2021 is the 40th anniversary of General Motors’ J-Platform first arriving in showrooms. If you announced that fact in the pub you would probably and deservedly be met with a mixture of confusion, apathy and shrugs. Were you to explain that the J-Platform was better known in Europe as the Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 and the Opel Ascona C, you’d probably still be met with apathy and shrugs, but at least people would know what you were on about.
Of course, the discerning ViaRETRO audience will recognise the significance of the J-Cars. Can it really be forty years since the fifth best-selling automotive platform in history made its debut? That the Mk2 Cavalier and Ascona C still seem relatively contemporary is a testament to the forward-leap the J-Platform represented. It was a leap which GM badly needed on a corporate level; a chassis that would provide multiple brands with a template for cost effective production of mid-size cars. Development began in 1977, co-centered between GM’s base in Detroit and Opel’s engineering facility at Rüsselsheim. The brief was to deliver an unprecedented level of commonality, with sharing of key components including engines and transmissions. Borrowing heavily from the contemporary Opel Kadett, steering and suspension was largely carried-over, as were gearboxes and the front-drive transverse engine placement. The overall wheelbase was stretched but more efficient packaging meant the new Asconas and Cavaliers offered more cabin space than the previous models, whilst being slightly shorter on the outside. The old cars’ longitudinal engines and rear wheel drive may have been best for those of a sporting bent, but transverse engines and front wheel drive are the preferred solution for cost, weight and compact packaging. The latter factors matter most to most buyers now as much as then, particularly in the fleet sector. Most vitally, simplified mechanicals make it easier to turn a profit, something the GM was understandably keen to achieve.
17th August 1981 saw the very first Mk2 Cavalier roll off the UK production line in Luton. Car 1 was unusually a 2-door saloon, a variant that wasn’t offered for very long in UK showrooms. Compared to the Ford Taunus TC2 and Cortina mkV, the new Ascona Cavalier was streets ahead in the eyes of the press. A feeble 1300cc engine was offered to satisfy the real tightwads but in more mainstream 90 bhp 1600cc SOHC “Family II” form the new Vauxhall was more efficient, faster and handled better than the old-fashioned Ford. The Opel-family styling was conservative but clean, without being controversial. By 1981 it was well known that Ford appeared to have been working on something revolutionary for the 80’s, but the Sierra would turn out to essentially be a re-engineered Cortina in a new body. By having a futuristic body which housed traditional underpinnings, it was the polar opposite of the Ascona and Cavalier. Opel and Vauxhall offered their buyers the choice of two- or four-door saloon and a five-door hatch from launch, followed in 1983 by a Holden-derived estate and even a convertible. It took Ford until 1987 to match the breadth of the Cavalier by introducing a three box Sierra Sapphire saloon; it was unusual for GM to be more in touch with their customers than Ford and I’m not sure it’s ever happened since.
Plenty of body options for the Ascona and Cavalier buyers.
The out-dated Cortina mkV and the mechanically similar, but more slippery, Sierra.
For a short while, GM capitalised on their sweet spot in the market while most of the competition were yet to transition their 1970s designs into cars fit for the 1980s. Key domestic rival Austin Rover were at a particular disadvantage with the hopelessly outdated Morris Ital, staggering on and marking time until the Austin Montego arrived. The J-Car was the right product at the right time and over in Germany, the Ascona immediately won the industry’s Goldenes Lenkrad award. The range was hotly tipped to be crowned Car Of The Year 1982, only to be inexplicably pipped to the post by the underwhelming Renault 9. It must have been France’s turn to win the completely fair and open competition.
Car of the Year. Really?
