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Corvair was Car of the Year in 1960, Vega in 1971, Citation in 1980. They all were groundbreaking at the time but each had many problems. This video would have made more sense if didn't repeat some information and actually detailed the problems that led to it's demise. My girlfriend had a brand new one in 80. Seemed kind of cheap. Lots of molded hard plastic. The 4 cylinder engine was a little rough but not terrible. The car just wasn't refined. As a larger alternative to small imports it achieved that goal. But when a car goes out of production in 6 years there is proof of too many issues.

We owned a 1980 4-cylinder 4-speed. We actually tried to order one with V6 but never got it, they were in demand and we were suspicious that the dealer received our order and sold it to someone else. We ended up buying our 1980 off of a lot. We drove it 70,000 miles in 3 years including towing our small travel trailer around the western US. On the highway we got very good gas mileage. We traded it in for a 1983 X/11 and we really liked that one. We used it for towing the trailer but also for driving to work. It was sporty and performed well. Both of our Citations were nice cars, comfortable to drive, gave good fuel economy and were very reliable. I don't know what people do to their cars to make them unreliable, maybe don't beat the car with a chain every day. Maybe an unreliable car reflects more on the owner than on the car. (My family has been in the auto repair business for over 60 years so I know a little about what is reliable and what is not.)

We bought a new one in 1981. Quality was fair at best. Short in the windshield wipers caused them to sometimes activate when you started the car. Then it started jumping out of 3rd gear unless you held the shifter in place. Power steering failure after about 2 years. Clutch issues. Engine was completely worn out at 100,000 miles. We basically gave it to the dealer in 1987 as a trade on a new Olds Cutlass Supreme, GMs best ever car in my opinion. Also we took good care of our vehicles. So, none of the Citation issues was related to abuse or lack of proper service

I will never forget my father telling me that the Chevy Citation is the car of the future and you will be driving this car when you get older. With that statement, I thought I better buy a 1960's car for a weekend fun car.

I bought a 1980 Citation V6 automatic. My first new car.. I was 20. Always maintained it. Great little car. Awesome in the snow. Never any problems. Just a couple recalls. Fast forward- I bought a new 2021 Bronco sport on May. It broke down in August at 1700 miles. Won't start. It's still at the Ford dealer. They can't find the problem yet. So much for cars being better now

We inherited one from my father-in-law. A good car, never had any problems.

Toyota secretly bought an early production model Citation in 1979 when it was available for sale, sent it back to Japan for test evaluation and eventually was torn apart to understand its engineering and how GM did their FWD set up. Toyota had bought one to understand why Americans bought them in their thousands. To their surprise, Toyota engineers discovered that the Citation (and the X-Car in general) wasn't a fully baked product and lacked in quality control. Toyota was confident that they could introduce, produce, and sell a better car in the American market that Americans would rather prefer to own and drive. And this is how the Camry was born, because Toyota themselves bought a Chevy Citation. Without the Citation, there would be no such thing as a Camry, because the Citation inspired Toyota to do much better. And they did.

I had a 2-door hatchback with a 4-speed manual. I was traveling over 30K a year with my job and the storage space was great. Liked it so much a bought a new 1983 which was one of the biggest POS I've ever owned

I worked with a guy that had a 1980 citation he bought it new when he worked at a Chevrolet dealer he was still driving that thing in 2016 when he retired as far as I know he is still driving it had a 2.5L iron Duke

A family member had an 80 model year Citation. Four banger with manual transmission. That car provided reliable service for many years. It carried a band of four of we cousins on several road trips out west. That car had one of the first “big” stereos in it too. So road-trips were enjoyable. On more than one occasion the occupants of the Citation could have been rightfully accused of trying to compete with Cheech and Chong due to all the smoke billowing out the sunroof! Oh to be young and not have a care in the world again.

The Nova looked a million times better, was rear wheel drive, and you could get a V8 engine. The Citation was one of the first "appliance" cars.

My best friend had a red 81 X-11. High output V6, air conditioning, sport suspension. It was a very cool car.

Had one. Really liked it. Mine was fairly plain Jane. Big inside, modest outside. Mine folded in half. It was common for frame rails/unibody to rust away under the passenger compartment here in Wisconsin.

