Here's how the Chevy Cavalier was the king of badge engineering
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.พ. 2021
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In this episode I provide the history of the Chevrolet Cavalier, how it differed so much from today's cars by having so many body styles, but also how it shared almost the exact same look with four other cars in the GM lineup across the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac brands.
Contact me at pomeara1234@gmail.com if you used to own a car from the 80s to early 2000s that you rarely see on the road today and would like me to devote a future episode to that car. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
I remember, I was a mechanic for chevrolet in 1985. We received a truck load of cavaliers, that were Buick in the back and chevrolet in the front. That was a complete mess. There were six of them. I don't know what happened to them. One by one they all disappeared. I am not sure if they were sold, I never saw one come in for service. Believe me, I looked, every time.
Not quite as bad, but when I purchased a new S-10 in 1990 it literally had 2 different style side mirrors. One bigger truck mirror and one smaller car-style mirror. I told the dealership I wanted it replaced under warranty after purchase, then they didn't want to do it. I had to force them. Little did I know that the brand new 1990 Cavalier we purchased new and that new S-10 were so full of problems I have never purchased a GM vehicle since.
Rare cars now!
My dad is retired from a state run power plant. He once told me one of the fleet vans, a Chevy Astro had a grill that was meant for a GMC Safari. That's the way it got delivered. It was a work van so nobody cared.
😁 When I purchased my 1997 Chevrolet Trans Sport in 2010, It had a Pontiac badged steering wheel inside. Basicly this minivan is a mixture of Chevy Venture and Pontiac Trans Sport... By the way Oldsmobile Alero of Europe is/was Chevrolet Alero. Some of them wore Chevy badges on the outside but on the steering wheel the Olds badge appeared. Any combination was/is possible... Whatever kinda parts available They [GM] had on their shelves, they had installed it into... By the way I also saw a 1978 Caprice 4 door sedan equiped with an Electra front. It looked well!
I definitely saw one of these about 15 years ago!! I was like wtf is this?
I just pulled an 87 sunbird from a junkyard with only 62,000 miles, I got it back on the road and now it's my daily driver
That's awesome! Props for saving that car.
You should have left it where it was! I hope after you drive it a while you learn why most of them belong in a junkyard!
@@littlejohnny47 so far it's been amazing lol, great gas mileage too! I'm averaging about 36 mpg, but to be fair most of my driving is on the highway
Wow
No one:
GM: "screw it, put ALL our badges on this car"
Also sold as the Holden Camira, the Isuzu Aska and only God knows what else around the globe.
I had a JJ Camira, and it was great, but it died of terminal corrosion.
Have only ever seen one for sale in NZ over the last 5 years.
The year is 2021.
I still drive a Chevy Cavalier from 2001.
Damn thing won't die.
My cavalier couldn't stand up to my feet with baby 4 cycinder engine
i love my 2005 cavalier coupe....it is a perfect car for me.
@Snake Plissken must not be kept up on. My dads was at 280k until totaled and mines at 189k and runs strongs
@Snake Plissken these things are all over my city lmao they go like champs. all rusted out and peeling clear coat
@Snake Plissken they're literally everywhere here. and pontiac gran prix's as well. lots of the late 90's ones and the 80's wagons.
The only compact that made you feel like you're dragging a boat anchor right off the lot!
😆😆😆
At least they looked good
If you use the throttle pedal to control the transmission shift points, it will be faster and you'll easily destroy the car. 84 Buick Skyhawk.
😭😂😂
@@askadad7355
What? 🤣
In my small prairie town, Sunfires are still on the road today. In fact, my friend just recently in 2020 bought one and daily's it.
theyre all over in florida too. it and the cavalier
Kansas has a lot of sunfires still on the road
I'm not surprised. Small towns aren't flooded with dealerships and "I need a new car every year" kind of people so you'll find all sorts of older used cars for sale
There's a z24 cavalier just down the road from me. I checked it out pretty hard lol
In New Mexico the sunbirds are common, there’s a guy I went to high school with that drove it for dominos delivery 🤪
I'm shocked you didn't mention the Toyota Cavalier, it was a literal badge swap
I was waiting for him to mention that. I was disappointed.
@@EternalLatias Oh yeah weren't those sold in Japan only?
