While there are still tons of Cavaliers on the road here in the Midwest, some of the earliest versions are virtually extinct. Such as this 1984-87 Cavalier two-door notchback. Not only is this a rare bird, it also is in very sound shape.
I actually have seen this car in traffic a couple of times, but it was at night and the pictures I took only vaguely resembled a car, let alone the make and model. So I was pleasantly surprised to see it parked in a driveway recently. Quite nice, as I see much newer Cavs with extreme rocker rust. This does have a bit of rust, but it’s very minor when you consider it has seen at least twenty-five years of service. Now I just have to catch up with that 1986-87 Type 10 hatchback…
In 1985, I went to a family wedding and rode in a cousin’s ’84 Cavalier Type 10 notchback coupe. I actually kind of liked it from my ride, and went so far as to go to the Chevy dealer to check one out. It was a big dealer, but they could not provide one with a stick for me to drive. After a couple of minutes behind the wheel, I could tell it wasn’t for me. I think those early Type 10 coupes are the only Cavaliers I ever really liked.
This man on the J-Body.org site that I still occasionally frequent has probably the nicest lowest mileage early Cavalier a 1985 convertible. Said to have 8,400 miles.
Sweet! If you squint, it’s a Cimarron convertible (never offered but probably would have sold OK). This is another case of Chevy being the “poor man’s Cadillac” — they bookend the GM line and so often resemble each other more than the ones in between (for better or worse!)
Still need to get around to making a Cimarron Biarritz d’Oro ragtop.
Even better, a Cimmaron station wagon!!
The Cavalier was America’s best selling car for 1984. IMO. The J’s should have only been built as Chevys and Pontiacs, they were the most successful of the variants. They were built in Lordstown OH which, ironically, has produced more GM cars, and quite likely, more vehicles of any kind out of one specific auto plant ever. After initially building some full size cars and Camaros in the 60s, they began to build Vegas, then Monzas and other H cars, then Cavaliers and Sunbirds, Cobalts and G5, finally Cruze. Those coupled with the van plant on the same site from 1971-1996 Lordstown built nearly 30 million vehicles since 1966.
I have personally owned 2 Cavaliers a 1986 wagon and a 1988 Z24 convertible
.
Even though redesigned in 1995, the J platform remained mostly the same mechanically until the debut of the Cobalt in 2005.
Being a native of that part of Ohio (and having friends and family that work there and the nearby Packard Electric plant), it’s nice to see someone else acknowledge the huge amount of vehicles that have come from Lordstown.
It mostly gets remembered for the militant union of the mid 70’s, but a lot more has happenend there than that. I once attended a J-body meet on the assembly plant grounds (I think it was the summer before my FIL bought my daughter her Sunfire), and was impressed how nice the facility was and the fact that they would host such an event on their grounds. It was a great time.
Back when these cars were new, I was not a big fan of the notchback bodystyle, as every bonehead kid had the notch Z24 and thought he had a “hot” ride. They were pretty zippy for what they were, but a turbo Dodge or any of the V8 pony cars of the time would shut them down.
Still, I wouldn’t mind a mid 80’s Z24, just not the notchback… Hatchback please…;)
Lordstown still has about 4,500 on three shifts but Packard is a ghost of its former self. The Delphi spinoff was not kind to that business and they only have about 2,000 people in all facilities down from about 10,000 twenty years ago. In the mid 80s with the Cavalier at the top of the sales pot in the US, the van plant going strong, and with Packard humming you had 20,000+ people working directly for GM. Probably more people outside of the state of Michigan than any place else in the country. And considering the population there is relatively small, the % of people working for GM at its height was incredibly high. Too bad about the steel mills.
Part of that unrest was due to the fact that in 1972 GM Assembly took over direct supervision from Chevrolet. That coupled with the decision to run the line at 100+ cars per hour (I think they hit 106 at one point in `74) was just insane.
The Z24 was originally conceived to be a baby Camaro of sorts, like a Z28 lite. Which in effect it was during the first part of its existence. However, by the 1995 redesign, the sport compact phenom was in full swing and the car lost most of its near-muscle vibe and picked up more of a ricey flavor especially since GM dropped the V6 and replaced it with the Quad 4.
That car probably brings a tear to your eye.
