As time rolls on, ordinary things often become more intriguing – such is the case with Chevy Cavaliers. Just a few years ago, I wouldn’t have given this car a second thought. But now, I look at this and wonder “Is this the nicest Cavalier wagon left in existence?” I’m not the only one captivated by a car like this… my sister-in-law actually took these pictures after coming across this wagon at Walmart. Who would have thought that a GM station wagon at a big box store parking lot would be so interesting? After all, not too long ago, Cavaliers were likely the pinnacle of ordinariness.
Introduced for the 1982 model year, General Motors’ J-cars, including the Cavalier, were originally intended as “import fighters,” though that moniker faded quickly. Instead of battling the surging tide of Hondas and Toyotas, Cavalier settled into the niche of providing affordable transportation to buyers with more traditional domestic-car tastes. While perhaps lacking long-term vision, this market niche did provide for plentiful sales, and Cavaliers quickly became a fixture of North American roads. Production reached its peak of 463,000 in 1984.
Cavaliers changed remarkably little through its first and second generations (1982-1994), and not surprisingly, sales generally dwindled as time wore on. Though the 1988 introduction of a second-generation model breathed some new interest into the lineup, production dipped below the 300,000 mark by the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, an interesting reshuffling took place regarding the Cavalier’s body styles. In the early and mid 1980s, affordable, small family wagons were a hot item – accordingly, wagons accounted for over a quarter of total Cavalier production in the model’s second production year, and were heavily advertised as well. But it was all downhill from there. Meanwhile, the two-door coupe gradually gained in popularity – most second-generation Cavaliers were coupes.
Source of production figures: Standard Catalog of Chevrolet, 1912-2003.
This pattern shows up clearly when looking at the bodystyle proportions of annual Cavalier production. Wagons, gradually shrank in importance to the overall model range.
In terms of absolute numbers, Cavalier wagon production fell below 30,000 for the second-generation’s debut year of 1988, and fell for five of the six years that followed. The wagon seemed to just exist after that point. After all, try finding an ad for one printed after the mid 1980s… GM just let the Cavalier wagon coast for its final years. By the early 1990s, Cavalier wagons were a mere footnote to overall Chevy sales.
Our featured car was one of only 19,207 wagons made for 1993, accounting for just 7.6% of Cavalier’s 251,590 model-year sales. And whoever was the original owner didn’t skimp on options. For starters, this is an RS model – a designation that added items like a radio, tinted glass, a split-folding rear seat, red-accented bodyside moldings, and other goodies to the base VL (i.e., Value Leader) model.
Additionally, this wagon is equipped with the most important item for breathing life into an otherwise stagnant model – a bigger engine. In this case, the 140-hp 3.1-liter V-6, which added 30 hp to the anemic standard 4-cyl. engine. Better known in Cavalier-land as the Z24 engine, the V-6 provided decent power for the day, and importantly for a wagon, enabled it to carry a full load of passengers and cargo without being overwhelmed by the thought of acceleration. All Cavalier wagons since 1991 came equipped with a standard 3-speed automatic transmission.
A glance around this car shows other options as well, such as the luggage rack (a $115 option) and a rear defogger (a surprisingly steep $170). A look inside revealed power windows and locks (another $330).
For a recollection of what Cavalier RS interiors of this vintage look like, we can head back to brochureland. While improved over 1980s-vintage J-cars, this was still a haven for lower-quality plastics and less-than-ideal ergonomics. A Toyota it’s not, but this didn’t carry a Toyota price tag either.
Assuming our featured car came equipped with the popular “Preferred Equipment Group” (a/c, cassette stereo, cruise control, etc.), it would have listed for just short of $14,000 – one of the priciest non-convertible 1993 Cavaliers to leave GM’s Lordstown, Ohio plant. With Cavaliers rarely selling for list price in the early 1990s, it’s safe to guess that this car left the dealer’s lot for under $12,000 – a solid deal for customers who didn’t necessarily care to seek out the most refined, modern design available.
This wagon shows only the slightest signs of age, such as this area on the tailgate where the Bright White paint is molting. Many GM cars of this vintage have significantly more profound molting problems than this. It’s unlikely that I’ll come across a better-equipped and better-preserved J-car wagon any time soon, so a minor blemish such as some peeling paint hardly matters.