I wrecked my Citation when I was in college a little over 20 years ago; surprisingly, it didn't catch on fire that time.

I a 23 year old drive an 85 citation as my daily I guess I take very good care of it like my grandfather had it has well over 400k on the engine which is out of the 81 omega the chassis I believe has well over 800k or 900k miles we really don't know it has never left me stranded and though I remain cautious I shall continue to trust this wonderful car even if I need to convert the rear brakes to disc for safety reasons

My dad had one, the trunk and interior was huge. Of course the quality of fit and finish was not that great, was quite reliable.

Dad had the 5-door hatchback. It was a surprisingly nice car to drive. The A/C smelled like sweat socks, however. We never changed the inside air filter! Still, we liked driving it.

I had an 85 citation. Drove it for 114 thousand miles. Had very few problems with it. That was a great car. I loved it.

The V6 version had great power for its day. What is funny is the new Caddy CT5 kinda mirrors this shape

had one in high school and into college. was actually a great first car. 2.8 v6 auto was surprisingly fast. fold down rear seat was good for oil well parking. towed my fishing boat with it and put in at the marina. got around good in the snow but would spin out easy. that was good and bad. beat up on a lot of domestic four bangers with it. mustangs and barettas, etc. the whole interior was green with the vertical radio.

I had a 82 Citation hatchback that was used. I drove it 40 miles round trip to work and back for probably 5 years. I went to a nearby junkyard and pulled out a stereo verticle radio and put it in. Was driving to work one morning and hit a 6 point buck at 65 miles an hour. Well that was the end of that car. I have to admit tho, I have owned over 20 cars in my lifetime, and this was one of the top five.

Had an '84 4-door hatchback, w/4-spd; my favorite car I've owned

GM's Holden division in Australia looked carefully at the Citation as a possible follow-up to the HZ series Holden IF the smaller size Opel-derived Commodore failed to ignite the market's interest. Holden's Australian engineers went over the citation with a fine tooth comb and the use of the venerable Buick 3.8 V6 was mooted (which would have necessitated a change in the car's front clip and steering system). In the end it was believed that Aussies were too enamoured of their large RWD cars to take a punt on going FWD and so had the Commodore failed to ignite the interests of the Australian public a rebodied HZ/WB would have gone into production instead. Fortunately for Holden Aussies took to the modified Commodore and the rest is history. I have often wondered what the Aussie version of the Citation would have looked like and how it would have coped with Aussie roads.

My grandparents had a 4 door hatchback. I remember lots of fun drives in it. I always wanted to find a 2 door hatchback and drop a V-8 in it. 2 tone paint and some nice period rims.

The X cars in their early model years were plagued with failure of front wheel drive components like axle shafts/ CV joints. As they got older severe body rust issues became apparent. You mention Chrysler K cars. Fortunately for Chrysler ( and their customers) their K- Cars, the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries which were introduced about a year or so later for 1981 did not exhibit serious problems like the GM cars.

For me. I really liked the way it looked and loved everything from the firewall back. Firewall forward was a different story. Had the four cylinder, carb. model that produced a lot of issues. The engine died, under warranty thankfully. At first I was to get a completely new engine but then they decided to rebuild the old one; to save money. I must say, that the dealer was very nice. They gave me a loaner and the job was finished right on time. One dangerous problem was driving in the rain. If you came to an intersection and had to stop, you had a good chance of just sliding into the intersection. Chevy knew about the problem.

From Leo: We had lots of neighbors that had them. It was a dependable, cheap fill in car while the American makers transitioned to the smaller, higher mileage product lines. The only negative I remember was how people who were used to full sized V8 sedans for years did not really like compromising to a smaller car, especially families with a lot of children. That would be the same no matter what they bought.

As a friend and I (who both owned one) called it "the dreaded X car" The finish and reliability were terrible for both of us. I was happy when I upgraded to a Chrysler K car. Too many corners were cut somewhere on a car that should have been great.

Had a beige 1982 X-11 hatchback with a red interior. Quick and handled well and could haul a lot of stuff. Had it for about 7 years before the Florida salt air had it rust away.

What a beautiful car!! I'm surprised I didn't know anything about it until this video! Thank you.

