Start with what the GM4200 platform is: a 2-door convertible / 2-door Coupé / 2-door coupé utility / 3-door hatchback / 4-door sedan (automobile) / sedan / 5-door hatchback / 5-door station wagon, built from 1982 to 2021, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer.
How it came about
General Motors introduced the front-wheel drive GM4200 platform in 1982 with the introductions of two subcompacts, the Opel Corsa A and the Vauxhall Nova. It was originally known as the S-car. The platform was also used by Holden, Chevrolet's Latin American branch, and Buick of China. The platform was still in use until 2021 by Chevrolet's Latin American branch for their entry-level models.
This platform became very popular in Mexico in 1994, when the model renamed Chevy Swing (4 door) and Chevy Joy (2 door) was imported from Spain. In 1996, the models were built in Mexico and several variants were offered: a 4-door sedan (called Monza), a 2- and a 4-door hatchback, a pickup truck, and a station wagon (imported from Chile). The popular Chevy went on with cosmetic changes (the C2, introduced in 2004), that included changes to the front end and dashboard, and another redesign in 2009. It was retired after the 2011 model year.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 2-door convertible / 2-door Coupé / 2-door coupé utility / 3-door hatchback / 4-door sedan (automobile) / sedan / 5-door hatchback / 5-door station wagon — and the layout: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Family and rivals
In the GM (General Motors) line-up the GM4200 platform has a clear place: it replaced the GM M platform; it handed the line to the GM Gamma platform. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Opel Corsa, the Toyota Camry, the Porsche 944. Its GM (General Motors) stablemates include the 1955 Chevrolet and the 1957 Chevrolet.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the GM4200 platform — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.