Though none of us would likely choose a Cavalier wagon as one of our favorite cars – we can still appreciate a survivor, which is exactly what this wagon is. If this is the nicest Cavalier wagon left in existence, let’s hope it rolls on for a long time still.
Photographed in April 2022 in Jefferson City, Missouri. Many thanks to Michelle T. for the photos!
Wow, I would have looked this one over too. Something I would probably not have done 10 years ago. Actually, I recall taking some photos of an early Cavalier sedan about 2010 or 2011 just because it hit me that the early ones had almost disappeared (while later ones like this were still relatively common). But I salute you, because I could never gin up the enthusiasm to write about the photos I took.
Michelle and O.T. certainly get around…they drive by while I’m selling my Galaxie and she finds this Cavalier less than two miles from my house! I’m glad she found it and many thanks for her taking these pictures.
Like you, the Cavalier would have still been background noise not that long ago but I now see it differently. Perhaps the trim and the V6 help with this perception. As Cavalier wagons go, this is a very nice one.
Years ago I was a summer intern for the Illinois Department of Transportation. One day one of the engineers had a loaner as their assigned Dodge pickup was having some work done. Their loader was a first generation Cavalier wagon. I drove it a few times over the few days it was at that field office. Power wasn’t its strong suit, but I vividly remember the F41 badge on the dash, so some wise person had spec’d this fleet machine into something that handled surprisingly well.
I bet a lot of early Cavaliers got assigned to municipal fleet duty.
In the early 1990s, I was a summer intern for a township government in Pennsylvania. My duties involved investigating business licenses, but this required driving all over the township, so I was assigned a car. This car was probably the bottom-of-the-barrel vehicle in the township’s fleet, it was an early 1st generation Cavalier sedan that was used mainly by Parks security guards. That Cavalier led a rough life – it was dented, faded, and seemed to have as many missing trim pieces as not. Also, the inside door handle didn’t work, so I had to roll down the window and use the outside handle to get out.
But the a/c was nice and strong, and it was better than sitting at an office desk, so I didn’t mind it too much. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the days when the Cavalier was broken down and I was assigned the Township Manager’s new Dodge Dynasty instead…
We do what we can Jason!
I once had an ’84 Cavalier hatchback with a 4-speed. ’nuff said. 😉
I had an ’87 Cavalier Z24 hatchback. I got it new for a great price in the spring of ’88 because the dealer just wanted it gone. It was a sharp looking car in red with a digital dash but I had a number of minor quality issues with it. I still loved it, tho.. A somewhat sporty looking car for a kid a few years out of college.
I too had several Z24’s in my day. The first was a used silver 1986 coupe (not hatch or convertible). For that car I traded the 1985 Cavalier CL Sedan that my parents basically got for me, but I didn’t want a 4 dr (ungrateful kid). So I traded in on the silver Z24. But even that wasn’t really what I wanted, so a year later I purchased my first brand new car: 1987 Z24 coupe in a cool blue I think was called Maui blue? Loved that car. Actually, all three of those Cavaliers were great cars. If I could have them back, I’d take the blue Z24 first, then the gray sedan second.
Excellent find and article. About as desirable as a Cavalier can be. Major credit to the owner for keeping it in such great condition.
Around 1988 or so I was looking for a new car to replace my Renault Encore; I briefly looked at a Chevrolet Cavalier wagon-until I test drove one. The interior was totally cheap; obviously GM was trying to save money on these vehicles and it came out of the interior. I ended up buying a Mercury Tracer wagon-a vastly better vehicle in all respects.
Given that the market for two-door cars was in recession for pretty much the Cavalier’s entire run, the body style chart is an eye-opener. I suppose they moved more coupes from ’88-’94 because the Cavalier coupe actually *had* a redesigned body with a more flowing roofline and a trunklid cut that dropped down to bumper level, while the sedan and wagon were barely warmed-over boxy relics from 1982. Initially they even kept the 1982 dashboard.
Calling the ’88-’94 models “second generation” feels tenuous at best. I feel the same way about the ’88-’94 Tempo and ’92-’95 Taurus.
