We saw a 1990 Cavalier Z24 just a few months ago, but lately I’ve developed a sick fascination with the allegedly high-performance versions of the very popular Chevrolet Cavalier. Maybe it’s the wretchedness of the breed in the 24 Hours of LeMons, or maybe it’s the vivid purple paint job. Whatever the reason, here’s another ’90 that I found in a Denver-area yard not long ago.
Are these tape stripes factory-installed? The early 1990s were the heyday of hideous stick-on graphics, but there’s a certain level of Manny, Moe, and Jackness on display here.
The previous Colorado Z24 Junkyard Find had a Heisenberg air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror, and this one has a “Breaking Bad” DVD inside. Coincidence?
How many acres of this blue velour-ish material did The General consume during the 1980s and 1990s?
The first car more people bring home… is a Chevy Cavalier.
Murilee that’s an MY88-99 not an MY90. The grill and tail lights are wrong for a 90.
TTACs resident J-body expert has spoken.
I had a 90-94 J-body but I don’t think I’m the expert.
I know little about the J-body except for the fact that GM sold 10+ million of them. Well and they seem to roach on for longer than they should.
2.2 OHV and 60V6 were good motors in garbage cars. Later GM upgraded their garbage cars with garbage motors.
Heck the LN2 ran from MY1992-2002 before the Ecotec came out for MY03. Torquey little bastard it was.
My sister killed her 60V6 last week. It gave me a sad. She was low on coolant, then went to Nairobi for 5 months, and didn’t listen to her brother about checking the fluids before going back on the road. Head gasket is dead.
youtube.com/watch?v=S_-tXjgYPlc
Pretty much. Now she gets punished with my parents 125000 mile HHR. I’m driving it out to her next weekend.
And, I’ve managed to avoid them my entire life
2.2 started out as the 1.8 for 82, then enlarged to 2.0 and then the 2.2. A very long run for the basic engine 82-2002.
You are THE expert; nobody else gives a #2.
Actually that is a 1990. The grille an tail lights you thinking about is part of the 1991 refresh.
The why does the 1990 Chevy commercial show the refresh?
Late 80s/Early 90s GM probably used both. Whatever was laying around the factory was shoved in there. How else to you explain the Firenza?
The person who put it up on YouTube said it was a 1990 ad, probably aired in late ’90. The blurb at the end with $500 cash back says it’s off 1991 Cavalier. Showing us the facelifted ’91 models, already with discounting!
Everything is wrong here, because some jackass got hold of her and rode her hard and put her away wet. Completely sullied her. Ugh!!
But I think it’s a ’90 as it has the 3.1. An ’88 would have no rear headrests and the 2.8. An ’89 would have rear headrest and the 2.8.
I too have the performance J Car fetish. My dream is to find a mint low mileage ’85 or ’86 Skyhawk T-Type coupe with the Brazilian built 1.8 Turbo. Zoom!
Those were fun cars and had some wicked torque steer when the turbo spooled up!
Got more angley in 90, right? Bigger lights front and back, and it started getting directional alloys on the Z24. Interior changed too, I think. More in line with a horizontal arrangement a la Olds.
The GM section of this junkyard looks like a dystopian version of my high school parking lot. That’s what happens when you grow up directly in between Detroit, Flint, and Lansing.
Z24s are the only pre-95 J bodies I still see, I guess they have something of a following.
And usually they’re in better shape than the 95-04 Cavaliers and Sunfires…
They came with 3100 (140-50hp), were available in a 5sp manual, and weighed 2,359 lb.
“This engine produced 135 hp (101 kW) and 180 lb·ft (244 N·m) of torque from 1988–1989, then upgraded to 140 hp (104 kW) at 4800 rpm and 185 lb·ft (251 N·m) of torque at 3600 rpm.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_60%C2%B0_V6_engine#LH0_2
They also offered the 2.8L the first couple of model years. I’m not sure where the transition was but I had an 89 with a 2.8. I didn’t think the 3.1 was offered until after ’90 which makes since if this one is indeed a ’90.