Everyone I knew that had one loved them. My mom and sister also had one. Mom's was a a four door V6 auto and My sister's a four cylinder auto. Neither one had any problems with theirs. I drove both cars many times and they were very solid. I remember driving my mom's V6 all day long and the gas gauge barely moved. When I drove my sister's four banger, the radio got stolen. I later bought a 91 S-10 with that same 2.5 4 banger and that truck was indestructible.

My first car was a 72ish Vega wagon. I wanted a Citation x11 . Ended up gifted a Chevette. This video reminded me of my childhood desires. Thanks for the content.

Had an Olds Omega, a rebadged Citation, maybe a bit more luxurious, which I kept my usual 10 years. A very good looking head turning automobile. Never had serious technical issues. Just a broken window crank and quite a lot of rust on the lower body parts (due to salty roads in Northern European roads). The real weak point was the limited fuel tank capacity, which meant a maximum 350 km drive between filling up again. It ended up towing gliders at the nearby airfield with its V6 engine.

Because the front struts punched thru the hood when the strut mounts rusted as the cars aged! I was driving a company car down a gravel oil rig road in Tejas, hit a sight wash-out in the road and did that! NEARLY turned the POS over!!! Had to wait in the 109* heat ( engine wouldn't run) for 3 1/2 hours for help to come down the road. They just shoved it off the side of the road with an oil field truck and let it rust to death-never tried to recover it.

Like most GM cars they weren't well thought out and killed any chance of it truly becoming successful. By the time the car was perfected it was far too late.

The 1980 models had teething problems that gave the car a bad reputation, but my parent's '81 was well put together and reliable. It was a lot of car for the money with more comfortable seating than the '75 Malibu they owned previously, a huge trunk and a decent combination of ride and handling. This car was really the trial version of the FWD A-body, which stayed in production for many years after the demise of the Citation. It's too bad that GM ceased to offer mid-sized hatchbacks after 1985; they offered a nice combination of economy and versatility.

My first car was a 1982 Chevy Citation two door with a manual 4 speed. It was a pretty decent car imo, pretty reliable in my experience. He said the 2 door was abandoned after 1981, but I had a1982 that was a coupe.

My in laws had a new 1980 canary yellow Citation. It was a nice vehicle except for a few oddities such as the roll up windows rolled up and down in reverse of what was normal and the radio was mounted vertical in the dash as if there wasn't enough room to mount it horizontal.

i once bought one of these cars for $75. the car was already quite old and this was years ago. the owner couldnt get it to idle. i replaced the faulty choke pull off and we drove it for a couple of years, sold it for $50. was one of the best deals we ever had. the bad part about the car, the floor was absolutely toast. most rotted floor i had ever seen, it was rotted when we bought it but for $75 i didnt care. the car never left us in a bind, in fact my mother drove it a summer because the transmission in her 96 taurus wagon failed and had to be rebuilt. the floors, sucked

Love and miss the looks of these ❤️💙 hard to find today

Perfect illustration of GMs thinking. Honda and Toyota looked at the big picture, thinking long term brand benefits of building quality. GMs bean counters thought saving money by making every single part as cheaply as possible was the way to go. I’m surprised GM is still around.

I have had a couple of these and I really liked them. Especially the V6 in the snow. The whole car felt solid and safe and the only real problem I had with the V6 was the transmission dipstick tube kept working its way loose. I was a dumb high school kid so I never bothered to actually find out WHY, as long as it ran. The 4 banger ate head gaskets like cookies.

I knew someone back in the 80s that had a 82 red Citation. It was a awesome car. They drove it for eight years problem free.

“Now that’s more like it, more like it….The newwwwww…..Cheverlet…….” That was the jingle for the Citation I would hear on my dad’s car radio when he would take us to school. I was 11 when that car was released. I remember that car like it was yesterday.

Ok. Aug 1996 I turned 16 That May me and my Father found a Citation for 200 bucks. Sat for years. 2 door blue with a V6 auto. All summer me and my dad worked on it. Little here. Little there. By Aug it was running good. I started my Junior year and drove it for 2 years. Never broke down or left me stranded. Survived Chicago winters and me beating it all day.

