Here’s a phrase I swore years ago I’d never say: “Wow, I really want that 1987 Cavalier!” I don’t hate GM’s best-known J-car like I do Ford Granadas, but in my history the two Cavaliers of similar vintage I’ve dealt with were…well, they were crap. One was the white 1985 wagon that was the family car when I was in grade school, that looked like hell, was rusting in the quarters, couldn’t get out of it’s own way if you paid it to move and had a backseat that had been puked on more times than any minivan in existence. The other was the back-lot find 1984 coupe that a friend of mine bought before he realized that he could not drive a manual transmission. I ended up driving that car for a while and the only nice thing I will ever say about that car was that rowing the gears made up for it’s otherwise horrifying driving experience. That, and I fit nicely inside for such a small car.

But the Cavalier does have bright points. No, really, it does: it’s light and GM’s 3.8L V6 fits in the engine bay. Plus, the earlier, boxy J-cars are handsome when they are cleaned up, properly painted and taken care of. And what do we have here? Eaton M90 blower with under drive pulleys, front end bracing, clean black paint, and some clean 18″ Ronal wheels? Yes sir, this Cavalier Z24 was gifted with the horsepower that the Z2-anything badge deserved to have, and it’s backed with a five-speed manual, which is certainly a Getrag five-speed, but we don’t know if it’s the 282 that was used in the Beretta or the 284 that was used in the Lumina Z34. We highly doubt that the original five-speed fitted to the Cavalier would hold up to the Buick’s torque. Whatever the case, either transaxle won’t be challenged by the weight of the Cavalier.

Inside, we’d like to welcome you back to the 1980s. Not much is different in here than you would expect, except for that gauge panel. That is a rare digital-display unit that will add just a little bit of throwback to this little coupe. It certainly beats staring at an 85-mph speedometer all day long.

It isn’t everyday that we would look at a Cavalier and wonder how good it would be to drive, but we have to make an exception for this one. At the worst, this is a well-sorted driver/project that could become a little handler with some bracing. The 3.8 doesn’t have a lot of weight to haul around compared to the Buick Regal it was probably yanked from, so what is a peppy V6 in the W-body ought to make this Z24 flat-out fly. And if you can keep your composure and drive it like the mature adult you pretend to be, your fuel mileage should be wonderful.

Craigslist Link: 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24