Us "Kids of the '70s" are a lost or forgotten generation of sorts. We're not really Boomers—not that we'd want to be—and we don't always identify with Gen X either. Even the music and movies we grew up with often seemed aimed at people just a little older or younger than we were. The cars we drove were much the same.
Growing up in the heart of the so-called Malaise Era, new cars were, frankly, pretty awful. So many of us gravitated toward older cars that at least looked better. They certainly looked cooler.
While we blamed the automakers for building dorky-looking, underpowered shitboxes that couldn't stay screwed, bolted, or glued together much beyond their factory warranties, in fairness, their designers and engineers were trying to cope with an unprecedented wave of government emissions, safety, and fuel economy regulations. Maybe we should cut them a little slack. Well... at least some.
Credit where it's due—they did try to dress up some of the otherwise forgettable cars they produced. A prime example is the 1986-87 "O.G." Chevrolet Cavalier Z24. Our Facebook Marketplace find, which looks about as worn out as most of us do these days, is a 1987.
The Cavalier Z24 was clearly intended to evoke the spirit of the mighty Camaro Z28, right down to its similar Regular Production Option (RPO) code. In Chevrolet-speak, a "Z" badge meant "sporty"—or maybe just "zporty." I'm here all week.
Buyers who checked the Z24 option box got a two-door Cavalier powered by a multi-port fuel-injected 2.8-liter V6 making a respectable-for-the-time 125 horsepower and 160 lb-ft of torque. They also got the F41 sport suspension and enough body cladding and striping to outfit an entire 1980s shopping mall parking lot.
So here was a car that looked the part—and to a degree, acted the part—but never quite excelled at anything. Still, thanks for trying, Chevrolet.
I won't lie: the styling completely worked on me. I wanted one badly. Of course, what I really wanted was a Camaro Z28, but beggars can't be choosers. Then again, when you can't even afford the table scraps the beggars turned down, that's how you end up driving a 12-year-old Chrysler Cordoba, as I did.
Our featured Z24 belongs to the first generation of GM's J-body compacts, introduced for the 1982 model year. In Chevrolet showrooms, the Cavalier effectively took over from the Monza, whose production had ended after 1980. The Monza itself had replaced the Vega. GM's other J-bodies included the Pontiac J2000, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Firenza, and Cadillac Cimarron, although not every division had its J-body ready at exactly the same time.
My seat time in these cars was, unsurprisingly, about as underwhelming as any Samantha Fox song. The V6's tuning emphasized low-end torque, making the Z24 feel quicker than it really was. Zero to sixty came in somewhere around nine seconds, which wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. The 2.8-liter V6 was certainly a welcome step up from the wheezy 2.0-liter four-cylinder in "lesser" Cavaliers, but it ran out of breath well before the fun should have started.
The F41 suspension delivered a ride that was stiff—sometimes downright harsh—without offering much of a payoff in the handling department. But it felt sporty, and apparently that was enough.
Like big hair and acid-washed designer jeans, the cladding and graphics had me hooked. What can I say? I was a wannabee upwardly mobile kid of the '70s. Too bad the rest of the package couldn't quite live up to the promise.
The seller doesn't sugarcoat this one's condition. The paint is cooked, which is obvious from the photos, but they insist the body is solid—aside from this rather significant ouchie. They also admit the oil pressure drops at idle after extended high-speed highway driving, though they speculate it might just be a bad sending unit or gauge. It'd be nice if they figured that out before putting it up for sale.
The asking price is $3,000, which sounds about $2,500 more than I'd be willing to spend. But that's just me.
For old times' sake, I think tonight I'll dust off the old VCR and pop in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. My spirit animal, Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold), and I have some catching up to do.
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