Those J hatches sure were sharp… 🙂
Sharp indeed. Oh, how I lusted over those V6 two-doors back when I had an ’84 wagon as my first car (similar to the below, but subtract the chrome trim and a couple wheelcovers, and add a lot more rust).
Craig: That’s a pretty fair assessment of the situation as it was and as it now stands. I have family and friends at both facilities; and Packard is a shadow of it’s former self. One of my BIL’s still works there, and he bounces around their locations (Warren, Ravenna, Vienna) depending upon what his assignment is. At least the folks at Lordstown are still going strong, thanks to the Cruze. I don’t get home much, so it’s likely I’m behind on the news…
If we’re talking about the 1995 Z24’s they took on a more international look and feel. I own a 1997 Cavalier (non Z24) and a 1995 Sunfire GT; the Pontiac is the baby muscle car reinterpreted for the 90’s. Even before I replaced the cat on the GT it had a nice burble coming from the stock dual exhaust. The Z24’s didn’t have that same muscle car feel, but they are competent little cars. I suspect some of that had to do with the exports to Japan…
I love that size of car from that time period. My all time favorite is any variation of the Mopar Neons with the twin cam motors. They maintained all of the lightweight and agile feel of previous generations of Chrysler products. But having lived with my 3rd gen J’s for a while now, they’re not as fast or zippy, but they have a certain character to them that makes them feel more substantial than they are.
With the Neon (and the P cars before them), you could access their limits rather easily, which rewarded you with instant gratification. The J’s take longer to get to their limits, but they are very docile and predictable. You really have to get them out of shape before they bite, but they have a more settled down feel.
If I were to set up a car for autocross or a street stock racing division, the Neon is the way I’d go. If I were to set up a car for an endurance race, I’d go with the Z24 or GT.
OK enough blathering. And yes, the fastback Z24 does twinge me a little…
They exported these to Japan?
@Roger: Yes, they sure did.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Cavalier#Toyota_Cavalier
They tried, but despite having each Toyota Cavalier carefully prepped, the Japanese found the overall quality (and panel gaps) not to their standards. It was a total bomb. My story on it: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/the-toyota-cavalier-and-the-truth-about-japanese-import-barriers/
I always liked this Cav coupe roofline better than the one that came from the redesign, whenever that was. I rented an Cav in about ’86 and didn’t enjoy the driving experience. I couldn’t get the driver’s seat back away far enough from the steering wheel, and I recall that while turning the wheel I sometimes hit my knuckles on the dashboard, as it was RIGHT THERE behind the wheel.
In ’89 when I was about to buy my first new car, I test drove a Cav and found that they had solved both of those problems. But for not that much more money, a Beretta was more comfortable and offered more room, so I bought one of those instead.
I’m sure GEOZINGER will have something to say about this and these cars!
Our daughter’s 1997 Cavalier wasn’t a bad car at all – it got her through college after she trashed our beloved Acclaim too often.
Funny, when she sold the Cavalier to our neighbor across the street in 2000, she never put a scratch on it but cherished it in the three years she owned it – even if we did buy it for her!
We had a brand-new Cavalier as a rental for our 25th anniversary week-long trip to Arizona in 2002, and it was a fine car, so no complaints about the “Cockroach of the Road”© from us.
©Geozinger
Oh baby! How did I get to be the J-car king? Especially when I love B, F and H bodies more? LOL!
As of today: 1995 Sunfire GT, 170,000+ miles, still going strong. The body will fall off of the car before the rest of it dies. 1997 Cavalier coupe, my daughter is driving this evening. At 256,000 miles, again, the body will fall off before the Opel designed pushrod 4 banger will give up the ghost.
I think the mechanicals will go 300K on the Cavalier, but I won’t want to look at the car…
At 256,000 miles, again, the body will fall off before the Opel designed pushrod 4 banger will give up the ghost.
Pretty impressive mileage for that engine, but you’ll have to thank (or blame?) Chevrolet – not Opel. There was an interesting article and discussion on that engine featured on this very site last year…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/is-wiki-wrong-on-the-gm-122-engine-are-these-two-engines-related/
GM did end up using the Opel-designed SOHC four in the US, but only in the Buick and Pontiac J-bodies.