@@bricegraham8256 yup but ended up all over the world with 2nd hand imports of jdm vehicles. You can find a few of them in New Zealand, Kenya, Jamaica & other big markets for used Japanese imports (but their really rare now)
toyota is GARBAGE
@@kxngearner698 My 1985 Toyota 4runner that will probably outlive you, disagrees with you. Lol
I've owned a '99 Pontiac Sunfire for 22 years. It still runs very well! They say US cars don't last long but...
Where do you find replacement parts? Looking for window weather stripping for a 1999 Chevy cavalier convertible.
I've had 23 Cavaliers, mostly derby cars and parts. But I still drive an old 98 5speed once and awhile.
Sure takes you back when things were simple. Love the old Cavaliers
Wait a minute...
They were pathetically built cars!
@@cardtrix1970 actually you are wrong, the cavalier was so simple yet so unique
I just recently sold my 2004 cavalier. I am telling you, that car was bulletproof. It had almost 400,000 miles on it when I sold it. It had to be probably the most dependable car I have ever owned.
My friend had a 98. That thing lasted longer than what it should. She had to junk it because it was completely rusted away around the muffler area.
My mom had a Sunfire. The final body style in red. She loved that car. She's in an Acura now but I still reminisce about the many roadtrips that jbody gave my sister and I.
First car was a 89 Chevy Cavalier RS coup. Man I drove it everywhere. Loved that car
I own 94' Cavalier 2-door Z24, my mom bought it brand new in 1994. Amazingly fun car to drive, you can have a lot of fun without worrying about tickets.
No other car screams the '80s like the Pontiac Fiero! Bought a new one in 1985 and later in the 1990's acquired many more for cheap or free. One got a V8 swap and three others got a 3800 swap.
And what’s amazing about that car is how absolutely creative Pontiac was with making a car with a completely different configuration to anything GM made after the Corvair with off the shelf parts.
The drivetrain was straight off GM front wheel drive X bodies but with the tie rods fixed in place, and the front suspension was borrowed from the Chevette.
Unfortunately the 2.5L Iron Duke didn’t have enough ground clearance... so they made the oil pan shallower which resulted in several fires.
My grandmother had a 94 Cavalier RS 2.2L. My mom had a 94 Sunbird 2.2L convertible LE. Both great cars.
My mother bought a new GM 1997 sedan, Cavalier. She passed in 2005 & the car only had around 10500mi on it. She rarely drove it.
GM's late 80's Bonneville, Delta 88 and Lesabre too. At a distance, it was almost impossible to tell them apart in profile.
And Cutlass Ciera or something like that by Oldsmobile
I think the 88, 98, LeSabre, Bonneville, Park Avenue, Electra, and Seville all had the same underpinnings.
@@erikbunty2016 yes, body by Fisher
@@rigorousrangel6394 the A body cars....Chevrolet Celebrity Pontiac 6000 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera(and Cutlass Cruiser) and Buick Century.
@@erikbunty2016 Actually the 98 was on the DeVille platform.
I had a 94 Sunbird LE with 5 speed and 3.1v6. It was fairly reliable, cheap to own and fun to drive. Had 230,000 miles when it got totaled and I daily drove it for over 10 years. One of the best cars I ever owned.
I bought a new 1994 Cavalier RS 3.1L V6 5 speed new. Wish I had it today. Never seen another one like it.
I own a 1994 Pontiac Sunbird convertible with a 3.1 V6 engine and a 5-speed stick. It has everything power windows power door locks powertop bucket seats that match my 89 Chevrolet Beretta an analog Dash looks like my 88 Beretta. I guess I'm a sucker for GM I've been a GM Advocate since the sixties my father and mother owned I found them be fun reliable unfixable by somebody that doesn't have to be a rocket scientist. My 94 is probably one of my favorites but then I love convertibles and this is my first. If they came out with a new one and Pontiac came back I'd buy another in a heartbeat brand new. It's plenty quick good on gas. Great fun to drive when the weather is good and it's fine in the rain but I don't take it out too often in bad weather. For just plain fun it's a great car
Between the new 1990 Chevy S-10 and the new 1990 Chevy Cavalier we had, the Chevy service department knew me on a first name basis. "hey Mike, long time no see, what's it been, 2 weeks?", ME; "Well, technically, 10 days, we almost made it 2 weeks!"