During 1981 only 33,000 Mk1 and Mk2 Cavaliers found homes in the UK. The following year saw a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as Vauxhall shifted 100,000 of the new model. The Cavalier benefitted from a head start but by 1983 the Sierra had gained traction to take the lead in the sales charts. An arms race of constant revisions commenced and GM’s early response was to introduce a fuel injected 113 bhp 1.8-litre variant on the higher trimlines, an engine capacity that took advantage of company car tax rules in the UK and duty breaks in many parts of Europe. GM treated the Cavalier and Ascona to a facelift for the 1985 model year which included revised chip-cutter grilles, smoother rear lamp clusters, new steering wheels, upgraded equipment and options including wider availability of power steering, and upgraded interior trims. Ford and Vauxhall traded places for overall UK sales honours until 1987 when the facelifted Sierra range, including the newly launched Sapphire saloon, landed the killer blow for market domination. It’s notable that the public still demanded petrol engines above all, which explains the weak link in the Cavalier range; the gloomy 53 bhp Isuzu-engined diesel option. It boggles the mind why anyone bothered with that. It could only have existed as a punishment for underperforming sales reps.
By 1987 the J-Car’s replacement was in an advanced stage of development, but GM treated the current models to further improvements to keep them fresh. Availability of the injected 1.8 litre engine was extended, but the big news was a new 2.0 litre engine from the Kadett and Astra, later widely known as the “redtop”. Available in the UK as GLS, CD, and SRi trim levels, it produced up to 130 bhp and could power the car past 120 mph, quite impressive at the time. Arguably, the ultimate incarnation of the Mk2 Cavalier was the grand finale Cavalier Calibre. Based on the SRi 130, the specification included a trip computer, Recaro seats, power windows and power steering, all for a heady £13,000. Limited to 500 cars, it frankly looked ridiculous compared to the Ford Sierra XR4x4; all mouth and no trousers. The Calibre was arguably the ultimate incarnation, but it’s not an argument I would make.
By the time the Cavalier Mk3 debuted in 1988, Vauxhall had shifted over 800,000 units of the Mk2 in the UK alone, but that’s only one part of the J-Car story. Variants were offered in all corners of the GM empire, and hints of Cavalier and Ascona styling could be found in the most unexpected places. Check out the Buick Skyhawk, Cadillac Cimarron, Chevrolet Cavalier, Isuzu Aska, Oldsmobile Firenza, Holden Camira, Pontiac J2000, and you’ll even find the underpinnings beneath the Daewoo Espero. One of the coolest foreign interpretations was the Brazilian built Chevrolet Monza in three door hatchback form, a variant unfortunately never offered in Europe. They were still building Ascona-alike Brazilian Monza saloons until 1996. The American Chevrolet Cavalier was the very last model to use the J-Car platform, ceasing production in 2005, but the body ceased to look anything like an Ascona C after 1994. Not a bad innings, though.
Sadly, only the Brazilians were offered this sleek coupé.
The reason the J-Car matters is partly it’s ubiquity, but mainly because the Ascona C and Mk2 Cavalier were such important parts of the European automotive landscape for so long, before fading into scarcity. There’s also the personal angle for me as from 1981 to 1988 they provided our family transport, my father first buying a very early China Blue 1600 L saloon before trading it for a Carmine Red 1600 base model in 1984. Those unpretentious cars transported us far and wide, including on regular trips to Ireland where the exotic Ascona version could be spotted. He used the red one to run over a dog (accidentally, I presume) and I later recall sitting in the back seat watching a Ford Capri slide slowly towards us down an icy incline. Mk2s were everywhere throughout the 80s and 90s and remained part of the street-scene until around the dawn of the new Millennium when the population really started to thin out. My last time in one was probably a memorable minicab ride through the badlands of East London at 3am around 20 years ago. Thinking about it, that may have also been the last time I went to a proper nightclub without looking like I was there to collect drunken offspring… both me and the Mk2 Cavalier are now leftovers from a previous age…
So, it’s Happy Birthday to the J-Car, but particularly to the fondly remembered Mk2 Cavalier and Ascona C. Regardless of whether they were really that exciting (they weren’t), nostalgia is a powerful thing and they’re a rare sight today. I saw one the other day, standing in the Great British Car Journey museum in Derbyshire. Yep, my childhood transport is now officially a museum piece. Those four decades have passed all too quickly.
