have been sorted out, as the Kadett (E) had already been in production since 1985. This was the time when Opel had been left with yearly changing management, from Detroit, massive savings resulting in huge quality problems and the beginning of the decade long decline of the company. But that's been solved very fastly after GM had sold Opel to PSA Peugeot Citroen. Since then Opel has gained profitability again after a row of 20 YEARS continuously producing billions of losses under GM. Thank god they managed soon enough to escape GM, before they have had the chance to cancel the brand just like SAAB before.
@davidaubin3902
5 жыл бұрын
3:51 John: However the seat belts are difficult to reach and easy to tangle! LOL
@rightlanehog3151
5 жыл бұрын
What fantastic, heartfelt responses to this little abomination sold by General Mediocrity. This mutant makes my old 79 LeMans sedan look like a limousine in comparison.
@misterbuklau4053
3 жыл бұрын
This car makes the 79 lemans look like a GTO
@bobbyread
5 жыл бұрын
This is quite different from my 1972 LeMans.
@robs1852
5 жыл бұрын
Robert Read, The only thing they have in common is the shitbox "LeMans" could for fit in the trunk of your real LeMans.
@MaximilianvonPinneberg
5 жыл бұрын
This is quite different to a 1985 Vauxhall Astra.
@bobbyread
5 жыл бұрын
Martin Jones 😃 I kind of feel like it’s not, my friend.
@YegoYTP
4 жыл бұрын
@@bobbyread it literally is a Vauxhall Astra MK2, just with a Daewoo engine
@ernestofarias2843
5 жыл бұрын
tengo un Opel kadett e de 1987, 250.000 km y funciona perfectamente bien, no debe confundirse con un Daewoo Racer que es una verdadera mi***** I have an Opel kadett e of 1987 built in Germany, 250,000 km and it works perfectly well, it should not be confused with a Daewoo Racer that is a real sh ***** a sad copy of kadett
@himbuxterrafux9525
5 жыл бұрын
It was my first car back then in 1998.The best thing is the red rear lights with blinkers have not only a SAE number, they have also an "E" in the circle.That means you can drive this tail lights in Europe (Poland, Germany) without anger to get a ticket from the police.
@SuperSport-hb1fm
5 жыл бұрын
As a US Army soldier stationed in Germany in the mid '80's, I remember the Opel Kadett E. I thought it was good looking solid handling car so much that I bought one during my last year in Germany( a 1986 1.8 2dr hatch).The Kadett lived up to my expectations. Couldn't be brought back to the US. so after I got back to the US, eventually got a hold of a 1988 Pontiac lemans 2dr hatch. Handling wasn't as lively as the euro version and build quality but, for me it was a good car. Except for front brakes pads wearing abnormally fast , it never left me stranded ( 35k miles and 3years routine serviced). STILL - should have came straight from Opel in Germany( would have been a way better car and had a better reputation here), and SHOULD NOT have been named Lemans!!!
@melrose9252
5 жыл бұрын
Another reason GM has lost so much of the US market.
@theKevronHarris
5 жыл бұрын
3:00 The LeMans fishtailed!!!!🤣🤣
@TheHuskyGT
3 жыл бұрын
Gorgeous little car! These were sold as the Daewoo Racer in the country used to live. They came as 4 door sedans though. they did sell these hatchbacks under the Pontiac brand as well, but they were uncommon. Always loved the design of old Daewoo cars. They were cheap and not very reliable, but they all had Italian design.
@alexanderstefanov6474
5 жыл бұрын
Wasn't this just a rebranded Opel Kadett/Vauxhall Astra?
@maciejszumny6919
5 жыл бұрын
Alexander Stefanov Did you listen to what they said in the video?
@boobyhill6921
5 жыл бұрын
Yes
@alexanderstefanov6474
5 жыл бұрын
@@maciejszumny6919 I did but after I wrote it, it's not too difficult if you spent the last 36 year in Europe
@maciejszumny6919
5 жыл бұрын
Dear Alexander, you're right, I'm as well from Europe. But I would say that it was rather rebranded Daewoo Nexia/Cielo. Opel and Vauxhall were much better built. However, while living behind the Iron Curtain, I used to think Pontiac is better than Opel because it's American lol.
@boobyhill6921
5 жыл бұрын
@@maciejszumny6919 Are all Europeans smartasses like you? The guy asked a simple question all you had to do was say yes.
