The Chevrolet Uplander is a
minivan
Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...
manufactured and marketed by the
Chevrolet division of
General Motors for model years of 2005-2009, replacing the
Venture and the
Astro. Marketed over a single generation, the Uplander was offered in short and long wheelbase variations — each with foldable and removable second and third row seating; a V-6 engine and 4-speed automatic transmission.
Heavily based on GM's predecessor minivans, the Uplander was initially marketed with those vehicles, the
Venture and
Astro. The minivan and its
rebadged variants, the
Saturn Relay,
Buick Terraza, and
Pontiac Montana SV6, were manufactured at GM's
Doraville Assembly
Doraville Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Doraville, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta. The plant opened in 1947 and was under the management of GM's newly created Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division created in 1945. ...
and were discontinued in 2008 when GM left the minivan market, ended production and closed the Doraville Assembly plant.
The Uplander was marketed in the United States,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
,
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
, and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
Year to year changes
2005: The Uplander was initially offered with a 3.5 L
High Value 3500 LX9 V6 generating 200 hp (149 kW) and 220 lb·ft (298 N·m).
2006: A 3.9 L
LZ9 V6, with 240 hp (179 kW) and 240 lb·ft (332 Nm) torque, was added as an option. Wheels were changed from a five-lugnut design to a six-lugnut design. The GM logo was added to the front doors. A short-wheelbase model became available, but only for the fleet market.
2007: The 3.5 L
V6 was dropped, leaving the 3.9 L as the base engine. Consequently, the optional
AWD system was also dropped, since it could not handle the torque of the 3.9 L engine. A
flex-fuel version of the 3.9 L V6 also became available for 2007.
2008: The Uplander's last year for the United States, although production continued for export to Canada and Mexico up to the 2009 model year. The final vehicle (a 2009 Canadian-specification short wheelbase Pontiac Montana SV6 in Liquid Silver Metallic with a roof rack) rolled off the Doraville assembly line on September 26, 2008.
Safety
According to the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a U.S. nonprofit organization funded by auto insurance companies, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle traffic colli ...
, the Chevrolet Uplander has an improved crash test rating than its predecessor, the
Venture. The Uplander,
Pontiac Montana SV6,
Buick Terraza, and
Saturn Relay earned the highest rating of "Good" in the IIHS offset frontal crash test but was rated only "Acceptable" and "Poor" in the IIHS side crash test with and without the optional side airbags, respectively.
Sales
Gallery
Chevrolet Uplander SWB -- 03-05-2010.jpg, Chevrolet Uplander LS SWB
2007 Chevrolet Uplander LS 3.9L front 4.22.19.jpg, Chevrolet Uplander LS LWB
2007 Chevrolet Uplander LS 3.9L rear 4.22.19.jpg, Chevrolet Uplander LS LWB (rear)
References
External links
Video of Chevrolet Uplander's 5-Star Crash Test
{{Chevrolet vehicles
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Uplander
Front-wheel-drive vehicles
Minivans
Cars introduced in 2005
Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States