What motor are you talking about? Ha I used to be heavily involved in the J scene before I sold my convertible in August of 2011. As expected, I am mostly in the Cadillac scene, and particularly an Eldorado man since I have owned 11 of them over the years. I have had them from all the FWD eras. Never owned a RWD one from before 1967.
The OHV motor was originally sourced from an Opel design, the first 1.8 were kind of crappy with a 2bbl. but the fuel injected versions through the 2.2 were not too bad. For reasons I am not entirely sure of (considering the Cavalier and Sunbird were built in Lordstown while the other Js were built elsewhere) the Sunbird and some other Js used the Brazilian sourced 1.8 & 2.0 OHC motor. I preferred the OHV motor as its powerband was at a lower RPM and it allowed for more contemporary driving. Now the turbo OHC motors in the Sunbird GTs were great especially the later versions. A Sunbird GT Convertible with the pop up headlights is a looker but instead of the headlights I got the digital dash in my Z.
If you peruse the two major J car sites:
http://www.j-body.org/
http://www.v6z24.com
People have gotten incredible mileage out of them. Of course if you live in sunnier climes the bodies don’t fall off…
My 86 went to 300K until the transmission went and we just ditched the car although the body was straight and all it needed was a trans. It was 2000 and time to just move on. My 88 with the 2.8V6 then 3100 V6 went to 177K on the body but of course by the time I sold it little of the car except for the sheetmetal (the hood, front & rear bumper assemblies, and lower cladding were fiberglass) and interior were original.
I’m talking about the same motor you’re talking about, the OHV four used in the J-body that debuted as a carbed 1.8l in 1982 and was still powering Cavaliers as a fuel-injected 2.2l into the 21st century.
It didn’t have anything to do with Opel, it was designed by General Motors in Detroit. Here’s Syke paraphrasing Brock Yates in the comments of the CC article I linked to…
This question rang a loud bell, go to the bookshelf and grab my very beaten to hell copy of “The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry” by Brock Yates. Refer to pages 30-34. Opening chapter concerns the design and development of the J-car.
To fit the story in a couple of paragraphs, first GM convinced themselves that Americans did not need, or want for that matter, a high-performance overhead cam engine. Never mind that that was one of the big selling points of the Honda Accord, et. al. Then, “There were three choices available to the GM team: the “Family Two” 1.8 liter overhead camshaft four-cylinder from Opel, a compact high-rpm power plant beig manufactured by GM in Germany, Brazil and Australia; a new V-4 overhead valve which could be created by chopping two cylinders from the V-6 engine employed in the larger X-cars; or finally a new Chevrolet-designed four-cylinder engine with the traditional overhead valve layout.”
After going thru a couple of pages regarding the pluses and minuses of each of the three it came down to, “Because Chevrolet was supplying the engines for the American J-car, it was their call.” The Chevy boys didn’t like the Opel designed engine. The Pontiac crew liked the OHC motor. They Chevy boys won out. Therefore the European J-cars got the Opel motor, the American versions got the Chevy.
The Brazilian SOHC engine is the same thing as the Opel Family II engine is the same thing as the SOHC engine in the early American J-body cars. Not literally, of course, but they are all the same fundamental design. The OHV four is native to Chevrolet and was only ever used in North American cars.
I’m surprised that the J-Body.org site is still around. My first car was a Cavalier and I used to post on their forums when I was 16 years old. I’m turning 30 tomorrow, LOL! Back then, I don’t remember many J-Body.org members getting crazy high mileage, especially out of the four-cylinder engines. My own Cavalier, an ’89 base coupe which was a hand-me-down from my mom, was a total disaster and went to the crusher before 90k miles.
Back in 1984, the salesman told me he could put me in a “loaded” Cavalier for less than a stripper Camaro.
Then and now, I’ll still take the stripper Camaro.
Great find! I’ve commented on other posts recently about how rare early J-cars are, so it’s great you captured such a nice one! As I have also mentioned before, a 1985 Sunbird was my college car, and I thought it was a classy-looking little car. In retrospect, the Cavalier is even better looking, since it isn’t saddled with that slightly heavy-looking bird beak front end. This Cavalier certainly looks good for a 30-year-old design, don’t you think? I generally like the original version of a car best, but in this case, the slight facelift it got in 1984 with quad headlamps is even better than the original. The 1988 redo was half aero and half sheer look, and just didn’t quite work. These made a cute little convertible, too. What happened to them all? Were they that unreliable? (Hmm, maybe.)
