Chevrolet Cavalier
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| Chevrolet Cavalier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet |
| Production | 1982–2005 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Compact |
| Layout | FF layout |
| Platform | J-body |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Chevrolet Monza |
| Successor | Chevrolet Cobalt (For United States and Canada) Chevrolet Optra (For Mexico) |
The Chevrolet Cavalier was Chevrolet's version of the compact GM J platform. The book American Automobile 1983-1993 notes that the Cavalier was aimed at competing with quality imports such as the Honda Accord. It was one of the most popular cars in the United States and Canada from its introduction in early 1981 as a 1982 model. Even in the 2000s, it was GM's best selling car and trailed only the Ford Taurus, Toyota Camry, and Honda's Accord and Civic in total sales.[1]
The Cavalier was a compact Chevrolet produced from 1982 to 2005. All Cavalier models were driven from the front wheels with McPhersons struts at the front and torsion beam semi-independent suspension at the rear. This configuration was pioneered on the 1974 Volkwagen Rabbit (called the Volkswagen Golf outside North America) and used on a number of contemporary cars including the Ford Escort and Honda Civic. This design results in more predictable handling and better reliability than the various fully independent methods used on previous front wheel drive cars such as the Austin 1800.
The Cavalier is widely cited as the most successful of Chevrolet's long line of cars aimed at combatting the influx of compact imported vehicles, starting with the Corvair, Vega, Monza and the Chevette, with the Cavalier leading up to current Cobalt. The Chevrolet Vega defined the subcompact class, before being replaced by both the Monza and the Chevette.[2] After the exit of the Vega, the Monza and Chevette would do little to expand Chevrolet's share of small cars, but the arrival of the front-wheel-drive Cavalier would change this.
It was not the only J-car to use the Cavalier name; it was also used in the United Kingdom on the Vauxhall-badged version of the Opel Ascona C, and indeed the badge had been used by Vauxhall since 1976. The J-cars were offered by all five US divisions of General Motors, as well as GM in Britain, Germany and Australia.
Before the Pontiac brand was officially introduced in Mexico in 1992, Cavaliers sold there featured Pontiac Sunbird body panels, as opposed to US Cavalier panels. From 1993 on, the sibling marques were both offered.
Predecessors
The Cavalier replaced the Monza, which was available as a 2-door coupe, a 3-door hatchback and a 3-door wagon (using the same body as the discontinued Vega wagon, the model it replaced). The inexpensive Chevette was retained even as sales declined, and was formally replaced by even smaller captive imports. Both platforms had conventional rear-drive layouts which suffered in comparison with more efficient front wheel drive offerings such as the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. Ford and Chrysler also introduced new front drive compacts. The largely successful mission of capturing the bulk of domestic compact sales would fall on the Cavalier's 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan and 4-door station wagon, the relatively short-lived 3-door hatchback (which replaced the stylish Monza 2+2 Sport 4-door hatchback) and, in later years, a 2-door convertible. The small Cavalier even helped fill in lagging sales of the mid-size Citation (a Nova replacement).
Criticisms
Even at its launch, the Cavalier received wide criticism from the automotive press, who maintained that it was inferior in almost every respect to competitive vehicles from Japanese automakers. 1988 marked the first major restyle, although the size and shape remained the same and few body panels changed. The visual changes did little to change the criticisms that the car was underpowered (except the Z24 edition), unattractive and, still inferior in quality to Japanese imports.
A major redesign in 1995 corrected many faults that had plagued the earlier cars, but despite the introduction of dramatically improved build quality and noticeable improvements in noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), the basic conundrum remained: it was inferior to competing products from Toyota and other Japanese makers. Nevertheless, the third generation car enjoyed strong sales, despite being widely criticized by automotive journalists for its aging platform, interior design and quality control.
The Cavalier had poor crash test ratings, most notably the high risk of pelvic injury in the third generation model (according to the NHTSA). The 1995-2005 model received a rating of "Poor" from the IIHS [3].
