Luneta Holdings Philippines Corporation

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1960-present logo on 1983 Luneta Pintra

Luneta Automotive Incorporated (LAI), officially doing business as Luneta Holdings Philippines Corporation to manage all their export branches, is the only Filipino vehicle brand mass-producing standard cars exported to other countries as well, they are a unique brand in terms of origin. Founded in 1955, they started as a CKD assembler under the name Luneta Kit Assembly Co. (LKA Co.) After the founder wanted to start making original designs, they started making cars in 1959.
Their slogan, “Luneta. Proudly Filipino.” plays around with their origins as Filipino and the only one.

They have a triplet color series called “Ang Ating Watawat” and outside called “Our National Flag”, and all three colors are based on the colors shown in the current Philippine flag. The colors are National Flag Red, Blue, and Yellow.

In 2018, Luneta had gone into serious debt. They temporarily shut down production to organize their finances, and luckily they survived.

Due to the recent Iran war caused by a surprise bombing resulting in the Strait of Hormuz being closed, Luneta has temporarily shut down production after the prices skyrocketed for oil and fuel. As of now, the CEO has not announced a restart date or what will happen to the vehicles that were being made in the factory when it closed.

DISCLAIMER: Lore changes every once in a while, nothing written here is forever.

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1983 Luneta Pintra CD hatchback
”Is it you who wants cheap yet quality transportation? Buy the brand-new 1983 Pintra by Luneta at our dealerships.”
Released in 1983, this cheap thing is ehm… rear-wheel drive. Yes, you read that correctly. Don’t doubt it, as even this pale base model has a 1.5-liter G4L15CS sending ~71 hp to the rear wheels. Again, you read that correctly. It was basically the anything car. You could have the main hatchback. Or perhaps a sedan for more space? Maybe even a wagon, for the big families going on trips. And we also removed the rear windows and seats from one to make a van. See what I mean? Quirky little subcompact. It also used only mechanical fuel injection for FI models, a Luneta trend before the 90s. This unique thing was finally killed off in 1994. And replaced. With something. No, it’s not that teaser below. Or is it? What teaser? …

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Being reworked

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Not bad. Looks like a Golf rival to me.

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Thanks! I always update the lore once in a while so be prepared to have it change in like a day or 2

[ThatEpicBob]

corolla type sh

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it does use the vanilla e90 body

[ThatEpicBob]

also are these custom taillights

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no, they are vanilla, scroll down and they are to the right of the lancia y taillights

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1993 Neste 1000 Lakes Rally #53 Luneta Pintra SXi SC

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1996 Luneta Pintra 2nd gen EXi Tuned
In 1994, Luneta finally proposed the second generation of their legendary Pintra. However, this generation transitioned from “fun RWD commuter” to “standard FWD family sedan.” The carb engines were entirely dropped and switched to Mechanical FI for base trims. Higher trims such as the EXi got either SPi or MPi. Higher trims got clear rear indicator lenses. This example pictured is an MY 1996 Deep Metallic Maroon EXi sedan. And you might notice something’s off. Let me just press the rear wiper switch.
It has a rear wiper. On a sedan.

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1999 Luneta Pintra 2nd gen wagon
In Australia, these 2nd gens got popular fast. They were used as courier vehicles. Family cars. Built racers. All in one car. Now, the standard trim as usual was the CD, however there was a special trim for the second generation. It was called the CD+. It was basically just a better CD, with painted bumpers, automatic options, even a cassette deck. What more would you want?
You will see these everywhere in AU.

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1997 Luneta Pintra 2nd gen wagon beater

But wait, don’t they already have a wagon?
They do. But there’s a catch. There was a special version called the ESW (Extended Space Wagon). It had a more blocky rear end, different taillights and is supposed to come with a sticker on the quarter windows bragging about its “extended space”. They are quite rare nowadays since, for most buyers, the regular wagon was enough space already.
This specific one was purchased in 1997 brand new in Dark Shiny Green, for 24,045 AU$ by a couple willing to start a family. The car hasn’t been the same since it left that lot. It’s been to beaches, 5 McDonald’s, gas stations and many more road trips. Everything about this car is old. The front fenders are taped together, there’s a big X of duct tape covering rust, more rust, an old engine and lots of issues. It’s been passed down 3 times now, and it’s gathered some stickers and a P-plate from the most recent hand-me-down, but it’s still holding up. They still drive it to this day, albeit not without failures. It’s been through a lot and the peculiar thing about this one is it’s missing its trim badge. This one was a GLS.

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Sorry to everyone for not uploading, it’s hard to think out cars that would become a new Luneta

P.S. Something’s coming… Fast.

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1976-1981 Luneta DeliVan (first generation)

The first generation of a legendary vehicle for many years to come, this generation birthed Luneta’s utility influence. The name, a portmanteau of Delivery van, was inspired by the Mitsubishi Delica’s name origin. The first utility vehicle to be exported, it gave way to many new innovations. Back then, the AUVs in the Philippines were more off-road geared. They were big, heavy and high off the ground. Not very good for a delivery vehicle. So, Luneta did what Luneta does and created this body-on-frame vehicle in 1969 as a prototype.

They refined it, polished it, and even gave it some uniqueness.
That’s when, in March of 1976, they decided to release it to the public.

The trims went as follows:
E
L
LE
Deluxe

Now, there was an entire trim series dedicated to fleets, called the Custom trims. These allowed you to spec your DeliVan as you like it. Trims went as follows:
Super Custom (everything not necessary is optional)
Deluxe Custom (standard AC and radio)
Value Custom (Deluxe Custom but with optional foglights, power windows, 5cyl engines)

Very quickly, it grabbed the attention of many couriers and families. The perfect vehicle! 5 doors, 5 uses. It was a versatile vehicle, and was known for having a vertical bar split the grille in 2. Due to this, the iconic 5-point star badge was moved to the top right corner, which also became famous. There was chrome lettering on the hood spelling LUNETA, and that became known too.

Sales were rising, prices decreasing, all from its fame and legend status.
But it was getting outdated. Then, in 1981, Luneta decided to move on with this generation and start concepting the new generation…

Some couriers still keep theirs to this day.

Oh, and did I mention it has one of the strangest features for a delivery van? It has sequential rear indicators.