Ahh, the 1980s. The fashion industry was full of electric colors, chunky gold earrings, spandex leggings, and acid-washed jeans. But the automotive world was all about geometric shapes — and when it came to run-of-the-mill family cars, squares dominated. The Chevrolet Cavalier was one of the cars that defined the decade, and my family was one of many that adopted a Cavalier for day-to-day duty. Yeah, that’s my mom above. Stylin’.
And she’s still stylin’ today.
The chronology in the early 1980s looked something like this: My mom’s 1978 Mercury Bobcat was sold to buy a 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier coupe from Axtell Chevrolet in Logan, Utah. And on April 29, 1986, that Cavalier had already racked up 89,000 miles and was traded in (again, at Axtell) for $2,700 on a 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity. My parents were on a Chevy kick! The Celebrity, by the way, ended up becoming my first car over a decade later.
The compact Cavalier was a brand-new, exciting addition to the Chevrolet lineup for 1982. It was designed as an import fighter and had a starting retail price of around $6,648, with available body styles including coupe, sedan, hatchback, and station wagon. The first generation was produced from 1982 through 1987 on the General Motors J-body platform.
An advertisement from the time said, “Mastery of Mind over Matter,” and “Tomorrow’s technology – way ahead of schedule.”
Chevrolet was proud of what the Cavalier had to offer, which was understandable because the car came with 43 standard features. Among them were front disc brakes, MacPherson-strut front suspension, AM radio, acoustic insulation, styled steel wheels, cigarette lighter, and color-keyed carpeting and seat belts.
The only available engine for the Cavalier initially was the L46 1.8-liter carbureted inline-four, and it could be mated to either a four-speed manual or three-speed automatic. The engine was rated at 88 horsepower and 100 lb-ft of torque. A year later, the LQ5 2.0-liter fuel-injected inline-four was introduced. Later Cavalier generations became quite sporty, with available models such as the twin-cam V-6-powered “Z24.”
There’s so much to talk about in these old pictures. Mom and dad were traveling near Jackson Hole, Wyoming on the outskirts of Grand Teton National Park. The Cavalier appears to have been finished in Maroon Metallic (paint code 78) and it had been upgraded with several period-correct details such as rocker-panel decals, pop-out sunroof, pinstripes, and mud flaps. Talk about fashionable.
Speaking of fashion, I bet mom wishes she still had that puffy vest and those boots.
