A lot of us knew someone with a second-generation Chevrolet Cavalier of one body style or another, whether they were a neighbor, friend, or relative. The Cavalier was offered in a wide range of configurations, from a four-door sedan, four-door wagon, two-door coupe, and a two-door convertible as seen here. The seller has this 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier listed here on eBay in Happy Valley, Oregon, the current bid price is $4,100, but the reserve isn’t met.
Chevrolet made the second-gen Cavalier from 1987 for the 1988 model year until 1994 and design-wise, they may be the sweet spot for the three different generations. I really like the first-generation cars, they were clunky and square and you could get the J-body cars from every GM division. Even Cadillac sent them through the line as a Cimarron; a car on my master wish list. The third and last-gen Cavaliers were from the melted-bar-of-soap era and looked like everything else, globally. Is it a Chevy? An Opel? A Mazda? A Suzuki? A Daihatsu? Yes, maybe, I think; I don’t know.
Speaking of sweet spot, this Cavalier Z24 convertible has to be at the top of the must-have list for those shopping for a Cavalier, and I know you’re out there. This example is said to have been “senior owned” since day one and kept in a garage when not being used. With just over 56,000 miles, it’s not even halfway home yet.
The one glitch for most of us is seeing a Turbo-Hydramatic automatic here other than a five-speed manual. As expected, the interior looks almost like new, with perfect-looking seats, Other than some wear on the rear speaker covers, it looks great inside, in the trunk, and also underneath. The Pacific Northwest does it again, it’s the best place to preserve vehicles, in my opinion.
The engine is GM’s 2.8-liter V6 with 130 horsepower and 160 lb-ft of torque. Sending power through that three-speed automatic to the front wheels, it runs and drives great, and has new plugs and plug wires, new coil packs, and a new catalytic converter. Original paint and interior, low miles, and a convertible, that’s hard to beat. Have any of you owned a second-generation Cavalier?
My Dad had a Z24 and it was a fun, fast car to drive. Seemed to be a quality build compared to some of their previous models in that range.
Of all the Cavaliers, this generation Z24 are my favorites. I always liked these. My grandpa bought his last new car in ’89 a Chevy Corsica with the 2.8 V6 and an automatic, same color combo as this white with a blue interior, and it was quick. Its a real treat to see something like this preserved to well.
I always thought that the design team made a weird choice with the wheels on these, but they worked.
Although these will never be a high dollar collector car, they were a fun driver. This car looks to be in well kept condition and reasonably priced. Buy and enjoy.
Rented one in Hawaii back in the day..stick shift..beat the f### out of it.
How mature of you.
Had a nice exhaust note.
They did have a nice growl right from the factory.
This and its Pontiac twin are ideal for towing behind your big RV, south in the winter, north in the summer,, if an automatic, on a dolly, if a 5 speed standard, just tow it. Get there, park the RV, put the top down, and go out for dinner. The Life! Good friends did that after retirement until he got too old to safely drive the RV.
I had one same year and model and probably the same equipment automatic, which was fine. Met its demise when I was rear ended on US 41 in Sarasota, by a young young man and a dump truck, rubbernecking some girls at the hob knob diner. It certainly was a fun card to drive had a great sound and nothing like a rag top in Florida.
Senior owned doesn’t mean anything really I know senior citizen who almost always drive and corner like they were racing someone its the last thrill they get before they take their license away. Nice car but I think the $5-6k at current bid is its value.
If only more of us had bought more of these we’d still have cars like this in showrooms today.
Sadly, I doubt it. People bought tons on Cruzes and Rangers, but the car companies don’t want to sell models like that anymore. There’s more profit margin in gas guzzling monster pickups and school bus sized SUVs.
So, the Cadillac Cimmeron was based on the Chevrolet Cavilier (we all knew that) so why didn’t Cadillac make a Cimmeron convertible? I think it would have really helped sales considering what a flop the Cimmetin was.
That dashboard is very close to the ’84 Camaro.
I agree! Or at the very least, a two-door Cimarron.
Nice to see a well preserved example of one. Fun car back in the day. A gal at work traded a beautiful burgundy over black ‘75 Corvette for one of these and I never forgave her however.
Ah, the much maligned Cimarron, clearly they were not, new, worth twice the price of a Cavilier, but, used, at $2,000 (and the salesman at the Chevy dealer did not know what it was, but it was on the “back lot” with NO warranty of any kind) two bald tires, but he threw in two tires to seal the deal. It went over 187,000 miles, to New Mexico and back at one point, when it had over 150,000, commuted from NH to Boston for a year, perforated leather seats, just like Mercedes of the day, better insullation, suspension, wheels, than the Cavilier, but same mechanicals. The later ones, with the V6 like the example Cavilier here, were really fine cars. But in true GM tradition, rust killed it at age 12.
Good call Angel.
Auction update: this one ended at $8,101 and the reserve wasn’t met.