Paul’s write-up of the Cimarron provides a perfect opportunity to share this other unique J-body, an original Cavalier Type 10 hatchback. While this car escaped the Cadillac’s Deadly Sin status because it avoided that car’s overambitious market orientation, it wasn’t exactly a winning compact in its early (or later) form and didn’t exactly do wonders for Chevy’s reputation. Based as it was on the adequate-for-1980s-Europe Ascona, it could have been a much better car and, as a three-door fastback, is closest North American buyers got to the five-door liftback which was the most popular overseas configuration.
As we’ve seen, an owner so inclined could swap body panels ahead of the A-pillar to make a Chevy-Opel frankenstein, such was the commonality between the Cavalier and its overseas companion, but equipped as it was with an underachieving 1.8-liter pushrod mill, a ’70s-chic dashboard and soggy suspension, it was clear that Detroit’s efforts to distinguish the North American version of the car resulted in an inferior product. In order to have a proper understanding of the Cimarron, one needs to first learn just how much was lost in translation from the Ascona to the Chevy Cavalier. And while my memories of J-cars are tied in many ways to later 2.8 and 3.1 V6 versions, the sight of this first-series Type 10 hatch really helps drive this latter point home.
That quality makes this the perfect car to drive to a car show where, parked alongside numerous shiny new cars, it was caught by williamrubano’s sharp eye. I have yet to see an original J-car featured alongside the El Caminos, Grand Nationals and Colonnades that form the bulk of usual Malaise-era GM displays and which are well represented in the photographer’s collection of photos from the event. But if one were motivated enough to pull the dent out of the quarter panel and replace the left-front wheel cover, this car is close to being presentable in just such a context. As shocking as it might seem, it’s time for early J-cars to find their place in the car show circuit.
Related reading: 1983 Chevrolet Cavalier Wagon: 20/20 Hindsight 30 Years Down The Road
I’ve never cared for the early 80s Cavelier. I preferred the Pontiac Sunbird and perhaps the Cadillac Cimarron. Although not perfect, and in Cadillac’s case, it was a failure, but at least the Cadillac was better looking.
The Cimarron was not a total sales failure, as they sold 120,000 or so over the time it was in production. Probably far less than they wanted to sell.
I had forgotten that there was a 5 door J-body hatch that we never got here, I wonder why? It probably would have received a pretty decent reception in the hatchback crazy 1980’s.
Ha ! Here’s a J-body Opel Ascona C again, the 5 door hatch.
Once a favourite with chavs and other scrotes as a Vauxhall Cavalier in the UK.A runner with short MOT and tax could be had for £50 though it’s a very long time since I saw a Cavalier
“chavs and other scrotes”…..something like these guys performing an Opel/Vauxhall stunt ?
Not quite our chavs have more tattoos than teeth and usually have a bull terrier (Satan,Ripper,Tyson are popular names) on a bit of string.
And that’s just the girls!
Sounds like fun. If only one of those guys had the guts to name his hellish pet “Blossom”, that would be a breakthrough.
The 5 door is just as ugly as all the rest of them. The only one with anything approaching decent looks was the Pontiac version, but it was junk also.
The Opel Ascona C (like the 5 door above) could well be the most maligned Opel ever. Really, nobody seems to like it. Its RWD predecessor, the Ascona B (obviously…), has a much better reputation among Opel enthusiasts. Young guys were often the very proud owners of a sporty model Kadett C or Ascona B, preferably with a 2.0 liter injection engine. They took good care of it, whereas the Ascona C got a beater status pretty quickly.
An Opel Ascona B in standard family man’s trim:
I’ve never seen a five door hatchback version of the Cavalier. I’ve seen plenty of four door sedans and two door hatchbacks.
None of the North American J-bodies ever came as a 4-door hatchback. They were offered as 2-door notchbacks, 2-door hatchbacks, 2-door convertibles, 4-door notchbacks, and 4-door station wagons.
