The Chevrolet Cavalier is a compact automobile produced from 1982 to 2005 by General Motors. Built on the company's J platform, the Cavalier was one of the best-selling cars in the United States throughout its life.
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 previous platforms had rear-drive layouts while the new design followed the front wheel drive trend, as in the Dodge Omni and Honda Civic. Ford and Chrysler also introduced new front drive compacts. The largely successful mission of capturing the bulk
... see moreThe Chevrolet Cavalier is a compact automobile produced from 1982 to 2005 by General Motors. Built on the company's J platform, the Cavalier was one of the best-selling cars in the United States throughout its life.
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 previous platforms had rear-drive layouts while the new design followed the front wheel drive trend, as in the Dodge Omni 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 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 compact Citation (a Nova replacement).
First generation
The Cavalier first went on sale in early 1981 as a 1982 model with front-wheel-drive, a choice of two carbureted four-cylinder pushrod engines, and 2 and 4-door sedan, hatchback, and station wagon body styles. Convertibles were added in 1983, initial production totaling less than 1000.
1983 Cavaliers offered throttle body fuel injection, and a V6 engine became available in 1985, uncommon for a subcompact car. The 1984 models received a mild facelift featuring quad headlights.
The Cavalier was largely identical to the Pontiac Sunbird. Before the Pontiac brand was officially introduced in Mexico in 1992, Cavaliers sold there featured Sunbird body panels, as opposed to US-spec Cavalier panels. From 1993 on, the sibling marques were both offered, as in the United States.
Second generation
The Cavalier was restyled in 1988. The two door hatchback was dropped, while the coupe, sedan, wagon and convertible carried over. The sedan and wagon were unchanged from the doors back, while the coupe's exterior was completely redesigned. This resulted in different trunk designs for the coupe and sedan. Three trim levels were available in 1988: VL, RS, and Z24. The convertible was only available as a Z24. The VL and RS came standard with the 2.0 L L4 engine producing 90 hp, while the 2.8 L V6 producing 125 hp was optional on the RS and standard on the Z24. With all trims, 5-speed manual transmission was standard, and a 3-speed automatic was optional. An electronic dashboard was available with the RS and Z24 trims.
In 1989, the steering column was redesigned to be collapsible, as well as the addition of 3-point seat belts for the rear outboard seats. The optional V6 was retooled to 130 hp.
In 1990, the base engine was enlarged to a 2.2 L L4, and power increased to 95 horsepower. The optional V6 engine was also upgraded to the ...
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