Once an invisible econobox, today, this ’94 Chevy Cavalier turns heads

Cheap economy cars aren’t often preserved for posterity, but this 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier sedan is certainly an exception. It’s clean, (nearly) pristine and shows just 18,000 miles. it’s up for auction right now on eBay Motors,, too.

The Cavalier nameplate had made its debut back in 1982, one of GM’s J-car family of front-wheel-drive subcompacts. The J-cars and the mid-size A-cars both followed by two years the General’s first group of front-wheel-drive small cars, the star-crossed X-cars.

In 1994, the Cavalier had yet to be treated to a major redesign — that would arrive, finally, in 1995. The model was offered as a coupe, sedan, station wagon and convertible. With the new generation right around the corner, the 1994 model was largely unchanged. Its standard 2.2-liter engine had 10 more horsepower than before, however, and the car added tinted glass and a right-hand outside mirror to its standard equipment list. The ’94 Cavalier was available in VL (“Value Leader”), RS and Z24 trim.

This stone-simple VL sedan rocks the 2.2-liter four, a three-speed automatic, air conditioning, an AM/FM radio and crank windows — pretty much just as you would have found it on the Avis lot back in the day. This one, though, is probably cleaner — check out those cloth seats. It doesn’t even look to have been smoked in, although a sniff test would tell for sure. The attached Autocheck report shows a lifetime in Ohio and one minor accident when the car was new.

This Cavalier is the perfect example of a car that you never would have noticed back then, but one that, despite its humble nature, would turn heads now, especially in that metallic teal color. Does it get any more early-’90s? It does not.

Watch below to see how Chevrolet sold the Cavalier back in the early ’90s — on price. Because what else were they going to say? But they did spring for actress Janine Turner, then starring in the TV series “Northern Exposure,” where she was perpetually vexing transplanted NY doctor Joel Fleischmann.

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