My impression is that the 2-door hatchbacks were not strong sellers. They were dropped after 1987 and are rarely seen today. When I met my wife in 1992, she was driving an ’87 Cavalier hatchback. I later got it when we bought her a new car after we got married, and drove it until 1997. It had the 1984-87 front end styling but was otherwise was very similar to the one that is the subject of this post.
During the period when I had that car (1995-97), the 2-door hatchbacks were already getting scarce, and I didn’t see many others like it. I encountered a few people who, viewing the car from an angle other than the front, didn’t recognize it as a Cavalier and asked me what it was. Later, in talking to others about cars I’ve owned, I’ve encountered a few people whose response to my mentioning that I once had a Cavalier hatchback was “They made Cavaliers as hatchbacks?”
Cavalier hatch by Vauxhall
And that looks a LOT like a Chevy Monza hatch.
Or even a Chevy Vega hatch for that matter.
Too close to the Citation, I would imagine. The sloped Type 10 front clip wasn’t bad, but I found the base sedans and wagons very unattractive until the move to the quad lamps in ’84.
Amen. I disliked the dual headlamp front and 1/2 grill that was used – downright hated the undersize grill when it was on the Celebrity.
Probably out of fear of cannibalizing sales from the 5-door X-bodies, which along with their 2-door hatch and coupe brethren were selling at rate not seen since the ’65 Mustang at the time the Js were under development.
I would guess they skipped the 5-door hatch because they already had that market covered with the Chevette and Citation.
I think it might have taken some of the sales away from the Citation had they offered a 5 door J body and by that time the Citation could use every sale it could get.
I like the hatch. It looks like an American CRX.
Too bad it drove like an American B210.
Back in 1985, a cousin had a late model Type 10 notchback coupe with a 5 speed. I rode in it a few times and decided that I should check one out. When I got home, I added the car to my list. However, when I went to a (big) dealer, they had not a single Type 10 with a stick in stock. Oy. 5 minutes in the automatic version had me wondering just what I had been thinking.
My mom owned a new ’85 Type-10 coupe in metallic gray, but with the 4-speed manual. It replaced a very unreliable ’79 Mustang notchback. Both my parents enjoyed it for the most part, and we had it for 9 years if I remember correctly. It was an alright car for the most part, but it did eat clutches. Mom loved the high end Delco stereo it had. I learned at a young age you do NOT immediately sit on black vinyl that’s been in direct sunlight for hours in that car…
“I learned at a young age you do NOT immediately sit on black vinyl that’s been in direct sunlight for hours ”
Those of us who grew up in the 1960s learned that lesson early and well! 🙂 My first car was a convertible with black vinyl seats. Driving in shorts after the car had been parked top-down in the sun was a bad, bad idea. I learned to keep a beach towel in the trunk.
Still in effect into the 80’s. The first car of my Dad’s that I actually remember was a ’79 Fairmont 2-door sedan with black vinyl interior. Bad combination with the relatively short shorts of the early 80’s!
And remember those nice GM seatbelt latches? The brushed stainless ones that would leave a red tattoo on whatever body part that touched them in summer….
Dad bought us all Chevys for our college cars (I chose a Vega GT, coulda had a Rally Nova, so judge any of my posts accordingly); by the time it was baby sister’s turn she got a first year Cavalier Type 10 hatchback in bright red. It was very pretty, and even more unreliable, thing never did run right. That problem got fixed when it caught fire and burned up. Dad was-and at age 91 still is-a Chevy man (that’s another, older family story, hope to make a feature out of later this summer), so it got replaced with the next year’s Cavalier, this one a dark brown 2 dr. sedan. Apparently they had figured out how to build them a little better by then, as sister kept that one through college and into her first job. She was the type who thought cars came with the oil installed, and that handy oil light on the dash was to tell you when to add more. More support for the old adage to never buy the first year of a Detroit product, at least from that era.