I think the 2.8 in Z24s was the same HO version as installed in the X11 and Fiero GT. Which, in the Fiero at least, was actually underrated somewhat.
Was the 2.8HO what went into the Cimmaron?
Yes, I company I worked for in the mid-late 80’s had a 87 Cimmaron with the 2.8 HO. It was loaded and had the upgraded FE-3 suspension. The Z-24 of Cimmaron’s, It was not a bad ride, just not worthy of the Cadillac wreath.
Good thing the Cimarron didn’t get a wreath then! Seriously, it had to be the last vehicle where Cadillac used that strategy, crest with no wreath to distinguish a lower model.
http://bobrebello.us/notmine4.jpg
Weird, I do not recall that generation Cavalier Z-24 coming in any purple shades. Camaros, yes. This generation Z-24 usually came in white, black, blood red, aqua blue metallic or mineral gray, all coupled with a lower silver accent. They weren’t bad-looking cars for the day.
I had a friend that owned a 1988 with stick. Decently fast and fun to drive, as I recall.
I agree with Roberto, and I think the car has been painted. The next-to-last photo of the engine bay shows a white shock tower.
On the lower rocker trim piece the Z24 emblem looks like it was masked off, and the paint is peeling because they didn’t use plasticizer. The pinstriping was put on as part of the paint job.
I’ve seen purple Z24’s with pink and/or teal stripe graphic motifs.
They did offer a purple, but it wasn’t this shade. This looks like a repaint. And the stripes are non-OEM.
Pushrod V6 in a compact car…
I wonder how a debored/destroked version of the 4.3 would do in a Cruze or Verano.
Will an LS4 (transverse V8 Impala) fit? They’re by far the cheapest of the LS wrecking yard pulls.
My understanding is 3800 will fit, and I’d like to see someone try LS4.
Seems like someone is trying it now:
I found a guy at a car show who put two 3.4 motors in a Z24 of this vintage, one in the normal location and one in the trunk.
Still amazes me how well these old GM velour interiors wear.
A friend of mine has an almost identical car. Despite all the rust and missing bits of trim and broken interior parts (door locks, power windows, etc) the thing still runs fairly well.
You might say GM was following Chrysler’s Dart/Valiant formula.
The 86 Olds Calais I bought that went to my parents and then to my little brother who still drives it has similar velour and it still looks good 30 years later.
Much more pleasant than the no iron polyester pants cloth of used in many cars today.
These were popular in my HS parking lot. A couple of friends had examples. For some reason, luggage racks were popular on these cars.
Sometimes, you gotta have a brougham hangover.
About 1990 my dad replaced our 2nd gen Chevette with a used Beretta GT with the 2.8 V6 engine. I thought I had been given a race car to drive. Looking back on the Wiki shows that engine was not nearly as powerful as I felt at the time. The manual for the car covered both the z24 and the beretta, which I thought was kind of odd at the time. Beretta felt like a much nicer car than the cav, at least until the leaks under the windshield started and the car turned into a mold farm.
After the Chevette, a 10 speed bike would feel like a race car.
FUN FACT: Toyota sold the gen 3 Cavalier in Japan from 1995-2000 under an agreement with GM. In this picture you can see the USDM “Cavalier” badge on the right with the generic “Toyota” badge of the period on the left. Toyota was so excited to sell these they didn’t make any changes than stick their emblems on it. This defines “badge job” to me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Cavalier#/media/File:Toyota_cavalier_coup_japan_export.jpg
I had an blue 87 Z24 as my first car and have fond memories of it. It sure lasted and kept on kicking right up until I wrapped her around a telephone pole. It was by the grace of God I survived much less walked away unharmed.
My little brother purchased a brand new 1988 black Z and it was simply a beautiful car. Stick and really cool. Thought it was one of the better designs going at the time…
I had a Corsica with the V6 and a manual as a work car. A stylish car that went well.