I worked for a company that provided urethane bumpers to Ford and Chevrolet. We also supplied instrument panels we called dashboards for a number of different vehicles. Car designs eventually switched to the flexible fascias, and I remember when we landed the Cavalier front end. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Body by Fisher?
I always envy the kids at my school that had the 86 z24 cavalier. I wanted one so bad. Never got it.
I had a 91 Cavalier. I puchased it new and drove it 20 years and put 180,000 miles on it. It still drove and ran like new when I sold it.
A few of my family bought, drove Cavs 4drs in the 1980s 1990s. My mom bought a new 1997 GM Cavalier, a wierd orange-red color.
GM also had 6 almost identical vehicles on the trailblazer platform, envoy, ranier, bravada, 9-7, Ascender
7 if you include the chevy SS-R which shared the same platform
Yes, I remember that. I thought at the time that there was no way in hell GM was sustainable if badges were their only differentiation between such economically different brands.
The only thing is that I don't think all 7 were concurrently in production together. (I.E. the Bravada was gone in 2004, the Ascender started in 2005, and possibly the Rainier, and the 9-7 didn't come out until 06 or 07, as I remember). And I didn't know the SS-R was part of that casserole of nonsense. ☺
I had a '91 2-door Cavalier in 1999 with 212,000 miles on it.... It was an amazing car.
My family owned one of each of the three generations (technically, since one was the Oldsmobile version). All were unexciting cars although the styling of the ‘89 Cavalier RS Coupe has held up really well and still looks good today IMHO. All of them gave very little trouble and represented good used car values back in the day. Only good Cavalier memories here.
I had an '89 Cavalier sedan when I was in high school. I remember how cool I thought the thing looked at the time, I don't know what was wrong with me. I had the 4 cylinder, which wasn't as fuel efficient as you'd expect for something with such low horsepower. It was fairly reliable though, I only replaced an alternator, egr valve, and sway bar links aside from the normal tires/brakes.
Great video - I've owned two Cavaliers, A 1987 Z-24 Hatchback and more recently a 1986 Z24 Convertible. The 1986 Z24 Convertible is not listed on any manufacturers production sheets. It was a pilot program for American Sunroof Company (ASC) Fewer than 300 fully optioned Z24's were made into convertibles, these cars were given to the top selling dealers in California. These were known internally in GM as "California Specials" I found mine in Arizona, almost flawless condition with over 100K on the odometer. Fun, rare car for the summer!
my first car was a 1993 honda accord. I had so much fun in that thing. you could just whip it around tight corners and that little 4 cylinder made just the right amount of power for 16 year old me.
Had alot of fun in those z24s. Fun peppy little car back in the day. Enjoyed the video. Had a 92 lumina z34 5spd..loved it..wished I'd kept it. Rare car.
In South Africa, that particular division of GM had its own separate vehicle of the Chevrolet Lumina that had an SS badge, but I think that it was just a badge swapped Holden of some sort, but then again, the USA has had badge swapped Holden vehicles in the last generation of the Pontiac Grand Prix, the Pontiac G8, the last generation of the Pontiac GTO, and the Chevrolet SS.
Had the 86 Z24 hatchback, 4 speed. Loved that car.
My first car was an 87 Z24. 5spd what a fun first car
@@paxhumana2015 the grand prix wasn't part of holden division..at least not in NA...but the rest named certainly were awesome cars...too little too late to save pontiac. It's a shame.
Was that a 3800 V6 car?
Would love to see the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Celebrity, Pontiac Bonneville, and Pontiac 6000 covered!
What? Another batch of badly made cars???
@@cardtrix1970 they're not badly made cars. Idiots that don't know how to take care of them usually are what kills them off.
@@christopheryanoski6899 Hmmm...Yes-to a certain degree-ir's in the care-but these cars weren't just bad, they were...horribly built prices of crap! Every person tthat bought one new should have received a "rebate" for the crap that they were. Inexcusable!
We, US Army MPs had 6000 sedans in early 1990s. 🇵🇦 Fort Clayton. The sedans were decent for the era. The USAF SPs rolled around in top end police GM Caprice Classics.