They are around. I owned a 1988 Z24 convertible for 16 years until 2011. I sold it primarily because I had too many cars and not being so young anymore I wanted to move onto a bit more mature of a car. But I love it, it was great and a hot little car. Of course it was probably the only car I ever heavily modified in my life. Interestingly, in 1988, Chevrolet advertised a $6995 VL coupe while the MSRP on my convertible (loaded with every option) was almost $17,000 with tax.
Just about every surviving J car in good condition is on one of these two sites:
http://www.j-body.org/
http://www.v6z24.com/
Looks sharp. I’m used to seeing that kind of treatment on Japanese cars, not J-cars!
The ground effects on the car are factory. What I did was lower it with an Eibach kit, new KYB shocks/struts, rebuilt the rest of the suspension, upgraded the brakes, wheels, tires, put in a modified 3100 engine, repainted it Flame Red Metallic from 1988 Pontiac GTA, and put in a decent stereo and away we went. I really miss the car, but as I get older my tastes of enjoyment change and that was a different chapter of my life.
Here is a pic of what my car would have looked like in original condition.
The neighbor’s (now adult) daughter had a 87 or 88 Z24 she drove to and from HS about 12 years ago. It ran and sounded pretty good, all original parts, but her grandfather had gotten her a new Monte Carlo for graduation. It was a typical kid car, not abused, but just needed some TLC. Over the winter after she graduated, it sat in their driveway and I thought about going over there and asking if they wanted to sell it.
I look out one day, and bam! The Z was gone. I went over and talked to the dad, he sold the car to a cousin or some relation for $250 just to get it out of his driveway… Dang it!
Nice mods. I put a set of Eibachs and adjustable KYBs (and a bit of chassis bracing) on my NA Miata, and it made a world of difference. It was a ’95 M-Edition, which came in a sort of burgundy metallic that’s not too far off the GTA’s Flame Red.
With the Cav’s V6, it would have been interesting to put those two together on an autocross!
I had a 1982 Type 10 hatchback Cavalier and it was the worst car I ever owned. In a year of ownership, the engine leaked lots of oil, was removed several times, and was never fixed – and lots of new problems developed. I traded it for a 1983 Pontiac Sunbird hatchback which was somewhat better – it only stranded me once with a stripped overhead cam timing belt. Not the General’s finest hour.
My ’82 Type 10 hatch was quite reliable, on the other hand. I did quite a bit of work to the suspension and added ground effects plus the custom NACA hood scoop and a hand-fabbed rear spoiler. Handled like it was on rails. The 1.8L wasn’t the fastest thing in the world, though.
The 82-83 hatchbacks had the rare sloping front nose like Pontiac Oldsmobile and Buick. When the 84s were redesigned with quad headlamps that feature disappeared.
When the 83 Cavalier concept convertible was showcased it used that unique front end but by the time the 84 models came out they switched to the generic quad front end.
They did end up making a small batch of 83 Cavalier and Pontiac 2000 convertibles (a near identical split of 627 chevys and 626 pontiacs). I never knew they were that rare till looking it up now, as there was a white on white cavalier drop top of that year in my town growing up in the mid 80s. I also see base msrp listed for one was $10,990, more than $4k extra over a CS coupe!
Here is a hatch and coupe of the sportier variant.
The only Cavaliers here are the junkheap shared with Toyota undisputably the WORST car ever sold here we got them ex JDM and now days if you can give one away consider yourself very lucky
We were spared the ex-JDM Cavalier here in Oz. The downside is we got our own J-car, the Holden Camira!
It’s very rare to see the boxy pre-1995 J cars here is Salt-ago-land.
Now, the last gen 2000-05’s are popular BHPH beaters, and fading fast.
Same deal in Vermont. There are also a few immaculate ones, always 4-doors and invariably driven by someone very old who’s owned nothing but Chevys since the vacuum-shift days.