@JoesGoldenGarage
5 жыл бұрын
I love the Velcro wallet.
@nathanmcdonald610
5 жыл бұрын
My parents had one of these when they got married. Damn thing threw a rod in the driveway just idling to warm up. Talk about a major piece of shit.
@keepitreal4046
5 жыл бұрын
That car was crazy fast! It owned the drag strips back in the day
@325xitgrocgetter
5 жыл бұрын
Dated a gal who traded a Ford Pinto for this in 1988....she ended up marrying somebody else.....I probably lucked out.
@Krzrrazrrokr
5 жыл бұрын
325xitgrocgetter she had awful taste in cars that's for sure. She's probably driving a Chevy spark today or a fiat 500
@kevinwilliamson7294
5 жыл бұрын
They could have shaved off .3 seconds of that blistering 1/4 mile if they could have tamed that 74 HP from burning rubber.
@ftffighter
5 жыл бұрын
Right? That 74 HP was just too much for those coolant hoses and accessory belts to handle.
@tommcmahon14
5 жыл бұрын
The thing is it's a rebadged Korean badly built version of the European vauxhall astra/Opel Kadett l where 74 hp is more than adequate even today.
@ce9345
5 жыл бұрын
I am sorry that motorweek didn't like the chevette/1000. The lemans may have been a more modern car but it was a piece of junk. The chevette/1000's were more reliable and you still see them on the road in 2019.
@seththomas9105
5 жыл бұрын
You might see one or two Chevettes or 1000's a year in the Midwest(rust belt), but they were 20X better than the Lemans POS or the Godawful Citation. A good friend had a 64 chevy Biscain 2 door that ran like a Swiss clock, he sold it and bought a Citation in the late 80's and the Citation almost bankrupted him. Bleeh....
@itsgoff
5 жыл бұрын
Ahh, my first car. It never ran out of gas, I think I only used what came with it from the dealer. Brakes were horrible; almost had to Fred Flintstone it a couple of times.
@matthewvinez8223
4 жыл бұрын
I had to use the e-brake to stop... every time.
@rfalco627
3 жыл бұрын
Brakes were terrible! i swapped to the 2.0 L larger front brakes. Didn't make much of a difference! But 37-40 mpg was good then and still is today.
@frisco-2.0
5 жыл бұрын
Yeah! Originally it was the german build 1984-1991 Opel Kadett E. Great car!
@303nitzubishi4
5 жыл бұрын
Hyundai/Kia are respected Mainstays in the American market today, it's easy to forget that there was a time when Korean cars were subpar, and this vehicle and it's legacy are a perfect example. Even though most of the blame belongs in the lap of GM executives and their chronically poor management
@ΔοσόπουλοςΒασίλειος
4 жыл бұрын
Also known this car (in Europe) as the OPEL Kadett E (Vauxhall Astra B for the UK market). The opel kadett E GSi 16V (2.0 liter 156ps) was pretty fast (0-100kph in 7.7" and a top speed of 220kph) back in 80's (1984-1993) and it was a tough competitor for the Golf MK-2 GTi /Golf G60!
@popanz25
5 жыл бұрын
This shitbox was such a slap in the face to the original LeMans.
@kylefowler5082
5 жыл бұрын
My favorite part of these videos has always been watching the penalty boxes work their way through the slalom. Shake your booty Pontiac LeMans!
@pokest225
5 жыл бұрын
Opel kadett.
@MidnightinSavannah
5 жыл бұрын
Really Motorweek, thanks God they didn't give this POS a GTO package! This car should have never been called the Lemans.
@jsciarri
5 жыл бұрын
Was just about to comment the same exact thing. I felt the same way when they brought back the GTO name 15 years ago and slapped it on an imported Australian Holden. Just an absolute disgrace to the Lemans and GTO names.
@tmmurphy
5 жыл бұрын
@@jsciarri Lol, what did you think of the 2010 Camaro? It was based on the same Australian platform from Holden and designed by the same folks, in Australia. Most folks assume the Camaro was designed by Americans because the styling was retro, but that was not the case. You should bow down and thank your Aussie brothers, without them there would be no GTO or Camaro instead the we'd be driving a Grand Am GTO or Malibu inspired Camaro. Australians speak muscle as well as any American.
