Last Spring, after seeing what my travel schedule looked like, my wife decided that it was high time that we purchase a fuel-mileage oriented car. I conceded. Nothing against Angry Grandpa’s reliability or fun to drive factor, but the Chrysler isn’t easy on the fuel costs, especially since it’s switch to a premium fuel only diet a couple of years ago. So we looked…first-gen Ford Fusions and the cousins seemed to be the ideal choice, but when we happened on a 2012 Chevy Cruze Eco with a six-speed, the search was over. I got a little runabout that had three pedals that delivered twice the mileage the Chrysler could ever dream of. But am I happy with that choice a year later? Well….no. Being fully honest, all of the good things the Cruze is get trashed by what it has been: a shop queen. This thing went through damn near $1,500 worth of work just because the hydraulic throw-out bearing failed and took the clutch…the brand-new item that was put into the car right after buying it!…down to the rivets. Nah, that won’t do. And let’s not talk about the modifications needed for the engine to run right, or how it likes to occasionally smoke-bomb the interior with burnt oil vapor…
The wound stings harder when I look at a car I’ve considered the optimum daily driver for a couple of years now, back on the market. When I wrote up it’s last listing back in 2016, I said, “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.” Those words are truth. Everything about this boxy Cavi is ten times better than it should have been new. The paint, beautiful. The supercharged 3.8L V6, an excellent selection. The Muncie 282 five-speed, couldn’t ask for a better option. And the styling…look, I know that in the past a Cavalier was an admission that you gave up on life. But compared this to cars like a Chevy Sonic, or a Ford Focus, or anything similarly sized. Boxy lines work here…the interior has to be like a glass house compared to a four-banger late-model Camaro, and there’s a great chance that this Cavalier would walk it like a dog.

Somebody pick this up before I do something very, very stupid.

(Thanks to Michael Flegel for the tip!)

Facebook Marketplace Link: 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24