The Rise and Fall of the Toyota Cavalier

"-Amateur" (amateur) 03/26/2019 at 16:28 • Filed to: None

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On Nov. 19 1993, GM and Toyota signed a deal to sell Cavaliers in Japan by 1996. Aiming for the sky, GM wanted to sell 20,000 units a year. They sold Just 36,228 in its entire 4 year run.

Toyota and GM were no strangers to each other, after all they had an alliance since 1984 with the joint venture called NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, inc) in good old Fremont California.

The Fremont plant in its heyday churned out Chevy Novas, Geo Prizms/Toyota Corollas, Pontiac Vibes and Toyota Tacomas. The whole operation eventually imploded when GM pulled out of the alliance as they entered bankruptcy. Tesla eventually ended up buying the carcass of the NUMMI plant and the rest is history as they say.

Now let’s go on that yellow brick road back to the NUMMI period where anything was possible. Now you have to give credit where credit is due, General Motors had some serious balls to try to take on the Japanese market with a Cavalier. We have zero problems embracing Japanese vehicles here with their outstanding reliability and craftsmanship. It’s a one sided relationship as the Japanese market has always been elusive to U.S. auto manufacturers.

GM’s newest J-body for 1995 was leaps and bounds ahead of it’s predecessor. wheelbase was stretched 3" and it’s track widened by 2" in an effort to increase cabin room. All new aerodynamic sheetmetal cut through the air with a drag coefficient of 0.36. Dual airbags and ABS were standard in 1995.

Macpherson strut front suspension was retained. Suspension tweaks to the rear trailing twist beam was a coil over shock design that kept the shock and spring in-line to directly transmit road inputs into the body structure for a less jarring ride.

Cavalier’s power trains for the U.S. were all carry overs from the GM stable:

LN2 I4 SFI ohv 120hp and 130 lb ft through a 3 speed auto or 5spd manual. A new 4spd auto wouldn’t show up until 1996.

The 1995 year only Z24 had the reworked LD2 DOHC “Quad4" 2.3L. The Quad 4 was GM’s newest and most sophisticated 4 cylinder they’ve ever made from scratch. In peak form pre-1995, the H.O. 2.3L Quad4 (LD0 block) pushed 180hp NA with Oldsmobile variants pushing 190 hp NA. They were highly criticized for their crude NVH levels since GM decided to skip the balance shafts for moar powahhh!! The reworked LD2 for Cavalier duty rectified that issue by throwing in the balance shafts for a smoother quieter ride. It was good for 150HP and 150 lb ft tq with a reduction of redline from 6800 to 6500 rpm.

By 1996 the LD2 would be replaced by the LD9 “Twincam” that saw a bore decrease from 92 t0 90mm and stroke upped from 85 to 94mm. Displacement came in at 2.4L with hp at 150 and tq at 155 lb ft.

For it’s October 1995 (model year 1996) JDM debut, GM gave all Toyota Cavalier’s their most advanced 4 cylinder as standard equipment. The iron block, aluminum head DOHC 16v Twincam would lead the charge into territory few US cars dare to wander. The sole transmission choice for the Toyota Cavalier was the 4T40-E 4 spd Auto and pricing started at 2.05 million yen or about $18,000 in today’s money.

Subtle design changes for JDM include configuring it for right hand drive and having additional fender mounted turn signals to comply with Japanese regulations.

GM had a strong marketing campaign for it’s launch:

Initial interest was there, probably morbid curiosity more than anything. Halfway through its debut year, it moved 6,700 cars into the hands of Japanese families. Years end, it peaked at 11,467 cars sold. It would never touch those numbers again.

The demand just wasn’t there and the Cavalier was in a saturated segment fighting an uphill battle. Sales were no where near projections.

In an effort to boost interest, Toyota had it’s TRD division have it’s way with the Cavalier to make it appeal to the Japanese market tastes. The TRD Cavalier which had some suspension tuning and styling upgrades.

The Cavalier did do some Japanese circuit racing in the All Japan GT Championship as a GT300 race car for 1997. It was the only FWD car in the field and had a modified Toyota 3S-GE engine out of an MR2.

The Toyota and Chevrolet Cavalier did get a refreshed fascia in 1999.

All in all, GM and Toyota pulled the plug on April 12th 2000 with a final tally of 36,228 units sold in its 4 year run.

It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. GM tried and didn’t get the results they wanted...but they tried and I can’t fault them for that.

I’m sure out there there’s some fringe fan club somewhere out there in Japan for these blacksheep Toyota’s, or not. It doesn’t matter. It’s just neat that something like this even happened at all. Thanks for reading!

Credits go to Mayday Garage, Automotive News, Minkara CarView JP and JapaneseClass JP

WilliamsSW > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 16:35

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It would be a hilarious waste of money to import a RHD , TRD Cavalier once they clear 25 years. You’d get so much WTF at Cars and Coffee. 

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 16:40

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man that GT300 version  looks really cool

404 - User No Longer Available > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 16:41

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Argh... you showed me my nightmares again. Had one that had this tan sea of plastics with a tan exterior.

AMC/Renauledge > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 16:49

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Epilogue:

Just a couple years later, Toyota would market the Pontiac Vibe - built at NUMMI - in Japan as the Toyota Voltz. The Pontiac grille badge was replaced by a similarly-shaped chrome arrowhead stylized V.

For some reason, Toyota chose not to market its own Matrix - which was made in an entirely different plant in Canada - in Japan. They preferred to sell the Pontiac version instead.