I had the UK version, a 1986 Vauxhall Cavalier. It looked so similar to the 80s US version but with different front and rear ends. Even the base steel wheels looked the same. Vauxhall was a GM owned UK subsidiary.
The Cimarron was a gift to stand-up comedians across the nation.
Yep. Easily the worst car Cadillac ever made.
@@Lincolntowncoupe It was the worst Cadillac made. However, I still want one. Only with the V6 and automatic.
@@johnnymason2460 Yeah there can be something said for the updated version but the first version definitely sealed its reputation. The second generation was definitely a little too much Cavalier too but would make a cool little quirky car. I myself would love to have a Cadillac XLR, another Cadillac hailed as among the worst.
I'm old enough to remember when the J bodies launched. There seemed no end to the number of body styles and badge engineering at work, but they were definitely popular throughout the 80s and into the 90s. Great video with tons of detail!
I loved my 90 Pontiac Sunbird 4 cylinder, at the time I was to busy with work and I didn't know it had a timing belt and that ended up being it's demise. It was so cool. Loved the interior I would buy another one if I find one.
Cavs were all over the place in late 80s and early 90s. I owned a new 98 Cav 5 speed manual in red. Loved that car. It was surprisingly roomy for hauling stuff when you kicked the back seat down.
My first car was a 2 door 97 cavalier with the 2.2l, I loved that car, great on gas mileage, reliable and one of the easiest cars to work on
I was gifted by my Grandmother her 1987 Buick Skyhawk Custom Coupe. My first car. It had the 2.0L OHV TBI I4, 4-speed manual, manual steering, the covered headlights, no a/c equip, no rear defrost, AM/FM Stereo radio with blue-green display and 4-speakers (two options above the standard according to owner's manual). Rosewood paint. I couldn't believe Grandma drove manual steering for so many years. I love and miss her, and that "good little car". And it was.
I love how GM calls it “badge engineering.” I call it cheap
It’s literally what it’s called
Every single manufacturer does the exact same thing. It'd be a ridiculously stupid decision to not do it. The same thing is done with literally any product you can think of, not just cars. People seem to struggle with the fact that what is cheaper for a manufacturer is also cheaper for the customer, that's the whole point. Would you really spend an extra 10k on a car just because it didn't share parts with another car from a sister company?
@@6484373 True, but back when GM was carrying 5 car divisions, badge engineering across all of them made them lose their differentiation and made their purpose questionable.
This lamb concurs.
Maybe stick to gaming genius
Back in 1983, I ordered a brand new Cavalier Type 10 hatchback as a surprise wedding gift for my soon to be bride. She had no idea I was doing this. After years of abuse, her old 1975 Camaro was on it's last leg. As fate would have it, the day I brought home the Cavalier, Valentine's Day 1983 (perfect, right?), she was stranded at the store because the Camaro had once again shit the bed. Our neighbor had already gone to pick her up and I thought she would be thrilled to death to come home to a brand new car after dealing with that old clunker for so long. I was wrong. Not only did she bitch about it being only a 4 cylinder engine, she wouldn't even drive it for the first week. Once she did, she beat the shit out of it and used it as her own personal trash receptacle as she would just fling empty fast-food containers over her shoulder into the wayback. I don't know how, but that car lasted through 17 years of this shit! Sure it had it's share of mechanical issues throughout it's lifetime, but somehow it survived the entire length of the marriage.
@ patchthomas
Dude, I honestly don't know how you stayed with the b***h all that time. I'd have gotten rid of her and kept the car with all of it's issues. They couldn't be any worse than the issues that b***h had. 🤤🤣
I had the Opel model of this car as my first car that my parents bought me for Christmas. It was a blue sedan, I drove all around West Germany in that car!
Buddy back in high school had a 1991 Pontiac sunbird convertible had some good times in that car
I loved my Cavalier. Here’s one for you - Chevy Malibu. I had the 77 Malibu Classic.
Malibu was once a badass classic, the Cavalier, nothing more than a small car for big girls.
@@thomasofone Is that the best you can come up with?
@@paulfromcleveland5871 Here's one for you- I never in my life as a man drove a Cavalier. BOOM!