@jlr194
5 жыл бұрын
@@tmmurphy your not kidding have you ever been to the summernats in Australia, they drive some real serious machines, and the burn out competition is insane 😅
@CarlosEduardo-wy1fh
5 жыл бұрын
I came to know it as the Chevrolet Kadett here, and I loved it, especially the GSi model.
@seththomas9105
5 жыл бұрын
Kadett, like cadaver.
@pontiacGXPfan
5 жыл бұрын
now Buick has garbage-ass Opels in its lineup..........some things never change
@jsciarri
5 жыл бұрын
All of the current Buick models are imported ugly crap boxes that will fall apart in a decade or so. GM really needs to bring back the Park Avenue, Century, and Riviera nameplates, and actually manufacture them in the USA.
@teodordima1815
2 жыл бұрын
Well, it's sad that Daewoo ruined the Kadett E when sold as the LeMans... I wish I would see the Astra F as a LeMans, this time built with German original Opel parts... Also, the Kadett E was sold by Daewoo in Europe as the Nexia in Germany and the Cielo in Eastern Europe and South Coreea, starting from 1995. Production in Romania stopped in 2007.
@bernardogaetani
5 жыл бұрын
We had this car in Brazil sold as Chevrolet Kadett. Probably the brazilian one was way better looking this review. Brazilian car had a 2liter 121hp engine and a better suspension
@howardkerr8174
5 жыл бұрын
There was a model of this car sold in the US that featured the 2 liter engine and I think an uprated suspension. Yet people forget about that model, not that it redeemed the whole line.
@natanmelo8587
3 жыл бұрын
@@howardkerr8174 Here in Brazil who made it was Chevrolet, we were fortunate to be manufactured in Opel standards, there are many running firm and strong on the roads of Brazil, by the video I noticed that there in the United States it was manufactured in Daewo standards, maybe that's why he didn't it worked in the United States and Canada, if it had been manufactured in the Opel Germany standards it would work or even by Chevrolet itself as here in Brazil, here it had the 1.8 and 2.0 version between the years 1989 to 1998.
@QuantumJ67
5 жыл бұрын
I remember car shopping and visiting the Pontiac dealer to see this vehicle. It was clearly poorly built and paled in comparison to everything else in its class. The Daewoo manufacturing quality was decades behind Toyota’s and Honda’s of the day.
@elliotthaskins5923
Жыл бұрын
I got my driver's license in an 1988 Pontiac LeMans when I was in the Navy station in the naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oar Harbor Washington State fond memories in that car when looking back today
@ZIGZAG12345
5 жыл бұрын
This was a popular car in the UK back in the day, sold as the Vauxhall Astra! Had all sorts of engines too, from 1.2 to a 2.0 16v which was an excellent engine popular in Caterhams. They sold diesel ones too, and saloon/sedan (called the "Belmont") and estate/station wagon. And the van version which was basically the estate without windows and seats. I'm sure they all, but especially the normal hatch, were meant to actually be very aerodynamic for that time.
@sutherlandA1
5 жыл бұрын
Also got them as Daewoo in the mid 90s as part of a dated, badly made but cheap car range
@nkt1
5 жыл бұрын
Can’t be many left now, but I still see the odd Mk 3 driving around.
@billthompson5644
5 жыл бұрын
I was kind of disappointed since it was the LeMans I thought you might be able to get a 389 or 400 in it. That was hilarious, the guy squawked them in 2nd gear.
@donutreligion2979
6 ай бұрын
This is the older brother of the Aztek. Crappy from the front to the back. But who is the ugliest? I think this one takes the cake.
@Alex-di8ti
4 жыл бұрын
Sorry to the Americans and Canadians who received the build quality with this, the Vauxhall Astra/Opel Kadette versions were built better. These would make an ideal candidate for engine swap from an Opel Calibra, its been done many times in Europe. The C20LET engine is fantastic out the box and far as I know should drop straight in with the right engine/trans mounts. since its Opel based, there are loads of options for suspension, bushes, strut reinforcement as well as brakes. I can see this as an amazing sleeper ;)
@JrGoonior
5 жыл бұрын
My brother got to drive one of these in Drivers Ed, the local Pontiac dealer gave the high school deals on them (I got to drive a Sunbird then a 6000 in Drivers Ed the year before). My brother hated them he would step on the gas and it wouldn't get anywhere. The instructor would always tell him to stop flooring it.
