Holden Camira (Australia, 1982-1989)
Opel Ascona C (Europe, 1981-1988)
Opel Monza (South Africa, years uncertain)
Chevrolet Monza (Brazil/South America only, 1982-1990; not to be confused with the Opel Monza//Senator Coupe available in Europe - that was a V car, like Australia's Holden Commodore)
Vauxhall Cavalier (United Kingdom, 1981-1988)
Isuzu Aska (Japan, 1982-1985)
Daewoo Espero (Korea)
Toyota Cavalier (Japan, 1996-2000)
1982 Pontiac J2000 (no dash, slash, hyphen, space, or anything)
1983 Pontiac 2000 and 2000 Sunbird Convertible
1984 Pontiac 2000 Sunbird
1985-94 Pontiac Sunbird
1982-88 Oldsmobile Firenza
1982-89 Buick SkyHawk
1982 Cimarron by Cadillac, 1983-88 Cadillac Cimarron
1982-94 Chevrolet Cavalier
Oldsmobile and Cadillac only kept their version of the J car from 1982 to 1988, Buick held out through 1989, to help keep each division of GM in its proper place. In the end, only Pontiac and Chevrolet would keep their versions of the high-selling compact car. Cadillac's president fought to keep the Cimarron, but it was agreed to be dropped with the Firenza and Skyhawk. For its first three years, Pontiac kept changing the name of its J car until the name Sunbird was settled on in 1984, named after the Old H-car of the 1970s. A new name "Sunfire" came to the Pontiac J-car in 1995.
An interesting side note about J-body convertibles:
Cavalier and 2000 Sunbird convertibles first appeared in 1983 in quantities limited to 627 units each produced by American Sunroof in Michigan. Keinath Automobilbau in Europe built 300-350 Opel Ascona C convertibles (Cabrios!) in the early 80's. Voll (in Würzburg-Heidingsfeld) produced another 3,000 Ascona convertibles under the trademark "Hammond & Thiede" between 1984 and 1988. No other division ever released a J-body convertible.
It is also interesting to note (no offense to Cimarron fans) that the Cimarron is considered by many to be the WORST J-car of the series, based upon its styling compared to the Cavalier and its comparatively exorbitant price. It came with a leather interior, but that didn't keep it from being called a "disaster" by Ride and Drive magazine.
There was also the Toyota Cavalier, built by GM in Lordstown, Ohio alongside the Chevy and Pontiac models. Built as right-hand drive models and badged as Toyotas, these cars were exported to Japan. Unfortunately, the Japanese did not buy many of the J-Body cars, and they were discontinued after the 2000 model year. Incidentally, there was a TRD kit available in Japan for those cars.
| Created: | 01-01-2004 |
|---|---|
| Modified: | 07-10-2009 |
| Rating: | (not rated) |