@@thomasofone That’s because never once in your life were you ever a man. Double Boom
@@paulfromcleveland5871 dont be jealous. Stay in the closet, youll be fine.
I love the old GMs. My first car was a 2000 Buick LeSabre and my grandma and dad had a few LeSabres over the years. I’d love to see one about the LeSabre
Owned an 84 Skyhawk wagon, a 93 Sunbird convertible and an 01 Cavalier. ❤️
Made me remember my childhood, Dad had 2 Cavaliers a blue 92 sedan and a green 99 sedan. The 2.2L 4 bangers in those ran forever it seemed like but everything around was not built to last
I remember the Z24 being sneaky fast.
Well, it was an empty pop-can with no weight; what did people exoect?
You should do the first gen Dodge Dakota. You had some interesting variants with the 1989 Convertible and the Shelby editions and updates in the 90s as it completed a 9 year model run.
My brother bought a new one of these in 1984. It was totally indestructible and was a blast to drive in the snow.
Don't forget it was sold as the Vauxhall Cavalier in the UK too. Just different head lights
They were also sold as the Toyota cavalier in Japan for a short while, those cars can now be found in NZ
@@trentryan27 and probably the UK, there's a huge 2ndhand Japanese car import industry in the UK, I've not seen a Toyota Cavalier yet though.
Great video Pat. I can't imagine the work that goes into putting this together. Very informative.
Buick Skyhawk
Cadillac Cimarron
Oldsmobile Firenza
Pontiac Sunbird
Opel Ascona
Vauxhall Cavalier
Isuzu Aska
Holden Camira
my 98' Z24 automatic had 250k before I let it go, best car I've ever had. Wish is could buy another one.
The J body was one of the sales chart toppers here in the UK in the 1980s as the (almost identical to the Chevy) Vauxhall Cavalier (known as the Opel Ascona) in the rest of Europe. We had 1.3, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 engines which were a little more powerful than the US counterparts - we never had the Iron Duke here, instead a range of advanced OHC alloy engines. There was also a rare convertible model too and we got the wagon later on which was pretty much a Pontiac 6000, also sold in Australia with a Holden badge. So GM definitely was the badge engineering king back then.
Great video too
Another excellent video! I had an 88 Cavalier 4door in dark blue. Was pretty fast actually. Really loved it. Thanks for the memories! 😀👍🏻
Decent video. The Cavalier really comes from GM's European Opel and Vauxhall. The Cavalier was probably seen as GM's way to sell in the Euro-look space of the early 80s. It worked. They were everywhere.
Even though I wasn't fond of American brands at the time, I actually thought the Cavalier design was at least modern, clean and attractive.
There’s a lot of Opel/Vauxhall DNA in these cars.
You see it clearly in the side profile.
But the J car Cavalier only lasted 1981-1988 in Europe, being replaced with the Cavalier Mk3 and Vectra A in 1988. The Americans kept the J cars until 2005.
@@megaangelic yes. In America, the compact size era was waning going into the late 80s/early 90s. So building a new platform wasn't as attractive to the US market. Also, the compact car duties at GM were taken over by Saturn. Chevy was looking to expand more into the mid and full size where profit could be made
@@warrenny The US did eventually use the new vectra platforms. But they skipped the 1988-1995 platform. Starting in 2000 they used the 1995 platform while Europe moved on to Epsilion at the same time, but Epsilion didn't make it to the US until 2004/5. So it's not like they stopped making them, they just skipped a generation then kept 5 years behind for some reason.
@@megaangelic good point! I had forgotten about that. I am no expert on GM, so it's good to make that point about the vectra platform. I had been thinking that gm just borrowed an existing American platform from maybe Pontiac or Olds
I had 2 Cavaliers. One was an '87 and the other was a '93. Both were RS coupes. The most reliable cars I owned ans easiest to work on. I loved the '93 because it had that "Italian" '90's car look. Plus, I was able to upgrade it with factory options that it didn't come with. Wish I could find a convertible '93 or '94.
Those cars were bulletproof workhorses.
When I was a kid, my dad had a coworker who had a Cavalier Type-10. Later on in life I had a four door Sunfire with the 2.4 liter twin cam engine.
