1995 Chevrolet Lumina Base for Sale in Hemet, California

For four years now, the Chevrolet Lumina has been the invisible family sedan, hidden in the shadows while rivals, most notably the Chrysler LH cars, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Ford Taurus, were updated with brand-new exteriors, more amenities and state-of-the-art safety features.

Not any longer. The latest Lumina is a great leap forward for Chevrolet, an improvement over past models by almost any measure you care to make. It is, at last, a serious contender for sales stardom in the midsize class.

The changes are more than skin deep, going well beyond the obvious and extending into the way the Lumina is packaged. The coupe version is gone. Instead, a Lumina-derived Monte Carlo revives the familiar Chevrolet model name and strives for its own identity both on the street and on NASCAR racetracks.