The Cavalier retired in 2005 as an affordable compact comparable to, but usually sold for less than, the Honda Civic.
Production
Most Cavaliers were built at Lordstown Assembly, although they have also been produced in Hollywood, California (1982 model year only), Lansing Car Assembly (1996-1998 coupes), Lansing Craft Centre (1996-2000 convertibles), Janesville Assembly, Ramos Arizpe, and Leeds Assembly.
United States sales figures
- 58,904 - 1982
- 268,587 - 1983
- 462,611 - 1984 (Best-seller)
- 383,752 - 1985 (Best-seller)
- 432,101 - 1986
- 346,254 - 1987
- 322,939 - 1988
- 376,626 - 1989
- 310,501 - 1990
- 326,847 - 1991
- 225,633 - 1992
- 251,590 - 1993
- 254,426 - 1994
- 151,669 - 1995
- 261,686 - 1996
- 315,136 - 1997
- 238,861 - 1998
- 272,000 (est) - 1999
- 5,210,123 ~ total known to 1999
Sources: Edmunds.com (1992-98), Autoworld.com (1999 estimate)[4]
| First generation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Production | 1982–1987 |
| Assembly | Lordstown, Ohio Lansing, Michigan Janesville, Wisconsin Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, Africa South Gate, California (1982 only) Kansas City, Missouri |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door convertible 2-door coupe 3-door hatchback 4-door sedan 4-door station wagon |
| Related | Buick Skyhawk Cadillac Cimarron Oldsmobile Firenza Pontiac Sunbird Vauxhall Cavalier |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 1.8 L I4 2.0 L I4 2.8 L V6 |
| Transmission | 4-speed manual 5-speed manual 3-speed automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | Template:Auto in |
| Length | Sedan: Template:Auto in Coupe: Template:Auto in Wagon: Template:Auto in |
| Width | Sedan & Coupe: Template:Auto in Wagon: Template:Auto in |
| Height | Sedan & Coupe: Template:Auto in Wagon: Template:Auto in |
Generations
- First generation (1982-1987)
First models were a straightforward but modern front wheel drive design with the usual American styling attributes standard or available like faux-wire wheels, chrome striping and whitewall style tyres.
The Cavalier made do with pushrod engines, unlike foreign produced J-cars which used the GM Family II engine , an SOHC engine. Engines were 1.8L and 2.0L fours, with EFI being offered on all models for the 1983 model year. A 2.8 L V6 was offered to buyers in 1985. Transmission options were initially a 3 speed automatic or 4 speed manual, with a 5 speed offered in the second year.
Models and trim levels
- Cadet - coupe, sedan or wagon
- Base - coupe, sedan, or wagon
- VL (Value Leader) - a as coupe, sedan or wagon
- Type-10 - coupe, convertible and hatchback
- RS (Rally Sport) - coupe, sedan, convertible, and wagon
- Z24 - hatchback (1986-1987), coupe, convertible, and sedan (2002)
- LS - coupe, sedan and convertible
- LS Sport - coupe or sedan
- Second generation (1988-1994)
- Phase 1 (1988-1990)
- Phase 2 (1991-1994)
-
1988-1991 Cavalier convertible -
1991-1994 Cavalier coupe -
1991-1994 Cavalier wagon
For 1988 the Cavalier got a new range of bodies, with the drivetrain largely retained. The four speed manual was no longer available, but the 3 speed auto continued.
Improvements for this generation included boring out the base four to 2.2L, standardising multi-point EFI across the range, and offering a 3.1L V6.