Awesome video! My wife an I own two cavalier wagons an 1985 an 1992 we also own 4 Chevy celebrity wagons as well
Dad bought a red 83 Cavalier the day one of my children was born. It was the red car Mom always wanted, but she died a few months later. He retired and kept it. Many years later he gave it to my daughter. He had been a professional mechanic, but that old Cavalier was the most unreliable car I've ever owned. I and all the king's horses and men never figured out how to make that car run again.
Dumb made up story... The cavalier was one of the most reliable cars ever produced... The car was a workhorse.
@@starmc26 talk about a made up story... one of the most reliable cars ever produced? definitely no. i had one and it was the biggest p.o.s. ever! at just over 60k, it was on it's 3rd timing belt, was leaking every fluid it had. had wiper blades that didn't go to the bottom of the windshield when turned off but would stop in the middle of the windshield unless you turned it off at the right moment. it also needed a new water pump and was hanging by a thread. and this car hadn't even been driven hard. i got it from my grandmother when it had about 32k on it.
@@generalzod7959 got a 94 cavalier rs 2.2L with 223k miles on it. Same motor and trans. Was very well taken car of before I got it (mechanic papers from the original owner in 94) owned it for a year and I've not had any major mechanical issues besides regular maintenance. Love my car and is my daily. Has never once let me down
@@generalzod7959 Numbers don't lie dude. It's not an opinion. Do some research. Just because YOU had an issue with one doesn't reflect on the entire model of the course of its years. Are you really that ignorant?
@@starmc26 well, i'll tell ya what... you claim the cavalier was one of the most reliable cars ever produced. i call b.s. on that. the real test of a vehicle's reliability is in it's resale value. and the cavalier had a terrible resale value .just because YOU got one that bucked the trend just means YOU got lucky. most of us though, didn't get so lucky. for a person who buys a lottery ticket and wins, the lottery was a great value. for the rest though... not so much.
The first Cavaliers had an engine and that sounded like a sewing machine. My first new car was a 1984 Pontiac Sunbird that I special ordered and paid cash for in my senior year of high school. I picked it up at the Pontiac dealership in Pontiac, Michigan.
In 1989 that was my first brand new car! A burgundy 1989 z24, boy was that car a lot of fun! I was 26 years old at the time. Drove it until it didn't run no more! In 1994 the engine seized. I ended up giving it to my nephew, he fixed it! Drove it for a while then sold it.
My 3d car was a high mileage 85 type 10 cavalier coupe , just like the blue one shown at the beginning of this video
Ok, you hooked me. Consider me subscribed!
I had a 1984 Ford Tempo as my first car (given to me in about 1998-99) then the first car I bought was a 1988 Lincoln Towncar a year or 2 so later. I'd like to see you do videos on those, especially the Lincoln.
I have watched a bunch of your GM cars videos, and I'm surprised that GM survived that era. Anyway, I live in NC and see a lot of old GM cars still on the road. I see a lot of old Pontiac's, Cavalier's, and other models from GM. I guess it is the simple engineering that keeps them going. My sister had an 88' Cavalier coupe, she loved that car. Keep em coming.
The 1986 model year put me in two Sunbirds. First was my wife's 2 dr coupe which replaced her 81 Chevette 4-dr. The car impressed me. Considering that I was driving a 1984 2-dr Chevette just about anything was an upgrade. I came home with a flashier two toned red and silver hatchback. You already know about that engine, but I drove it fast anyway. It looked sporty and I loved the way it looked. It got me through 6 years of pizza delivery and might have gotten more if I hadn't allowed a mechanic swindle me out of it on the pretense that the front axel boots couldn't be fixed. Still one of my favorite cars.
This was the vauxhall cavalier in the uk and the opel Ascona in Europe.
In the uk the inline 4 2.0 made 130hp
We had 4 door saloon 5door hatch 2door saloon 2dr convertible 5 door estate
That's interesting probably helped sales there since it had a little more oomph
I remember that 2.0 litre 8 valve engine as quite nippy.
I remember as a kid, we had a car similar to the Cavalier called the Celebrity. It was a nice little car!
My parents had two. My dad had an ‘85, my mom had an ‘86. I remember most of my friends’ parents had a variation of that car.
Three of my four grandparents had them. 84 Celebrity, 87 Cutlass and 93 Century.
