MotorWeek Review | 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 Convertible

[@fitfogey]

A buddy of mine in high school became a legend with his hard top Z24 when he raced and beat a guy with a 944 that his daddy bought for him. The 944 guy talked a lot of smack before hand. Basically the whole school watched it. Those were great times for sure.

[@darrinjones5951]

Nice Car Had a 1990 with the 3.1 v6 Took it to the strip and went 16.26 84Mph. Not bad for 145hp. Never gave me a problem sold it with 227k Miles

[@AndrewHCann]

Yes great car even my lady cousin had 1994 3.1 litre V6 motor and 5 speed Manual transmission great car it was! Her was Orange 🍊 color!

[@darrinjones5951]

@@AndrewHCann Cool! also had a 92 which was a very solid car

[@AndrewHCann]

@@darrinjones5951 agree built very well and tough cars only one problem with them if were in vechiles accidents the fire department had hard time get on 2 or 4 doors using Jaws Of Life to open doors on jams or door hinges or locks stay lock up even power of key ignition or battery disconnected! They cut roof of on steel posts front windshield and back window also sides plus convertible top were easily to do faster get out vechiles on 1990 to 1994 years made and how found about it my dad was fire department and plus I was a tow truck operator of my own business! Plus on fire department did practice calls on Jaws of Life to get fire men and women training up for calls! One thing like about 1990 to 1994 was Steering wheel very comfortable to Steering wheel turn and grip !

[@SlowSpyder]

Had a buddy that had a Z24 with the 3.1. It was a torquey motor, not fast, but lots of grunt to make it feel fast. I had a 90 Plymouth Laser RS Turbo 5 speed. Between the two of us, we were pretty sure we had the fastest cars in town... to be young and ignorant. :)

[@darrinjones5951]

@@SlowSpyder Yeah good story. those were the days late 80,s early 90,s

[@jonathanmayor4798]

I still love mine and will never let it go

[@tmo2798]

I have one for sale. Runs excellent, needs top. Need a parts car? It's just like the black one in the video; it's just aged a bit.

[@Jag-leaper]

Me too..but I have the pontiac

[@wannabeetiger]

Best looking Chevy Cavalier ever made! For sure!!!

[@fernandorocha8459]

What engine, hp and torque this Chevy Cavalier

[@wannabeetiger]

@@fernandorocha8459 2.8l 60 angle V6. 130 hp, and 180 lb torque. A very good engine.

[@fernandorocha8459]

@@wannabeetiger thanks, i love this car

[@wannabeetiger]

@@fernandorocha8459 Pontiac also made a Sunbird exactly like this! Fyi.

[@bertram46]

When that car was new I was the sales manager at a Chevrolet dealership in Berea Ohio and I had two of them as my demos the same color as the one in the video I absolutely love that car and I got so many compliments on it. I think personally Chevy did a good job with it. After that I went into IROC convertibles

[@fernandorocha-dx1wv]

Chevy Cavalier first generation is best, great and comfortable car. Very good and solid engine

[@NGMonocrom]

Yes, at one point, the Cavalier was a car people wanted.... instead of one they settled for.

[@calvinnickel9995]

No they definitely settled for it in 1988. Particularly if it was a 4 door with a 2.0 pushrod engine. The Z24 were always a bit better… into the 3.1 litre V6 of 1990-1994.. and the 2.3 litre Quad 4 or 2.4 litre Twin Cam from 1995 to 2002 or thereabouts.

[@jmillshobbies6344]

I love the look of 80s and 90s cars

[@fernandorocha8459]

I love Chevy Cavalier, wagon 1985-1988 is my favorite

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

Man that was my new first car back in 89! A coupe burgundy z24!👌🥰👍I wish I still have that car now! I was 26 years old!

[@bruschmidt9943]

I wish I had that too!

[@delcorick9967]

These were good cars, I owned a 91 pontiac sunbird 3.1 5spd black 2door and you want to talk about power and handling, this car had it! Fe3 suspension drove and steered so good n straight up fun car 2 drive, miss it

[@ChrisFraser-v1h]

I had a 5-speed 1989 Z-24 that went to 375,000 kms. The reason I had to junk it because a tree fell on it. Crap I could never find another one either. It had a racing ecu in it too, and twin piped stainless glass pack muffler. Sounded awesome.

[@pdennis93]

In 1990, Chevy skipped the Cavalier convertible because they had planned a Beretta convertible, but due to safety concerns had to abandon it at the past minute and there was no time to implement passive belts on the Cavalier convertible so they skipped 1990.

[@cakecard]

ABSOLUTELY LOVED MY 93 Z24!! IT HAS A AMAZING EXHAUST NOTE ESPECIALLY WITH NO MUFFLER!!!

[@daniellaubach7544]

Or if you installed a turbo muffler at the end of the exhaust that would give it a nice mellow tone at full throttle! Like I did with my '87 Z24 cpe back in the early 90's!

[@AndrewHCann]

Remember those Chevrolet Calavier Z24 my one high school teacher in 1989 to 1992 her was grey colors and Converitable top plus 2.8 litre V6 turbo also Manual transmission too all options had too! In 2006 bought of my mom old for Winter Season months car 1994 Chevrolet Calavier 4 door with 2.3 litre Echo Tech 4 cylinder motor, 3 speed Automatic, Delay Wipers, Air Conditioning, great car and friends of gave me a set Chevrolet Calavier Aluminum rims from Z24 car put on my car ran nicely too used Kumho brand tires of All Season with Winter Season plus Ice grip type and ran excellent too!

[@DullerCrab]

I got a 1992 Z24 with 60k on it. Love it.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

80's cars were so much better than the crossover garbage people drive today.

