Has anyone found a way to obtain production numbers by model, year and transmission type?
My 2001 Cavalier Z24 with 5 speed manual seems to be a pretty rare model.
Hopefully it will appreciate in value over the years, or am I being naive?
While looking nationwide for months for another third generation Z24 with a manual trans, I have been unsuccessful.
My 2000 Z24 convertible is an automatic, and I read somewhere that all Z24 convertibles that year were with an auto trans.
Any links would be appreciated.
Steve
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW TOO....
Why are these simple numbers difficult to obtain?
I REALLY want a 2.4 Manual Trans last generation Cavie. More so than a C4 VettVette I'm keping my eyes open for.
My 98 sedan with the 5-speed that I totally lucked out and found 3 years ago is one of very few I have ever heard of. I have always wondered how rare it might be. It is almost a unicorn based upon my experiences. With only one or two exceptions, all manual cavs and Sunfires I have seen have always been either the Z24s or the very stripped down barebones coupes with the matte black bumpers. Having the actual Lordstown production figures would be very helpful for this site and would attract more people here in these quiet J-body times.
BTW, I was on my way back from a work trip last week and was filling up near Hagerstown, MD at about 7PM and there were 3 third gen cavaliers there. There was an older 95-99 coupe, a Z24 that still looked pretty good (probably babied for 15 years and then sold or passed on to someone) and one later 2003-2005 coupe. It is rare to see that many all at once any more. My friends thought I was nuts to even notice and bring it up.
99LN2
I have a nice condition 2004 4-d2004 4-door Manual transmission. I don't know howhow rare but I've been parking it in these couple MN winters. It spent most it's life in Kansas so the rockers aren't rotted out out (yyet)...
What happened to this site? People don't seem to post here much anymore..
It's all numbers. There were hundreds of thousands if not millions of us out there on the road still 15 years ago. Now it is probably just tens of thousands where only a percentage of those who own them are still really into them. Most of the J-bodies out there are now just extra cheap wheels to folks who just want them to get from point A to B. They don't care much if their dashes are cracked or the clearcoat has all sloughed off as long as they keep going but when they finally don't it's off to the crusher instead of fixing. That was why seeing 3 cavs all at once at one gas station last week was such a rare site. It was normal 15 years ago but not now. It is getting harder even just finding 3rd gens in junkyards now. In another 10 years or so they will be getting to be as rare as a 78 Monza is now.
Thebig drop off in traffic to this site reflects that. To me the biggest tragedy of this of all is the loss of excellent and extremely useful postings with pictures that are now just dead links where the pics used to be.
99LN2
I'm going to try to keep my 4 Dr manual in good condition. I'm also going to search like hell for a 2.4l manual cope (z24). If I have to I will settle for a 2.2l with engine upgrades. I have owned 4 cavies.and intent on adding one more to my 4 door.
If I decide to sell my 2001 5 speed Z 24, i will post it here first.
Steve
I'm thinking the 4-door manuals are extremely hard to find - just as hard to find as the Z24 coupes with manuals???
I am getting email alerts at numerous sites and neither of those types of cars ever seems to come up for sale. There can't be many left in North America that haven't been sent to the crusher???
> just as hard to find as the Z24 coupes with manuals???
I have seen these cars come up from time to time in my junkyard journeys but you are right about them being less common than the autos in the 3rd gen Z24s.
My old 2nd gen 1990 Z24 had the 3.1 with the 5-speed. The highway mileage was off the charts amazing on this car thanks to that 5th gear ratio. The downsides were that the torque of the 3.1 gave it hard torque steer (to the right if I recall correctly under hard acceleration) and the body itself felt "loose" when compared vs a 3rd gen body that feels much better for stiffness. Its OEM exhaust was constrictive as well and is why it came in rated at about 20HP lower than the Beretta with the same engine - probably for insurance purposes. I was all too happy when the muffler on mine rusted out (I had a short commute back then) and I replaced it with a thrush turbo and a glass pack dual tip to maintain the overall stock appearance. It definitely opened it up and it was bassier and smoother sounding too at the same time and truly sounded like a real V8. It's too bad that chevy never manufactured the 3.1 with the manual in the 3rd gen though people on this site have done it themselves and with even more powerful V6s. I bet that there were some interesting GM proving ground test prototypes of the 3rd gen in V6 configuration prior to 1995 before they decided to scrub it.
99LN2
99LN2 Cavalier wrote:> just as hard to find as the Z24 coupes with manuals???
I have seen these cars come up from time to time in my junkyard journeys but you are right about them being less common than the autos in the 3rd gen Z24s.
My old 2nd gen 1990 Z24 had the 3.1 with the 5-speed. The highway mileage was off the charts amazing on this car thanks to that 5th gear ratio. The downsides were that the torque of the 3.1 gave it hard torque steer (to the right if I recall correctly under hard acceleration) and the body itself felt "loose" when compared vs a 3rd gen body that feels much better for stiffness. Its OEM exhaust was constrictive as well and is why it came in rated at about 20HP lower than the Beretta with the same engine - probably for insurance purposes. I was all too happy when the muffler on mine rusted out (I had a short commute back then) and I replaced it with a thrush turbo and a glass pack dual tip to maintain the overall stock appearance. It definitely opened it up and it was bassier and smoother sounding too at the same time and truly sounded like a real V8. It's too bad that chevy never manufactured the 3.1 with the manual in the 3rd gen though people on this site have done it themselves and with even more powerful V6s. I bet that there were some interesting GM proving ground test prototypes of the 3rd gen in V6 configuration prior to 1995 before they decided to scrub it.
99LN2
3rd gen in a V6 would have been great.
To get breakouts by transmission types, odds are, you'll need someone on the inside of GM with access to production data. Over the years, I've seen some production totals by body type floating around, but not including transmission.
This is just a straight up blind guess, but for 3rd gens, I'd say that 10-15% of the total production had manual transmissions. So in total, that would mean somewhere between 275-400K over the 11 model years.
1989 Z24 Convertible - Dust Covered
2006 tC - Dust Covered, but driven more