I bought a 1994 Cavalier RS Convertible in 2004 for $2500. I was broke and just out of college. That car was fast! I smoked every fast and furious car out there, and I wasn't a racer. Just for the record, my 94 had a glass rear window with "factory" rear defrost.
My dad had an '84 Olds Firenza wagon that he bought new. Had it well into the 90's and racked up 150,000 miles on it before he got rid of it due to the body rusting out. Only did regular servicing on it the whole time he owned it. Never had any problems with it, which always amazed me.
The Geo Metro also had a ton of nameplates. It didn't sell as well as the Cavalier, but it had probably twice as many badges (if not more).
Firefly, Sprint, just off the top of my head. I always wanted to give one a spin. Looked like fun.
Geo Metro itself was a clone of the Suzuki Swift.
@@fosterfuchs The Swift was a rebranded Suzuki Cultus.
Great channel you have. An interesting history on the Cavalier. I came close to buying a Z24 once.
Be glad that you didn't. While quad 4s were powerful and efficient for what they were and the era 2.4s were one of the worst engines around
@@timmythompson2186 NOT all Z24s had that crappy 2.4, perhaps he was talking about the 94 and older which would have had the 2.8 or 3.1 V6s, which were much more reliable.
the 2.4 was junk
@@andrewdonohue1853 I thought those would have been beretta or lumina and a z28 or z 31. I could easily be wrong. That was just my memory of it
@ Timmy Thompson
The Quad 4 and later Twin Cam engines were only on the 1995 to 2002 Z24s.
The 2.8L V6 was used from 1986 until 1989 and the 3.1L V6 from 1990 to 1994 on the Cavalier Z24.
My 1993 Z24 has a 3.1 with 201k and it still runs great. Granted it only gets driven 150 miles a year. It's a Convertible and sits in the garage.
My 97 that was my first new car lasted 176,000+ miles 5 speed stick, abs and no radio or AC. Great car and I saw it driving around town for another couple of years as someone bought it used. Good car, solid engine.
Thank you for making this video. I'm a big j body fan. My family had quite a few growing up in the 80's. I owned an 87 Cavalier CS Sedan, 87 Z-24, and a 94 Z-24. My parents owned an 85 Cavalier Wagon, 95 Cavalier coupe, 2000 Cavalier coupe and my sister owned an 87 Cavalier Sedan and a 2000 Z-24. Love all these cars and miss mine all the time!
could you perhaps do a review on maybe like the chevy s10 blazer or k5 blazer?
There was also the fairly unknown (and righteously so) Toyota Cavalier, which was a RHD version of the second generation of Cavalier that was sold in Japan. I guess the Corolla, Corona, Chaser, and Carina weren't enough sedans starting with C to satisfy Toyota.
Century, Crown
My 1987 Z24 was pretty fast. It was so light it would scoot off the line super quick. Fell flat after that but, boy was it fun! I sold it after 225,000 miles and still miss it. Was still running really good. If you get a V6 today in a GM vehicle it is most likely the same one based on the Z24 engine. Originally a 2.8 liter in the Z24, it consistently received upgrades and an upgrade in displacement. After the 2.8 liter there was the 3.1, the 3.4, and currently the 3.6 liter. Great engines.
Everytime my daily driver breaks i drive around a convertable sunfire and you can feel the body twist taking turns from the lack of structural support
Big car USA :) i iike!
these things are super tiny, think slightly larger than a new mini or roughly the size of a VW Golf
Forgot to mention that they sold cavaliers as Toyotas in japan
Geo metro that what they were called
@@dantebrytant5285 geo metros were Suzuki’s sold as geos in the U.S. the geo metro was not a Toyota, I will say the geo metro headlights look like the cavalier headlights
I had a 1983 cavalier for my first car. The floorboards rusted all the way through so that the only thing between my feet and the road was carpet. My feet would get went when it rained. Still loved the car. Gave it back to the original owner for his 16 year old daughter with 160,000 miles on it. Later bought a 1994 Z24 convertible. Loved that one too.
I had a 2000 Cavalier Z24; manual transmission, 2.4L. I wish I still had that car! The most fun vehicle I've had.