@marcusdamberger
5 жыл бұрын
"But it won't go anywhere if I don't!"
@djmhyde
3 жыл бұрын
these american bumpers are horrible, they should've sold the car with GSi bumpers, looks way better, but i like the all red rear lights.... and i can see a lot of pepole here complaining about the car reliability, is a surprise to me, in my country the Kadett E have a good reputation, it is just not that fuel efficient with larger engines, like the 1.8 or the 2.0
@steveespinola7652
4 жыл бұрын
LoL 😂 when was the last time you saw one these on road??? ( I think I was still in high school the last time I saw this car on road. LoL 😂)
@SARCASM_IS_MY_FIRST_NAME
3 жыл бұрын
In my country "Brazil" , this cars was a Chevrolet Kadett GSI 2.0 8 valves with 121 hp
@RoadCone411
3 жыл бұрын
03:28 Parallel parking a Pontiac LeMans between a VW Fox and Peugeot 505 - I bet that will never happen again in all of history.
@nathanmcdonald610
3 жыл бұрын
My parents had one these when I was still in car seats, had to have been around 1990, anyway, I don't know what ever became of that car, but I as a baby always enjoyed the automatic seatbelts clicking into place.
@evanbecher55
5 жыл бұрын
Good morning fellow MotorWeekers!!
@hulavaultboy5935
5 жыл бұрын
How to make an Opel Kadett crap?? Make Daewoo build it.
@realAlexChoi
5 жыл бұрын
Daewoo build much better rifles than cars.
@oldtwinsna8347
5 жыл бұрын
What junk of a car. Would this be the heritage that eventually became birth of the Chevy Aveo ?
@AvivaAllegro
5 жыл бұрын
Yep. lemans got replaced by the Daewoo Lanos. The Lanos got replaced by the Kalos, which was sold as the Chevy Aveo
@RandyMony
3 жыл бұрын
I had a blue '91 "Aero Coupe" - served me well for 4 years - 'till that icy bridge, when I went sideways into the left lane and got T-Boned into the driver door by a van going 45 -- I should've been killed!
@gojackets4894
5 жыл бұрын
European reliability, and South Korean fine assembly. LOL! I don't remember these things at all. The Lemans from the 60's and 70's were cool. I wish that Motorweek had existed in those decades. We can always look back at the Bud Lindemann videos. Does anyone know of an American TV show that reviewed cars of the late 70's?
@MrCarguy2
5 жыл бұрын
Search for Bob Mayer behind the wheel car reviews It is like reading a history book on late 70's cars
@gojackets4894
5 жыл бұрын
@@MrCarguy2 Thanks, forgot about those. I wonder if there are any that test the 0-60 and quarter mile times, stopping distances, and horsepower and torque ratings. Would love to see a test of the Z28, Trans Am, BMW 3 and 5 series. And so forth.
@german2669
3 жыл бұрын
My dad got one given to him for free and that car would not die. Took him everywhere for years and it finally lost a cv axle and my dad just junked it.
@LearnAboutFlow
5 жыл бұрын
Other than the cheap plastics, the dash is better looking than any modern day GM car, especially the made-by-Wal-Mart Cadillac dashes.
@MrCarguy2
5 жыл бұрын
Opel engineered interior with lamentable Korean build quality
@pauloararaquara
5 жыл бұрын
Here in Brazil we had a different version of this car, the Chevrolet Kadett. Our "Pontiac Lemans" was launched in 1989 and had very good 1.8 and 2.0 versions beetween 98 hp and 121 hp. The performance was very good too (0-60 mph in 9.0 s and a top speed of 122 mph in the "GSi" version with 121 hp), and it was a very well built, reliable and well equiped car. In that little square on the panel wrote "Lemans", our Kadett had a board computer with many functions, RECARO seats, digital dashboard, and the rear suspension had height regulation with air. A very good car. I had a GSi version and i miss it too much.
@kristianhermann5971
5 жыл бұрын
Car of the year...wow. Cars have certainly come a long way since then.
@05gtdriver
5 жыл бұрын
Fast forward 20 years and the Saturn Astra was a North American version of the Opel Astra(Opel Kadett's new name starting in 1991), a Belgian made car that was miles better than the Korean made versions of the Opel/Vauxhall line of Kadett/Astra models.