My brother had an ’87, in bright blue, also with manual. Far better looking than the facelifted models, I always thought.
My aunt had one of these, her replacement for her wrecked Fiero. Found it then and still do think it to be a handsome exterior design. I recognize now that the 3.1 V-6 left a lot to be desired, but it sure sounded mean, as only GM V-6 ‘performance’ engines of that period can.
Myself, I always liked the distinctive burble of the 2.8/3.1l engine back in the 80s – early 90s. It sounded better to me than all of these current-day WRX subies that sound like a riding mower that’s not running well.
Here you go, guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FoD2PkePEM
Wish my Skylark had barked like that.
Agreed. It was a nice sound, surprisingly aggressive. The very best-sounding GM V6 was, fittingly, the worst as an actual engine — the TDC 3.4.
I had a 1990 Cav with the 2.2 and stick shift. The ultimate tough beater car. It was coarse with a terrible seating position but I liked it a lot when pounding it around town. Took it on numerous long trips too. It went to the junkyard when the head gasket blew, the man at the counter said “You’re doing the right thing.”
“You’re doing the right thing” LOL – sounds like an animal doctor as you bring in your pet to be put down. Did they also hand you a pamphlet on dealing with loss afterwards?
Aw, he was probably trying to make you feel better about junking it. There’s no doubt he’s had a lot of people who were attached to their particular hell on wheels, reluctantly bringing it in to the Final Parking Space. Guys at the junkyard counter and bartenders perform the same service as counselors at a funeral home.
I think you’re right Lorenzo. Although in that case he had no argument from we re: the Cav! That car was ready to go. Many’s the car I have brought to him for euthanasia.
My first car was a cherry 1991 stripped Cavalier that my brother and I bolted a tubular header to, by passed the cat with 2 3/4″ exhaust, ran cold plugs and a 100 hp shot of nitrous. Turned it from a 20 second quarter mile runner to 15 flat. We were dumbasses and didn’t loctite the wet fogger nozzle in the TBI manifold and the heads/valvetrain ended up eating a bolt, washer and nut. Fished said debris out with a magnet and it started right up. Went right back to shooting nitrous and doing dumb things with it. The 2.2L OHV is a tank.
Then I drove a 2001 Z24 for a good decade after we sold the ’91. I have a long, long history of penalizing myself with the cockroach of the road.
These were better than they get credit for. I had a Sunbird V6 and outran a few Hondas back-in-the-day. I also put 400K quite reliable kilometers on it.
My favorite was the drop top 3.1L V6 sunbirds. When I was a GM dealership washboy, I gave a particular return customer hand washes for every oil change. Mostly because I didn’t want to get rained on in the automated wash.
These were fairly cool, attainable cars when I was in HS. At least the 2.8 models with the silver trim at the bottom. A friend of mine from a wealthier family got a brand new one from his parents. My ’84 Trans Am couldn’t keep up with it. I was jealous of a Cavalier!
Cavaliers of this color, but of the next generation populated all the high school lots where I grew up. All were driven by girls whose dad bought them new. After I graduated, these were still owned by the same girls, but in much neglected shape, and equipped with baby seats.
I love the Eurosport lurking in the background of that one pic. Friend of mine had a brand new ’93 Cavalier Z24 his dad bought him right before our senior year started, and I was actually jealous. Seemed so much better than the ’90 Taurus L I was cruising around in with hand cranked windows, 14 inch tires and 130,000 miles on the clock.
More than likely your friend’s Z-24 had crank windows too.
In the EKG of life, it looks like the Heartbeat of America pulsed once, then flatlined.
The first car that people trade in on a Toyota Corolla is… a Cavalier.
They actually sold the Cavalier as a Toyota in Japan, RHD, for a few years in the late 90s. The answer to the question no one would’ve asked in a million years.
You must be logged in to post a comment.