[@landyachtfan79]

1988. The '88 redesign made an already good looking coupe look even better, but it turned the convertible into one drop-dead gorgeous machine!!!! I normally LOVE Toyotas, but in this case, I'd have to say that the Chevy is a MUCH better buy from a value-for-the-money-standpoint.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

Z24, Z34, Z28. I'll take any of them

[@danfriesen4417]

My buddy had a grey Z24 hardtop back in the early 90s, he drove that thing like it was the fastest thing on the road 😂 Drove it like he stole it and raced anyone that would look at him 😂

[@hailstorm1986]

I've liked these Cavaliers better than the 90s without the 6 cylinder.

[@sannissansanjuan5074]

Chevy Were cool Besides Corvettes and Camero's, U get Beretta GT GTZ Cavalier Z24 Soft-top V6 with a Stick, some of US don't Know a Good thing until they Stop Making Them

[@ericbritton9346]

Yes I totally agree. Now we got these trashy tail crossovers that we drive today. That's why the US don't appreciate what's given and don't know how to have fun driving or don't want to have fun driving in that matter. The US concern is practicality and fuel economy. And what do we get, a boring front wheel drive everything turbocharged crossovers.

[@tskraj3190]

The Z24s were quick AF for the time. I got my but handed to me in a drag race by a Cavalier Z24 and I was driving a 95' Mustang 5.0 Lol!

[@calvinnickel9995]

Yeah that Mustang driver didn’t know how to drive. They were well over a second quicker to 60 with the 5.0 even though it lost power compared to the Fox Body.

[@tskraj3190]

@@calvinnickel9995 I believe it was his 5 speed v.s. my A.O.D. that beat me. Anyone who had a 95' Munstang 5.0 would know these Mustangs were gutless. They looked nice and sounded mean but they were gutless unless you put some money into them.

[@TeeroyHammermill]

Nice rides in their time.

[@tmo2798]

But then the Miata happened. Those 2 rear seats in the Cavalier are only a bit practical.

[@julioangel1839]

My first car was a 88 z24 with the 2.8 I like it so much that I bought a 89 with the 3.1 motor

[@jeffreye4537]

The 3.1 wasn’t put in the Z until 1990.

[@daniellaubach7544]

Back in '89 , i was looking at both the Cavalier & a RS Camaro at the time. Took both out for a test drive. Both were great car's. But for me being a Fbody lover of the past generations of Chevys pony car. Decided on the RS Camaro . Dealer offered me a great deal on trade i couldn't turn down. The Cav was a Z24 cpe that I test drove red with a grey interior automatic V6 pwr loaded. Somewhere down the road i would like to find a Z24 in either the square body or the restyle '88 or '89 model years.

[@jeffreye4537]

I never realized they cost that much. I bought a 5.0 Mustang in 88 and it was about $13k. It wasn’t a convertible but it was pretty well loaded and had the sunroof.

[@RJKYEG]

Driving one of these in 2024 would be a power move.

[@henryovalles1163]

I really like the boxy z24 ..this car doesn't look like a 80s car looks like mid 1990s

[@redlinefreedive6126]

Oh,, how I miss that car and the engine noise and sound out the back. It is perfect, except it in convertible trim!

[@clemnewton9007]

3.1 was quick for it's time

[@chadneuman1945]

I've had three of these cars and they're pretty stubborn when it comes to maintenance on them but now I'm still seeking another one but they're like two to 3,000 right now on Facebook marketplace

[@bigboy3jv]

I'm not sure what you mean by the convertible top. I had an 89 and it was a standard hardtop

[@mcarlkv53]

Had a 1990 cavalier 99hp 4 cylinder never had and problems

[@michaelcoffey7362]

Cool 🥰

[@mexifinn7830]

1:18 - goddammit, that lady flipped me off!!!

[@fastfordman1965]

I always thought that Z24 stood for 2 door 4 cylinder. Just like Z28 stands for 2 door 8 cylinder.

[@calvinnickel9995]

And Z71 stands for 7 door one cylinder? Pretty sure it’s just an RPO code. Like WS6 and FE3

[@thomasmoore7224]

Lol no

[@fastfordman1965]

@@calvinnickel9995 lmfao. True dat!

[@fastfordman1965]

@@thomasmoore7224 😂

[@Damone7653]

@@calvinnickel9995 I did not know that... weird wild stuff.

[@joshuac4772]

$17,436 In 1988 is $43,879 in 2022 $. Think about that, nearly $50,000 FOR A CAVALIER!!!!

[@Jag-leaper]

That was the price of cool 😎

[@ButchNackley]

And worth every cent of it.

[@djkenny1202]

I’d buy the Cabriolet. Zipping rear window?!

[@Skyhawk1987Turbo]

Your title says 1989 so wrong it’s a 1988 z24

[@t.b.g.504]

That style of the front seats with adjustable headrests are the giveaway. From 1989 and up they were replaced by taller one piece 'mongoose' buckets.

[@allanmartens7640]

@@t.b.g.504 Are you sure about that? When I got it, my 89 had a mix: the smoother mongoose front seats, and the rear seats with plastic piping. Someone changed something, but I think the original was the fabric with plastic piping. Since the seats were swappable, I think that some 89s had the older style and some had the newer style without the piping.

[@allanmartens7640]

But the real giveaway is that the granny rack has 6 bars on the deck, showing the car to be a 1988 model, instead of 4, which became the style in 1989.

[@danielferstendig]

A sports car

[@DanielW-wz4gj]

The downside! You could buy at the same time a mustang 5.0 convertible for around 17,000 dollars that was a better car and much more ego boosting and fun to drive

[@AtTheHandle]

This is a sick car no lie I had one wrapped it around a pile at 19

[@prestoncheapbtheadphoneste3010]

2:41 that is all fine but, I’ll still go with Toyota! Thanks! 🫤😐