@bernardogaetani
5 жыл бұрын
Americans had some Opels: Buick 1900 - Ascona B Chevrolet Cavalier mk1 - Ascona C Chevette - Kadett C Pontiac LeMans - Kadett E Saturn Astra - Astra H
@cubdukat
4 жыл бұрын
And most recently Buick's Cascada and Regal (Cascada and Insignia in Opel-ese)
@grunkohlaktionar7474
5 жыл бұрын
Mitsubishi Diamante please!
@oliverdelgado6952
5 жыл бұрын
Last time I seen one was about 10 years ago. Red color
@REPOMAN24722
5 жыл бұрын
Isn't this a Daewoo Nexia? In europe opel kadett, which was it first lol either way they were shit boxes.
@MatrixDiscovery
5 жыл бұрын
European car of the year? How bad were the other cars if they gave car of the year to this shit box?
@tommcmahon14
5 жыл бұрын
The vauxhall astra/Opel Kadett were much higher build quality because they were made in Germany/UK, the Pontiac version was made by Daewoo in korea.
@Ferraridude13
5 жыл бұрын
Hahaha at 2:07 you can see the camera car has to regulate itself to keep from pulling away from the "LeMans"
@stepheng3667
5 жыл бұрын
Funny I noticed that too. Its the first time I've ever seen a test car not able to keep up with the camera car.
@JS-1983
5 жыл бұрын
Don't know about Pontiac, But Opels in here Europe rusted pretty fast and badly and there was some other quality problems too. But i liked the handling/steering of Kadett.
@sutherlandA1
5 жыл бұрын
How far south Korean products have come, in Australia we got these as the Daewoo 1.5i and facelifted Cielo from 1994 to 1997
@Cambridge49506
5 жыл бұрын
We had the 4 door LeMans as Rentals when I worked at National Car Rental. Nasty little cars they were. They wouldn’t start in the winter and the interior was cheap and the turn lever and wiper stalks were flimsy plastic. Great name placed on a crappy car!
@VBNicke
5 жыл бұрын
Badge engineering :)
@pl5624
5 жыл бұрын
Without jim wangers or John delorean Pontiac went to being a GM committee division.seriously misusing the lemans name.
@matthewjones12181
5 жыл бұрын
Finally figured out where they took the design for the Aztec rear now. It's from the LeMans!
@realazduffman
3 жыл бұрын
I remember thinking that when the Aztek came out. Almost as if they had to use what was in the parts bin
@Ithinkiwill66
4 жыл бұрын
When I saw the beginning of this episode, I was almost like nope...not gonna watch this, since seeing the car almost loosing control on the emergency manuver! 😳😳😳😳😳
@meadowsmydog
5 жыл бұрын
Wow.....the 4 door SE was priced at $8400.00 (about $18,000.00 in 2019 money.) For about 19,400.00 you can buy a new, far larger 2019 Civic with twice the power and safety features like lane departure warning and stability control. Hard to believe that we paid so much back then for so little....
@brettcannon74
5 жыл бұрын
Ok???
@mikegomez2448
5 жыл бұрын
My parents bought one new in 1990 for my sisters to go to school lol it was a 4 door light blue in color then I ended up with it when I got to high school
@DustinBruce31
5 жыл бұрын
Mike Gomez no better feeling than driving yourself to school, no matter what you’re driving or where it came from. Anything beats that big ugly ass yellow bus!
@bingobango170
5 жыл бұрын
Your story seems forced and fabricated. I doubt this ever happened
@povertyspec9651
3 жыл бұрын
Chick magnet for sure
@rgolab3174
Жыл бұрын
Believe it or not I have a colleague who imported an Opel Kadett. Imagine my surprise seeing the guy pull into a parking lot in America in 2023 in an Opel Kadett.
@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY
Жыл бұрын
Chevy from Latin America or Brazil.
@iflareman241
5 жыл бұрын
I loved my 89 aerocoupe!! Unfortunately It didn’t last as long as i had hoped. 😔
@pl5624
3 жыл бұрын
The 85 k wagon turned a tighter circle.
@hueyfreemanhisanimatedfrie925
3 жыл бұрын
This platform really should've stayed in Europe. This is what happens when GM outsources their cars.
@runoflife87
3 жыл бұрын
Way too radical. This car could've been a good choice in the US with german or domestic assembly.
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