There was also the Toyota Cavalier which was a rebadged version that sold poorly in the Japanese market
Geo metro
Wow, GM's entire lineup of garbage for the 80s. PATHETIC American engineering. No pride, no business ethics, No wonder GM went begging for a government handout in 2008/09. They had been going in the hole for years.
People Praise the 88 to 98 Chevrolet trucks they look good but are piece of shits that are always rusting. I'd take a a squarebody anyday over an 88 to 98. 80's and 90's America was making pathetic cars and trucks except the squarebody. The 4th gen Corvette is pathetic no wonder they are dirt cheap and beginners can afford them.
If one thing comes of the current CUV craze, it’s that it makes you nostalgic for a car that has no business being nostalgic. Great doc!
The first gen is sexy imo
I had a 2 door 1988 Chevy Cavalier. It was definitely one of the best cars that I'd ever owned. I loved it. I even cried when I got rid of it.
My dad bought a 1986 Cavalier RS 2 door new. He special ordered one with the pop-up glass sunroof, it was red with red interior, cruise control, 5 speed manual, he babied it. It was only in the rain and snow 1 time in its life. I wish I had it today. It was sharp looking. This brings back memories. Unfortunately it was totalled.
My mom had a 1993 Pontiac Sunbird SE with the 3.1L V6. I loved the way it sounded. I miss that car.
I love this channel. Thank you for all the hard work and info. True car guys/ladies love this.
My very first new car purchase was a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire SE. I had it for 14 years and it was a great car. No issues at all.
The 1988/1989 Cavalier Z24 was by far the best version of any J body during its entire run!!
Used to work for a salvage yard as an inventory/parts puller/delivery driver. I spent many a day disassembling. Grading, and listing parts for the vehicles you feature on your channel. Good content man.
Ah the Z24, my second car after the Spectrum was killed. 5 speed standard with a sunroof. Loved it
Your channel is so addictive! Pushing 50. and living in Flint Mi Me and my friends have had most of all the GM cars from the 80s-90s….great memories of changing alternators and starters in the middle of the winter..that’s always when things went out
My grandma had a 2002 chevy cavalier, it was a base model with only 2 doors, the dash would crack so easily due to the huge amounts or uv rays but it was a fun car to drive. We still have the cavalier, my grandma passed it on to my dad and the car still runs like it just came off the lot back in 2002. I love this car, but I wish chevrolet made it so the plastic was protected from uv rays to provent cracks, but other than that it drives super smoothly if you keep up with mantinence.
my first and only new car i bought was a 98 z24. i loved that car, the 2.4 dohc engine was quick and it could handle like a champ. had it 22 years with 168k miles on it, one morning it decided not to turn over anymore. 3 mechanics couldnt figure it out, replaced so much stuff to try to fix it but no go. parked it behind a relatives house and someone shot it up and stole everything from inside of it, needless to say state farm totaled it and sent it to the scrapyard in the sky.
I had a 93 sunbird convertible and 3 sunfire GTs, 2 97s and 1 99 convertible (tho not in that order.) I really liked that car. Wasn't a fan of the 2000 facelift or the sedans personally, but as the 97 gt was my first car, I've got a bit of an attachment to that specific body style.
The car at 2:31 time in the video is EXACTLY what my first car looked like down to the color . It was a 1985 Cavalier type 10 with 2.0 fuel injection. Hey keep up the good work on your videos . When I saw this video it brought so many memories back. Before I got this car I was driving my grandparents 1982 Chevy chevette . I love that video too
"Upscale Chevette."
Such a phrase I never thought I would ever hear uttered outside of a punchline to a joke.
I was around J-body's for my whole life. My Dad was GM loyal and had a white Sunbird, then a dark red Sunfire, and then a white Sunfire. Unfortunately they were commuter cars so he always got the base 5speed. I had a 1992 Cavalier RS as my first car, and got the red Sunfire for my graduation. It was 5 speed so I loved the car despite it being a cheap 90's GM economy car.
This is great....my wife and I had a 1995 Z24 in red. It was our first new car together. But, as we grew as a family, had to move on....we did have fun with that car! Thanks for the video!
I just found your channel and I’m definitely subscribing. I had a 94 Sunbird as my first car back in 2005. My parents had a 2004 Sunfire. They were good cars, well my Sunbird was falling apart but it was a fun ride.