Ridiculous Rebadges: American Rice Edition

"Amoore100" (amoore100) 09/28/2015 at 22:04 • Filed to: Ridiculous Rebadges, Toyota, Chevy, GM, Cavalier

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Welcome to Ridiculous Rebadges, a series of articles in which I go through and examine the details and circumstances surrounding some of the more infamous and some of the more esoteric vehicular rebadges throughout automotive history.

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The Chevy Cavalier is one of the most controversial cars in recent automotive history. Some argue that its simplicity and affordability make it the perfect daily driver, while others wouldn’t go near its plasticky interior and wheezy engine. On the other hand, however, we have the Toyota Corolla, a car known for its bulletproof reliability and upscale build quality. The NUMMI joint venture was a car plant in Fremont, CA (half hour drive from where I live and they now make Teslas...) where GM partnered with Toyota in order to attempt to combine domestic make and high quality small cars resulting in the Geo/Chevy Prizm. Less known is what Toyota got out of the deal. As a result of this venture, the Cavalier was shipped to Japan to be sold as a Toyota of the same name in order to skirt regulations on exports to the. Needless to say, the “high quality” GM Toyotas were not well received by the Japanese market, accustomed to precision built Hondas and Toyotas, thus few sold. However in recent years, the car has become a sort of inside joke around the interwebs, especially the prank where you visit a GM dealer and ask for part #22649423. Try it. Spoiler: you’ll get a Toyota badge.

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Chevrolet Cavalier (Third Generation)

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[First two images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

[Third image courtesy of netcarshow]

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Toyota Cavalier

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[First two images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

[Third image courtesy of catalogcars.net]

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Sources:

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dogisbadob > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:07

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too bad the US version had lame-ass red turn signals :(

Amoore100 > dogisbadob 09/28/2015 at 22:10

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That was listed as one of the “improvements” that Toyota did to make it appeal more to the Japanese market...

Steve in Manhattan > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:11

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Have you written about the ‘77 reengineered Caprice that was an Impala that was an 88 that was a Catalina that was a Sedan DeVille ...?

Boxer_4 > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:13

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Apparently, the Toyota Cavalier saw use in The JGTC GT300 class in 1997 and 1998.

Amoore100 > Steve in Manhattan 09/28/2015 at 22:15

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Wait, what? That sounds like a holy mess, engineered by none other than the General himself...I’ll look into it for another week!

Amoore100 > Boxer_4 09/28/2015 at 22:15

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Quite an odd thing to do as a Japanese brand with a rebadged American car...

TheHondaBro > Boxer_4 09/28/2015 at 22:16

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Proof that the Japanese can make anything cooler.

carcrasher88 > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:17

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Not only did they sell it as a Toyota in Japan, they also sold it there with part of it actually being Pontiac.

All Toyota Cavalier wheels were actually sourced from the Cavalier’s twin, the Pontiac Sunfire.

Or, at least all of the alloy wheels. Cavaliers with wheel covers still had the same ones as the Chevrolet, but with Toyota logos on them.

PanchoVilleneuve ST > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:19

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I have one of those GM Genuine Part Toyota badges in a drawer somewhere, which I purchased for the novelty value.

Urambo Tauro > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:20

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That is one optimistic speedometer.

Oh- km/h. Right.

Steve in Manhattan > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:22

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I believe 1977 was the year when they downsized (!) the GM full sized line. The cars were essentially badge engineered - same chassis and engines, just slightly-altered body panels and different badges. If I remember correctly.

dogisbadob > Steve in Manhattan 09/28/2015 at 22:23

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The original 77-79 bodies were so much cooler-looking than the 1980 redesign!

Boxer_4 > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:26

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This has to rank with the weirdest Touring Car entries of all time...however, I don’t believe it was a factory team effort.

Boxer_4 > TheHondaBro 09/28/2015 at 22:29

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Certainly not the only time, either...

RazoE > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:30

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I think the JDM version also got power folding mirrors, and of course, there was a genuine TRD version

Amoore100 > Boxer_4 09/28/2015 at 22:35

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Is that a racing Camry? 10/10 would hoon.

Amoore100 > Urambo Tauro 09/28/2015 at 22:37

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180 km/h = 111 mph. Probably still optimistic.

Amoore100 > PanchoVilleneuve ST 09/28/2015 at 22:37

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Still got the bag it came in? Did you order it from a dealer or online?

Amoore100 > RazoE 09/28/2015 at 22:38

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Some of the most factory rice ever seen on an American car...even recognized by Jalopnik itself...

http://jalopnik.com/5958841/the-wo…

Birddog > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:42

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Oh boy. Story time!

I wanted to turn my (now ex) wife’s Cav into a Toyota pretty bad at one time.

We got our 02 LS Sport for a song with the GM employee discount and the massive rebates they had on them. It had the “Level II” suspension, Ecotec 2.2 and Getrag gearbox. It was pretty consistent at 15.1 to 15.3 in the quarter mile.

Yes, a Cavalier that was fun!

Amoore100 > Birddog 09/28/2015 at 22:43

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Awesome! I think the later Cavaliers had some of the early issues sorted out and were therefore rather decent little cars if a bit outdated (=reliable). If you still had it I would totally say Toyota rebadge!

PanchoVilleneuve ST > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:45

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It’s still in that GM bag, and I got it online YEARS ago.

Amoore100 > PanchoVilleneuve ST 09/28/2015 at 22:46

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I wonder if they still have any left in stock...

Steve in Manhattan > dogisbadob 09/28/2015 at 22:47

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The designs were cleaner, I’ll give you that. The cars seemed so much smaller than, say, my dad’s ‘69 Impala, but they were still land yachts.