I feel that way about the “fourth generation” 2000 Taurus restyle. While the fish face and oval rear window (on the sedan) disappeared, the doors are exactly the same as the 1996, and actual mechanical changes were incremental at most. The instrument cluster, with its analog odometer (unusual on anything introduced past the mid-90s), is a giveaway as well. I was a kid at the time, and I remember being confused at the Taurus being marketed as “all new” – the entire wagon body was the same! I admit they did a clever job of disguising the 1996 oval-ness, but it’s still there if you look for it.
The 2-dr. / 4-dr. mix was surprising to me too. I think part of the reason for the 2-dr. sales bump in ’88 and ’89 was because that’s when the bargain-priced Cavalier VL was introduced, which was popular, and was available only as a 2-dr. until 1990. But even for the 1991-94 model years, the coupes maintained between 50% and 55% of total Cavalier production.
My guess is that the Cavalier had a pretty young customer base in the early 1990s – lots of customers in their 20s buying their first new car. And back then, young people still gravitated towards 2-doors, since 4-doors were often regarded as stodgy. The redesigned body certainly helped too, since it was much more modern-looking than the largely-holdover sedan and wagon designs.
And I agree that “2nd generation” is an embellishment with these cars – but the term’s widely used, so I went with it.
The reason for the transition to coupes is easy to explain: The Cavalier started out as an Accord competitor, squarely in the heart of the mid-price sector of family cars. GM fooled itself into thinking it could get Accord-like prices. Not.
The initial response to the J-Cars was very tepid due to those high prices. Buyers could see through the ruse. So the Cavalier’s ATP was reduced through incentives, less content, and lower trim versions being favored in production.
The Cavalier utterly failed in the Accord/family market, and found a new one at the bottom of the market, strictly on low price, with young, first time buyers. A variation of the “secretary special”.
I don’t know how anyone at GM could have looked at the Cavalier and thought it was going to be competitive with the Accord, but I wonder why the K car was more accepted as a decent family sedan than the J cars were?
My full story on that GM Deadly Sin is here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/curbside-classic-1982-chevrolet-cavalier-gms-deadly-sin-22-the-decline-and-fall-of-gm-in-1-8-liters/
Good question. Maybe because Lee Iaccoca was a better pitchman? 🙂
Yes, the trunked Cavalier coupe from ’82-87 was really a two-door sedan. It may fall just short of the Niedermeyeran strict-constructionist definition due to slightly slimmer C pillars but the backlites interchange and the rear headroom dimensions are the same. The hatchback was more of a coupe (compare with the Brazilian one which was a 3-door version of the European 5-door Ascona) with very limited rear headroom.
Another matter is that the Cav was moved downmarket over its’ run, as it aged, the VRA quotas sunsetted and the Chevette was dropped. The two-door coupe had the lowest base price and was aimed at first-time new car buyers.
I was about to note the same thing – it’s being awfully kind to Chevy for considering the 1988 models to be a “second generation”. The coupes were revamped from the B pillar rearward, but the sedans and wagons got little but a new front clip. Inside, base models still used the basic 1982 dashboard and interior. The wagons appear to use the same sheetmetal and glass from 1982 through 1994.
Although the V6 was used in the sporty Z24 coupes, the only other Cavalier I recall offering it (as an option) was the wagon. It wasn’t available on 4 door sedans, I assume to protect the Cimarron’s (and Firenza’s) turf, as both of these offered V6 engines in their non-sporty J body sedans.
Old designs seemed not to bother Volvo wagon buyers, who bought 240 series wagons well into into the ’90s, despite a design that clearly dates to 1965.
This is a find! It isn’t rusted out like the very few I see around here. By 1993, these vehicles were sorted out and were about as good as the J-cars got. The design got shorted by poor quality parts. It is a good looking vehicle, a classic Chevy design which I admire. I wish I could add the moniker “honest” to this line of cars, but I have driven enough J-cars to not have pleasant memories.
Back then, these cars were an improvement over the Vega/Monza in every way. They were also better than the Chevette. Yet GM had some issues with the first years and those were the years I had the most experience with. I never liked the low seating positions in these cars. While I was never a fan of the Ford Tempo, at least the Tempo was much easier to enter and gave the driver a higher view of the road.
Baby steps. GM was making baby steps – but at least it was in the right direction. It was very disappointing to see the Cobalt replace the Citation because the Cobalt wasn’t much of an improvement in any way. BTW – I see very few Chevy Cobalt in any form around here, which could be an insight on how well they performed. (I was looking into that when I launched Curbside this morning as a matter of fact.)
