Here's how the Chevy Cavalier was the king of badge engineering 

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.

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

No one: GM: "screw it, put ALL our badges on this car"

The year is 2021. I still drive a Chevy Cavalier from 2001. Damn thing won't die.

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.

I'm shocked you didn't mention the Toyota Cavalier, it was a literal badge swap

The only compact that made you feel like you're dragging a boat anchor right off the lot!

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 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.

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

First car was a 89 Chevy Cavalier RS coup. Man I drove it everywhere. Loved that car

GM's late 80's Bonneville, Delta 88 and Lesabre too. At a distance, it was almost impossible to tell them apart in profile.

I've owned a '99 Pontiac Sunfire for 22 years. It still runs very well! They say US cars don't last long but...

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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 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 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 grandmother had a 94 Cavalier RS 2.2L. My mom had a 94 Sunbird 2.2L convertible LE. Both great cars.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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.

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 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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

I had a '91 2-door Cavalier in 1999 with 212,000 miles on it.... It was an amazing car.

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

Would love to see the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Celebrity, Pontiac Bonneville, and Pontiac 6000 covered!

Owned an 84 Skyhawk wagon, a 93 Sunbird convertible and an 01 Cavalier. ❤️

Great video Pat. I can't imagine the work that goes into putting this together. Very informative.

Another excellent video! I had an 88 Cavalier 4door in dark blue. Was pretty fast actually. Really loved it. Thanks for the memories! 😀👍🏻

I loved my Cavalier. Here’s one for you - Chevy Malibu. I had the 77 Malibu Classic.

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

My brother bought a new one of these in 1984. It was totally indestructible and was a blast to drive in the snow.

I love how GM calls it “badge engineering.” I call it cheap

Awesome video! My wife an I own two cavalier wagons an 1985 an 1992 we also own 4 Chevy celebrity wagons as well

Buddy back in high school had a 1991 Pontiac sunbird convertible had some good times in that car

My first car 1990 chevy cavalier 2.2 liter 99 hp… rack and pinion steering, no radio, no air conditioner, package 8600$ brand new…loved it no problems ever

I remember the Z24 being sneaky fast.

My 3d car was a high mileage 85 type 10 cavalier coupe , just like the blue one shown at the beginning of this video

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.

I love this channel. Thank you for all the hard work and info. True car guys/ladies love this.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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 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.

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.

Great channel you have. An interesting history on the Cavalier. I came close to buying a Z24 once.

I had a 2000 Cavalier Z24; manual transmission, 2.4L. I wish I still had that car! The most fun vehicle I've had.

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

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.

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.

My mom had a 1993 Pontiac Sunbird SE with the 3.1L V6. I loved the way it sounded. I miss that car.

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.

I remember as a kid, we had a car similar to the Cavalier called the Celebrity. It was a nice little car!

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!

my 98' Z24 automatic had 250k before I let it go, best car I've ever had. Wish is could buy another one.

Big car USA :) i iike!

Buick Skyhawk Cadillac Cimarron Oldsmobile Firenza Pontiac Sunbird Opel Ascona Vauxhall Cavalier Isuzu Aska Holden Camira

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.

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.

Forgot to mention that they sold cavaliers as Toyotas in japan

There was also the Toyota Cavalier which was a rebadged version that sold poorly in the Japanese market

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.

Very cool channel, great to hear some history on "older" cars that aren't your typical muscle car that is still desirable.

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.

Miss my 1987 Z24 coupe. White exterior blue cloth interior. 2.8 automatic factory air. Loved it! Wish I had it now. Great car to enter cruiseins/shows. Even found the brochure for that model year!

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

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.

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 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 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.

I learned how to properly drive stick shift with an 85 Cavalier Type10 just like the one in the pictures you showed and owned. Thank you for the memories.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

The 1988/1989 Cavalier Z24 was by far the best version of any J body during its entire run!!

Don't forget it was sold as the Vauxhall Cavalier in the UK too. Just different head lights

WoW i remember i had a Z24 Cavalier 3.1 Standard, with only a little tunning on the computer, that car was a beast. Every car that try to run agaist me just bite the dust. I loved that car.

I want so many of these. Good memories. Great vid

I had a little red cavalier hatchback my sister gifted to me when she got a new car I loved that little car even though it didn't have any power and was running on 3 cylinders lol. lucky for me I only drove it around my town where there aren't any big hills :D

5:25 my first car was an '89 Grand Am SE with that turbo and a stick. Loved that thing!

This is a neat channel, I'm excited to follow ya along as ya grow