The Type 10 is by far the looker of the bunch, and for the early 80’s is actually quite a nice design. Too bad it was let down by the rest of the car…I’ve not seen one this early in ages, either. I actually had a scale model kit of this Cavalier when I was younger, a 1:24 MPC 3n1 kit where it could be built stock or modified. Never did finish the assembly unfortunately. Looking back, I do wonder what possessed them to model that particular car–maybe it was cool when it first appeared?
The 80’s were an odd time. I also remember two high-dollar “Pro Street” rod builds based on a Celebrity and a J2000. Had the Monogram 1:24 model of the Dobbertin J2000, never finished that either (there’s a pattern here).
Back on the subject of the Cavalier, was the initial Z24 version based on the Type 10, or did the two not overlap?
The Z24 was fixed window coupe or ragtop for 1988, no more hatches with the reskin.
The ’86-’87 Z24 was available in either a hatchback (the Type 10 bodystyle) or 2-door sedan body.
I think the Type-10 still lived concurrently with the Z24 for 1986, the one year when the hatch was still available.
Whats even weirder is the Buick didn’t add a hatchback to their Skyhawk line up until 1986, and originally the Oldsmobile Firenza debuted in hatchback and sedan only, not adding a coupe until 1986.
I was unaware there was such a thing as a Skyhawk hatch. Pretty sure I’ve never even seen a photo of one.
The J hatches were in the back row during its spring ’81 launch, as if GM didnt care.
7 years earlier, the 1975 H body Monza hatchback was front and center, with Olds/Buick clones. But since they didn’t take off, the chopback Town Coupe was released, and then the Sunbird was notchback only for 1976. Thus, GM seemed afraid to push J fastbacks, but still offered them.
Don’t really know who/what was the trendsetter that decided hatchbacks were “out” and “uncool” in the US. Buff Books? Stand up comedians? CA car culturists?
It probably had something to do with the E21/E30 BMW 3-series being *the* aspirational car of the era.
Too bad BMW not only forgot to style it, but also stuck it with the compromised functionality of a notchback/trunk layout.
Its fair to say that the following: 1980 Chevrolet Monza 2 Door Coupe (Top Row Left), 1977 Chevrolet Vega 2 Door Coupe (Top Row Right), 1991 Chevrolet Cavalier 4 Door Sedan (Second Row Center) which was the same design as the 1981 version and related to the 3 Door Hatchback Coupe as its main story on this edition of Curbside Classic shared its niche’ ancestry with the, 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier 4 Door Sedan (Third Row Right), 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt LT 4 Door Sedan (Third Row Left), 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ 4 Door Sedan (Last Row Left) and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt Plug-In Hybrid Electric Car 5 Door Hatchback (Last Row Right). Not shown on this compiled montage, the Chevy Cobalt based HHR 5 Door Wagon, Chevrolet Cruze 5 Door Station Wagon (marketed exclusively in European Union Countries only) and its platform sibling the Chevrolet Orlando 5 Door MPV (available mostly in Asian Countries, Russia, European Union Countries, Canada and Venezuela only) were also niche’ related from the 1982-94 Cavalier Wagon, 1978-80 Monza Wagon and the 1971-77 Vega Kammback Wagon as well.
It’s cool to see a surviving Cavalier hatchback, I guess a surviving 1985-87 Cavalier Z-24 hatchback is more rarer.
I imagine an non Chevrolet J-car hatch is probably pretty rare too, there were Buick and Oldsmobile versions too. A performance oriented Buick or Oldsmobile J-car is probably the rarest.
I wrote up a Firenza S I found locally last year here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-capsule/curbside-capsule-1986-oldsmobile-firenza-s-coupe-back-to-j-school/
I said it before I loved this cars younger cousin my 1984 Oldsmobile Firenza S Coupe.
I actually saw a Cav hatch on the road here yesterday. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
They were kinda good looking. Actually most of the pre ’92 Cavaliers were. They look like a Chuck Jordan design.
Except for the early front ends. That nose was awful.
“Fastback” being an ironic term on a wheeze-mobile that took 16 seconds to go 0-60.