My bird IS the word > WilliamsSW 03/26/2019 at 16:56

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I don’t even know if you would need to. Technically the car has been certified in the U.S.

-Amateur > WilliamsSW 03/26/2019 at 16:56

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We’re already at 23 years...

WilliamsSW > My bird IS the word 03/26/2019 at 16:58

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Ah, good point - since the TRD package was just a body and sticker kit, I guess.

Not that I actually care enough to look into this - 

WilliamsSW > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 16:58

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SO MUCH ANTICIPATION

-Amateur > AMC/Renauledge 03/26/2019 at 16:58

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Well that’s an interesting read! I did not know that.

-Amateur > 404 - User No Longer Available 03/26/2019 at 16:59

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I know its a compact and all but I can never get comfortable in those seats. I drive a Cavalier and really hate long trips with it. 

-Amateur > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 03/26/2019 at 17:01

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Definitely the bees knees! 

-Amateur > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 17:02

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Also Cavalier Ad:

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 17:03

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HA!

TuRD Cavalier!

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > WilliamsSW 03/26/2019 at 17:17

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The best part is, not a soul would ever believe you until they saw the wheel on the wrong side. Then you'd get to enjoy as a look of horror slowly creeps over their face as they accept the truth.

WilliamsSW > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 03/26/2019 at 17:25

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You forgot “and they realize that they need to get very far away from you as fast as possible”

AMC/Renauledge > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 17:26

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Those seats might as well have been Wal-Mart lawn chairs for how cheap they were. Many friends had these. Every single one had a busted driver’s seat backrest where some vertical plastic piece had snapped and poked out against the backrest cloth. Many stopped reclining after awhile.

They were garbage seats.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > WilliamsSW 03/26/2019 at 17:39

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Yep. Cause then they realize you're about to talk to them about cavaliers

Nauraushaun > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 17:54

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But...why? Why would the Japanese want such a car, when America are traditionally bad at un-big cars and the Japanese are perfectly good at them? In an era when the Toyota lineup was flush with such cars?

It feels like some sort of backwards land where America thought they’d muscle in on the Japanese market rather than...the complete opposite happening.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 18:00

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It probably failed because the Japanese didn’t have a Cavalier attitude.

Boxer_4 > WilliamsSW 03/26/2019 at 18:18

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Here’s one for $2,600+ shipping .  Somehow, I’m doubting that there will be a massive price hike in the next few years...

Also, proof that rebadging your car to that of its domestic market origins is universal.

WilliamsSW > Boxer_4 03/26/2019 at 18:27

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Oooh, such a bargain that is!

And yeah, crazy that they rebadged it as a Chevy.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 18:27

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Is it just me, or does that one in the yellow ad look like it's sitting in the breakdown lane? Perhaps a fitting image...

jimz > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 19:20

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there was a rise?

I kid, I kid. When I was in Japan in 2005 and 2006, I actually saw more than a few Toyota Cavaliers.

but what really blew my mind was how many Chevy Astro/GMC Safari vans I saw.

Boxer_4 > Nauraushaun 03/26/2019 at 20:29

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The Cavalier wasn’t even that un-big, for Japanese standards; it didn’t fall within the appropriate size class, and was more comparable that way to a Mark II.

I suspect that part of it had to do with the fact that GM was selling rebadged Corollas (Sprinters, really) in the US, and wanted to have a bit of balance. It didn’t work out that way though. I know that GM also sold Saturn cars in Japan for awhile, though it may have been an independent importer though.  I’m not sure if the Saturns did any better.  

-Amateur > jimz 03/26/2019 at 20:54

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I learned awhile back that they are crazy for Dodge Ram Vans and go circuit racing with them, it’s glorious!

ranwhenparked > Boxer_4 03/26/2019 at 22:46

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And that was a big part of the reason why Japanese small cars have always been so good. Compact by our standards is basically intermediate by theirs, so the cars were designed from the start to aim for a higher class of customer than American compacts, which were always intended as entry level transportation for economy buyers automakers hoped to one day trade up to a bigger car. 

ranwhenparked > -Amateur 03/26/2019 at 22:48

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The thing of it is, the Japanese do like some types of American cars, they just happen to be the sort of cars we don’t really build anymore.

I do believe that wealthy Japanese collectors were a big part of the classic car price bubble that happened in the 1980s, with prices for  certain American classics from the 1950s hitting ridiculous values - especially ‘59 Cadillacs, ‘57 Chevys, and the like. The bubble burst around the late ‘80s/early ‘90s and values corrected, but have since trended upward again on a more organic curve. 

Nauraushaun > Boxer_4 03/26/2019 at 22:50

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We had a similar thing in Australia. Toyota sold the Commodore as the Lexcen to fill a large-car-sized hole in their sales. Holden sold the Camry as the Nova to fill the small-car-sized hole.

But it was only in Australia. They never messed around trying to send Holdens to Japan.

facw > My bird IS the word 03/27/2019 at 00:11

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I think you’d still need to get Toyota (or GM?) to write you a letter declaring that it was substantially similar to the US market Cavalier.  

My bird IS the word > facw 03/27/2019 at 17:49

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Can you imagine trying to request that? lol.

Boxer_4 > Nauraushaun 03/27/2019 at 22:20

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I forgot about the Lexcen.  Did anyone actually buy one over a Holden?

Nauraushaun > Boxer_4 03/27/2019 at 22:42

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Haha! My mum did. She still has it.