My 1st Convertible was a 1984 Cavalier triple brown.
it was my daily driver from89-98 so i;s say it was worth the even trade i got out of the auto matic grand am, the cav was a 5 speed clutch…getrag i believe, it ran ok after i got the 2nd head gasket fixed
maintenence……
As time moves on, I am appreciating this car more and more. Especially in the notchback Z-24 form. Take it as a modern day 67 Chevelle SS for the modern era, (I know, I know, a lot of artistic license there!), with the bulged hood scoops, the chunky stylings. What’s there not to like with the great 2.8 V6 motor?
Well I dropped in a worked over 3100 with 205hp into my 88 along with other goodies you are looking at a 2,500lbs car. Coupled with a 3.53 factory 3 speed and its a hell of a car. And the 88-94s breathed through the hood. A true modern Ram Air.
Very nice combination!
Seen a few 82-83 Cavaliers in the past couple of weeks. One was an 83 sedan sitting on a used car lot. 5 speed on top of that. Actually really clean with just the cloth on the drivers seat starting to show wear. If it wasn’t for the extra doors it would be sitting in my driveway. Than I saw another 82-83 coupe at the U-Pull-It. All rusty and cruddy. I never found the driver. Now I’m on the look out for these early years. If I had known there was going to be another “I haven’t seen one of those in awhile” stories I would have taken some pics to post. Intuition tells me I’m bound to stumble across a Cavalier Cadet sometime soon. These first and second gen J-Cars are still plentifull here in Nebraska Territory. The last gens(with EcoTech power) are just starting to hit their stride in the self service boneyards.
I was just thinking this one needs someone to take a Sawzall and give it the missing aft portals the factory apparently forgot to put in.
Granted, just about EVERYWHERE the ’82’s and ’83’s are long gone, but I still see these mid-eighties ones out and about from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Hawaii the past few years. I never thought these were bad cars. Yes, the first J’s were lacking (overpriced, underpowered, missing a 5th gear in their mid year ’81 introduction), but by the time the mid ’80’s rolled around, these were competent cars. I believe the correct reason why they may be “rare” now is that the wheels have been driven off of these things. On average, I’d believe these J’s would go through 2-4 owners, driven into the dirt and junked after about 200K (sometimes more) of use and abuse.
I bought an ’84 Type 10 notchback in 1988 and drove it for 4 years. It had the 5 speed and was a good daily driver, though it was a little stubborn until it warmed up. Other than normal maintenance I never had much trouble with it…except for the cable shifter, which I had to have adjusted/replaced three times in the first year I owned the car. I traded it for a ’92 Nissan King Cab pickup, and while the Nissan was a better vehicle in many ways, I still miss the Chevy and wish I’d kept it for another few years.
Like those icky little K-cars, the plainer they are, the more tollerable they are to look at.
A cheap car that can go 200,000 mi. is a great thing.
I know I sound like a snob, but what a thoroughly depressing thought to have to be the one to drive one that far.
My cousin Kevin in Tennessee had one just like the feature car back in the early 90’s. His dad got it (I think) from another uncle of ours that only had it a short amount of time.
For reasons I am still not sure of, Kevin got this wild idea around 1992 to paint the car purple with (I think) orange trim. It looked awful to say the least. I remember not long after he did that he and a friend drove it down to our house in Florida for a week. I can only imagine what the neighbors must have thought when they saw it sitting in our driveway…
That branch of my family has always had a thing for small Chevrolets. My Uncle Fred bought a brand new Cavalier coupe in 1988, just before my cousin Matt was born, He had a custom plate made that said “Matt” and put it on the front. Fast forward to today, Matt is married and just became a dad last month, and Uncle Fred still has the little Cavalier, and the “Matt” plate is still on the front, and Uncle Fred would not take anything for that car.
Back in the 80’s, a wealthy, eccentric, and slightly weird car enthusiast named Rick Dobbertin built a pro-street Pontiac J2000 two-door hatch that was so radical, it both revolutionized and helped destroy the whole Pro Street trend popular back then.
When I met my wife in 1988 she had a 1986 Cavalier coupe. It had 28k miles on it when she got it and she sold it with well over 100k in 1994. It was light blue with dark blue cloth interior, very basic but excellent car. It was a very reliable car for her. I remember driving it and thinking it was solid and handled really well. GM had a thing for getting cars right after a few years of introduction. Seems like once they perfected a model they would change it or discontinue it. Strange!