The J-Car was the encore of the X-Car classic case of the diseased GM culture taking a good vehicle concept and turning it into a low-quality, corner-cutting, abysmal disgrace.
Haven’t seen a cavalier hatch in ages
In Brock Yates’ book, The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry, the author claims that the “Type 10” moniker was a feeble attempt make the car alluring, by hoping that buyers would make an association with the popular Bo Derek movie of the time…you guessed it, 10.
Guess we all know how that worked out.
A bit late to the party here, but my second car (purchased toward the end of my college years) was an ’82 Type 10 with the 1.8L and 5-speed. It was also my first experience with a used car dealer, and, predictably, I got taken. Paid too much (in hindsight), and found evidence of crash damage after I had owned it about a year.
Now keep in mind, my first car was a ’71 Vega, which by this point had undergone a Buick V6-ectomy. The Vega was a hoot to drive, but for reasons lost to me now, I decided I wanted a newer car (fuel economy probably played into that somewhere).
My recollection is that Cavalier was actually not a bad little car. The 1.8L revved fairly freely and with the 5-speed, would top out around 100mph. I had removed the smog equipment when the air pump seized, which probably helped in that department.
As I had done with the Vega, the Cav underwent constant tinkering… Using 6″ conveyor belt rubber, I made an air dam and side skirts; then I cut smoked plexiglass panels to cover the headlight buckets up front and the license plate recess out back (which nearly netted me a ticket one afternoon – I had to remove it on the spot after being pulled over in town).
Eventually, I stripped the charcoal grey paint and resprayed the car a semi-gloss white. I shaved the drip channels off the doors and fabricated a whale-tail for the hatch (which necessitated beefing up the hydraulic struts to carry the extra weight). A NACA duct was let into the hood, and I think the car turned out pretty “all right.”
I have an uncle in Tennessee that purchased a brand new Cavalier coupe in 1988, a five-speed base model with AC and stereo/cassette (which sounded pretty good) as the only options. He still has that car! I was there visiting him a few days ago, and I noticed it has a little over 220k on the odometer. The only major component he has replaced is the drivers door.
He doesn’t drive it much these days, as he took over his son’s 2006 Cobalt coupe a couple of years ago. However, he has no plans to get rid of it, and has never had a bad thing to say about it!
Good day,
I have a 1982 Cavalier Hatchback 1.8 liter and I enjoy that car. In Canada it is a rare find,
(Necroposting)
My dad acquired a Cavvy much like the one in your picture in the early ’90s, presumably as part of a trade in his mobile tool-selling business. It was painted a metallic gold color. It sat in our driveway for a few months, during which dad gave it a once-over — nothing seemed obviously wrong. Then he gave it to his mother who lived 130km away and I only saw it twice after that, in increasing states of decrepitude.
Now, when my classmates and myself reached legal driving age, ’80s Cavaliers were like assholes — everyone had one, and they all stank. I bucked the trend for a time — my first car was an ’85 Ford Escort — but I owned a Cavvy (briefly) after that. I went through a Taco Bell drive though in the trunk of an Olds Firenza — another “J Car — with my mates relaying my part of the order to the driver’s seat. A good friend went through three used Cavaliers in two years.
My affection for that plastic-nosed, Monzaesque hatchback never waned, even as a came to view Cavaliers less as transportation (that teenager holy grail) and more as an impediment to the same. It may have been a Cavalier, but I’d never seen another like it, though Cavvys were everywhere those days.
I’m sure that endura-nosed hatchback went to the crusher or is just a pile of iron oxide now, and that seems a shame to me, as it represented a bridge between GM design language in the 1970s and the 1980s. I hope you continue to preserve yours.
But I’m not kidding myself either. Part of my affection for the Cavvy is in my love-hate relationship with it in my teens, early to late: the promise of freedom it represented, and the hopes it dashed on the side of the road.
Also, necroposting.
It was my first car. Wish I kept it.
Hello MK
I got my cavalier 82 in Aylmer Ontario in 2009, Looks like it is your car.
Here is the picture when I both the car
Today this what he look,