The last part – do you mean the Corsica? The Cobalt replaced the Cavalier way later in 2005.
I think he meant Cavalier instead of Citation.
I think this nose is the nicest among any other J-car of that time. However the whole rear design deserved a better job, it’s too Chrysler and too 70’s for the rest of the car. Something like the Civic wagon ’82 would have made the Cavalier more sporty and younger. The finishing around the rear window gasket is awful…
We had the 4 door sedan version of this wagon. Ours was also white. We bought it because we had to get something and the price was right. Other than providing basic transportation and being sort of quick the car was terrible.
The joke I heard from several salesmen was the the RS trim stood for “Red Stripe” because all of the RS cars had that red tape strip that year.
A local copier repair business used to run these wagons in their fleet. On year, they sprang for the fancier RS trim, as shown.* The hard miles had the side trim pieces falling off. Then switched back to base models. Went to minivans after Cavi wagons were dropped.
*Volume deal
When we were shopping for a small wagon in 1993, I think this was the only car that didn’t even warrant a physical look. Not even as much as the 2 minutes we spent at the Ford lot looking at the Escort, or the 5 minutes with the 3 door Colt wagon. We ended up with a Corolla.
I’ve always loved the wagon forms of the J-cars. There’s really something about the look, versatility and being more basic transportation that stuck me. Yet I never owned one of them. I did have an old higher miles Dodge Aries wagon at one time that I purchased dirt cheap. That was a great little car for hauling the dogs and other junk.
Yet me love for the J-cars runs deep. Back in 1985 my parents got me a brand new Cavalier sedan in gray. Very nice car, but being an un-grateful kid at that time, I wanted a 2 dr. So 2 years later I found a used 1986 Z24 in silver. Got that and like it, but still wasn’t satisfied and ended up getting my 1987 brand new Z24 in Maui blue. That was such a nice car! However, the one car that was always on my radar was a loaded up Cadillac Cimarron (J-car). Many years later, here I am now with a 1988 Cimarron with only 62,000 miles in near showroom condition. Dark red over silver with the red leather. What a joy to take her out for a drive and I did just that yesterday.
It is in rather good shape.Must a had a garage for a good long time.
Anyone remember the Cadillac Cimarron? The Cavalier with Caddy badges.
Matt: See my post a few above yours.
Yes, I’m sure most coming on here do recall the Cimarron. And no, it wasn’t just a Cavalier with Caddy badges. Although the first year (1982) was dismal at best, the car still had a lot of changes over a Cav. By 1986 it had become a much better car and of course the 1988 was the best and therefore (by GM standards) the last year.
I know these cars well. I started selling Cadillac’s in 1988 and did a total of 14 years with Cadillac. I have materials for training at home and one that gives a direct comparison to the rest of the J-cars in 1982. The looks were too similar, but there were a lot of differences.
I’ve picked up that many on this site are import leaning people, but what I wish is that the Cimarron would get some love for once instead of the constant belittling it takes.
An excellent find with great accompanying text and photos. $14K seems like a lot for one of these, but I believe it completely. A friend of my parents steered them away from a Cavalier wagon into something used and way less expensive only a few years before this one was built. This has to be one of the best-condition examples of a Cavalier wagon in existence, even with the minor cosmetic things.
I often wondered what a 2nd-generation Cavalier hatchback might have looked like… I might have been redundant, given that the coupe’s roofline was “faster” with the restyle and the rear seat probably folded down.
I worked at a shop a few years ago that serviced a nearly as nice seafoam green 1993 Cavalier wagon. 2.2, automatic, basic trim (no power options, black plastic bumpers) but about as clean as this on. And this is in northeastern PA. The household also contained an even more pristine 95-ish beached whale Caprice sedan in really high spec, maybe LTZ? Not sure what the Cavalier’s back story was, but the Caprice was an elderly parent hand me down that never had really gotten much use. My experiences with the cars were in 2019.
There are always interesting survivors out there, as evidence by this very website. I love that.
Such a simple, clean design, and I can’t help but love it just for that. This car also has that one wonderful feature that every SUV on the road these days lacks completely: visibility.
Obviously not the same condition, but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen one.
Spotted today in Toronto
BTW, it was sitting at Walmart parking lot