1982 Chevrolet Cavalier Test Drive
It was slightly smaller than the “first Chevy of the Eighties” (the Citation), it carried fewer people and packages, weighted less, had smaller engines, and obtained better mileage. What was it? It was the J-car. It replaced the Monza and Pontiac’s Sunbird, and offered the most complete line of models in the subcompact field. A 2-door notchback coupe was the base model in the lineup and originally not be shared with Pontiac. A 2-door fastback hatch coupe, and two 4-doors, a sedan and a wagon, completed the lineup. The cars sat on a 101 inch wheelbase and had an overall length of about 170 inches.
This compared with 97 inches and 179 inches respectively, for its predecessors. The adoption of front wheel drive claimed to yield greater interior space, with a reduced overall length while the longer wheelbase to lessen the intrusion of the wheelhouses into the passenger space.
Pulling this line of Chevy’s was a new inline 4-cylinder developed by the division. The J-car gave GM’s their second world car (the T-car Chevette was the first) and it was was eventually sold by all the other GM Divisions (sans GMC). All these groups were involved in the car’s development and supplied each other with key components when production started. Two names were narrowed until the end, Corsair and the one that stuck.
1982 Chevrolet Cavalier CL Type 10 vs Toyota Corolla SR5 Test Drive
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