| Third generation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Also called | Toyota Cavalier |
| Production | 1995–2005 |
| Assembly | Lordstown, Ohio Lansing, Michigan Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, Mexico |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door convertible 2-door coupe 4-door sedan |
| Related | Pontiac Sunfire |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 2.2 L I4 2.3 L I4 2.4 L I4 |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual 3-speed automatic 4-speed automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | Template:Auto in |
| Length | 1995-97: Template:Auto in 1998-2002: Template:Auto in 2003-05: Template:Auto in |
| Width | 2-Door: Template:Auto in 4-Door: Template:Auto in |
| Height | 1995-97 Coupe: Template:Auto in 1995-97 Sedan: Template:Auto in 1995-97 Convertible: Template:Auto in 1998-2005 Coupe: Template:Auto in 1998-99 Convertible: Template:Auto in 1998-2005 Sedan: Template:Auto in 2000-02 Convertible: Template:Auto in |
| Curb weight | Template:Auto lb - Template:Auto lb |
- Third generation (1995-2005)
- Phase 1 (1995-1999)
- Phase 2 (2000-2002)
- Phase 3 (2003-2005)
- Phase 1 (1995-1999)
-
2000-2002 Cavalier coupe -
2003-2005 Chevrolet Cavalier coupe
The last models of the Cavalier were almost entirely new and the only commonality with the first models was the name.
New, safer bodies were introduced across the range and the pushrod four was finally eased into retirement. The pushrod engine continued until 2002, but was available 'for fleets only' in that year.
For 1995, a DOHC engine was introduced and continued until 2002 in various specifications, when it was replaced by an engine similar to that used in the German Opel Vectra. The V6 saw its final year in 1994.
A four speed automatic was introduced and was the only option in the last three years, in which the manual offered was made by Getrag in Germany.
Engines used
- 1.8 L inline-4 OHV
- 2.0 L inline-4 OHV
- 2.2 L inline-4 OHV
- 2.2 L inline-4 OHV "2200 SFI"
- 2.2 L inline-4 DOHC "Ecotec"
- 2.3 L inline-4 DOHC (1995 Z24 only)
- 2.4 L inline-4 DOHC (Z24)
- 2.8 L MPFI (available in American Z24 models from 1986 to 1989, and in Mexican models until 1994)
- 3.1 L V6 MPFI (Available in Z24, RS(Rally Sport) and Wagon models from 1990 to 1994)
Years used
- 1990-1994 3.1 L MPFI (191 in³) V6
- 1992-1997 GM inline-4 OHV 2.2 L (134 in³) I4 120 hp (89 kW) LN2
- 1995 Quad-4 2.3 L (138 in³) I4 145 hp (108 kW) LD2
- 1998-2002 2.2 L GM inline-4 OHV "2200 SFI" 125 hp (93 kW) LN2
- 1996-2002 LD9 2.4 L (146 in³) I4 150 hp (112 kW)
- 2002-2005 Ecotec L61 2.2 L (134 in³) I4 140 hp (104 kW)
- 2002 (LS Sport Model only) 2.2 Ecotec (152in) Inline 4 140 hp (104 kW)
Concepts
General Motors has produced a handful of concept cars based on the J platform which were first seen at the 2001 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) auto show. These include the Cavalier 220 Sport Turbo Coupe, the Cavalier 263 Super Sport, the Cavalier Z24R, the Cavalier Maui 155, the Cavalier 425 A/FX drag car, the Cavalier Technic Z24 and the Pontiac Sunfire HO (High Output) 2.4. These concept cars were produced by GM to show off the flexibility and performance of the J platform and to show that Cavaliers and Sunfires have greater potential than just hauling groceries. The concept cars at the 2001 SEMA show boasted supercharged engines, customized interiors, aggressive exterior styling, and high end audio/video systems.
Toyota Cavalier
As part of a wider effort to avoid additional restrictions on exports to the US, the third generation model was briefly sold in Japan by Toyota under an agreement with GM, badged as the Toyota Cavalier. Aside from the fact that it was right hand drive, the Toyota Cavalier also featured a leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel, wider front fenders, amber turn signals for Japanese regulations, power folding rear mirrors, side turn signal repeater lights on the front fenders, and carpeting on the inside of the trunk lid. Interior seats were often flecked with color, and the rear seat had a fold-down armrest. The Toyota Cavalier was entirely produced by GM in the USA and sold from 1995 - 2000.
A fair number of these vehicles are re-exported as Japanese used cars, most notably to New Zealand.
External links