Birddog > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 22:52

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The J body was typical GM. It took more than two decades but we finally got it right! Let’s start a new disaster..

If I could find a clean 5 speed Z24 from 95-01 or another 02 LS Sport I’d do a Toyota conversion in a heartbeat.

Amoore100 > Birddog 09/28/2015 at 22:57

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Hah, yeah...it’s very true that it took GM nearly twenty years to perfect cars back then and before that they were just total POS...

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 23:11

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I love your series. This is one of the few that I actually have heard of before. My parents gifted me a Cavalier in high school after the neighbors complained about the six different shades of primer black on my “work in progress” Chevette parked out front. I think I found out about it Googling for fog lights.

In other news, I just got to Detroit on a business trip and saw Lancia Voyager Diesel with mfr plates on I-94 leaving DTW. Maybe you can find out the story behind this one for us?

Birddog > Amoore100 09/28/2015 at 23:15

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I think I said what I said the wrong way. That’s a discussion for another day.

Frenchlicker > RazoE 09/28/2015 at 23:38

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How in go’s name did you find something that makes a cavalier appealing?

Amoore100 > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 09/28/2015 at 23:44

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Thanks! I love getting feedback, whether positive, negative, or in the form of suggestions for future articles so that I know how to regulate my output for Oppo...yes, I try to do the more obscure rebadges but the past two weeks have been cars that have usually been portrayed on Oppo previously...I’ll look into the Voyager; perhaps I’ll combine it with the new Thema and Flavia as they all fall under the same story of Lancia’s unfortunate FCA ownership...

Thema

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Flavia

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I really wonder why there was a Voyager in the states...maybe diplomat vehicle? But mfr plates suggests some sort of testing, and Lancia is pretty much dead so further testing of the Voyager seems unlikely and useless, unless Chrysler is planning a diesel version of the new T&C...

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Amoore100 09/29/2015 at 00:32

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All together would be great! I knew about the Thema, but I’ve never seen the Flavia before. I actually saw a Thema in Germany in 2012. It was near Franfurt maybe it belonged to a U.S. serviceman stationed there.

Who knows what the Voyager was up to. Definitely a disel though. it had a large and crudely applied “DIESEL FUEL ONLY” sticker above the fuel door. My guess is it is an old press or demo vehicle that has just hung around the FCA fleet to schlep executives between the tech center and DTW.

Spasoje > Amoore100 09/29/2015 at 00:36

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Perhaps I can lend a hand! After the whole FCA mashup was finalized, the Chrysler brand was killed in Europe, but Lancia was dead in the UK.

So, what are we left with as of 2015? Lancia itself only has one model left, the Ypsilon: a four-door Fiat 500. Since Chrysler is dead in Europe, FCA decided to continue selling their cars in Europe, but under the Lancia name: the T&C is the Lancia Voyager, and the 300 is the Lancia Thema.

This range of three FCA products are what’s sold as a Lancia. Except if you’re in the UK, however, where these three all have Chrysler badges instead.

Amoore100 > Spasoje 09/29/2015 at 00:40

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Yep, I had the gist of that but it’s great that you kind of clarified as I had no idea what was going on between Chrysler and Lancia in the UK...it still saddens me that the company we knew and loved that made this thing:

as well as this:

is slowly being Saabified before our eyes...sigh, another piece of automotive history gone.

Spasoje > Amoore100 09/29/2015 at 00:44

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True. Unfortunately true.

PyramidHat > Steve in Manhattan 09/30/2015 at 22:03

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Instead of the BMW “Different lengths of sausage” it’s more “Same sausage with different upholstery and landau tops”

Tohru > Amoore100 09/30/2015 at 22:15

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Toyolier taillights are rare, valuable, and a mark of distinction in the Cavalier tuning world.

Tohru > Steve in Manhattan 09/30/2015 at 22:18

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As an owner of a ‘76 Delta 88, I can verify that ‘77 was the downsize year.

People flipped their shit about that - the ‘76 Delta 88 had your choice of the Rocket 350 or the Rocket 455. The ‘77 came with a Chevy 350.

People were actually returning their cars to dealership lots and abandoning them there, because (and I’m paraphrasing here): “I didn’t go out and buy an Oldsmobile to get something with a damn Chevy motor! If I wanted a Chevy motor, I’d have bought an Impala!” GM, if I recall correctly, ended up buying back a lot of cars and refunding people on even more.

Tohru > Amoore100 09/30/2015 at 22:19

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The US Cavalier’s fuel cut-off was 104mph, IIRC.

Tohru > RazoE 09/30/2015 at 22:21

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The second-best TRD vehicle ever built, behind the Australian TRD Laser.

Tohru > Birddog 09/30/2015 at 22:22

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The ‘02 was the last year before the General made them hideous.

Steve in Manhattan > Tohru 09/30/2015 at 22:47

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That would be amazing, if true. I just remember walking by a ‘77 Caprice as a kid and going - “wow, that’s a lot smaller than dad’s car!” They also downsized the cars in the Malibu range around that time - of course, they’d be giants today.

Tohru > Steve in Manhattan 10/01/2015 at 03:51

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From Wikipedia (but with no source cited):

During this time, GM used GM or Oldsmobile engines in Oldsmobile cars. This caused a situation known as the “Chevy-mobile” affair. GM settled with some Oldsmobile owners by offering them warranty extensions for the Chevrolet engined Oldsmobiles, or the option of returning those cars in exchange for an Oldsmobile with a genuine Rocket V8. The “return car” option wasn’t used much, because the owner had to give GM money based on the mileage of the Chevy-mobile, which could become expensive. This began the era of “corporate” engines, and for many years GM advertisements would include a disclaimer stating ‘”Oldsmobiles (or other divisions) are equipped with engines manufactured by various GM divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide.”’