I remember the vertical radio was a thing. The only other car that had one was Corvettes from the 60's. Very few after market radios offered a vertical radio, so most would end up having the numbers for the radio frequency appear sideways when installed into a Citation. I remember my sister got a radio from Radio Shack that came with a second faceplate specifically for use when mounting vertically.

Had the Pontiac version. Blew a head gasket at 30.000 miles. Still pisses me off after all these years

This was my buddy's first car when we were teens. It didn't run often.

In high school, I had a 1981 , Chevrolet Citation 4 door hatchback

My stepfather's grandfather had one. One day we realized he always drove like a bat out of hell in the thing. The speedo came disconnected and after trying for half a decade to get it fixed he just figured the speeding tickets were cheaper.

I had an 82 x11 back in the day...I loved it ..then I got a 87 Z24.Loved it even more.

My parents had one. The transmission started going out while we were on vacation. They only had it for a year or so when the issues started.

NOW I KNOW I where Mitsuoka got the design idea for the Buddy. All the people buying them think they are the coolest thing on wheels. Little do they know. Side note, the first used car I sold was a Citation X11. Thanks for the video.

We had an 81 5 door sedan...my mother loved the way it went in the snow.

A couple of clarifications.The red X-11 shown as a 1981 model is actually a 1982 or later model.The 1981 had an egg crate grill that was different from the 1980 model, however the 1982 and later cars had the horizontal grille shown on the red X-11 in this clip.The 1981 X-11 received the H.O. 2.8 V6 with 135hp, compared with the 110 hp standard 2.8.The 1981 X-11 was the quickest car in the Chevrolet line up at the time as it had the135 hp H.O. and weighed 2500 lbs. where as the much heavier 3rd gen Camaros and Vettes had the anemic 5.0 small block with only 145 hp.The 81 X-11 accelerated to 60 mph in 9 seconds and covered the quarter mile in a "scorching" 17 seconds flat. It pulled .81 g on the skidpad with the new Goodyear GT's that Goodyear and Chevrolet developed specifically for the 1981 X-11.The 1982 Citation shared the floorpan with the upcoming Celebrity which changed the angle of the strut towers and the front geometry to reduce torque steer. Having campaigned a 1981 and a 1982 X-11 in showroom stock B class, I can attest to the fact that this made the car more composed yet noticeably less fun to pitch into the turns. I have a penchant for red Chevrolets, I wish I still had my 81 X-11 (it got totaled) and my 2002 Camaro SS. Time marches on.

My step-grandmother had a 4-door version. I don't recall what year it was. I just recall that it was red. And owned it for over 25 years, refusing to stop driving it until it just became more expensive to repair than replace.

The bar was pretty low in 1980.

My mom had a white 1983 Chevy Citation four door hatchback, it used to be a state car when she bought it back in the summer of 1991😊❤👍

I feel like this narrator is going to sell me a kitchen gadget.

Wow, reminds me of the last two years of high school. Those things were everywhere. I started to work in as a mechanic in 1985 so by then there were plenty of olders citations, phoenixes, omegas and skylarks. Michigan was hard on those front suspensions, salt was hard on the radiator. The heater core was somewhat common, water pumps, AC issues , electric cooling fan. But they weren't as nearly as common in the garage as allllllllllllllll the Ford tauruses and tempos we repaired.

I had a '80 Pontiac Phoenix hatchback that I special ordered (had to wait for it) with the V-6 and 4-speed. The car was very roomy and comfortable for its size, for both passengers and cargo. The V-6 was pretty peppy, especially compared to the malaise-era competition. Unfortunately, it had problems that couldn't be fixed. The 4-speed's cable shifter meant shifting was always clunky and the ratios were so wide that there were certain speeds where the engine was revving too high but would lug in the next gear. The front axle shafts leaked and couldn't be fixed due to the design. Then there were the brakes - every road test noted that the rear brakes would prematurely lock up on just moderately hard braking potentially causing loss of control of the vehicle and my car was affected by this. Sold the car after 2 1/2 years and bought a new Volvo 240.

I ordered a new 1980 Skylark 4 Dr X-Car in April '79 & got it mid-June. Sales of these were nothing short of nuts then! I ordered most options with the 4 cylinder & 4 spd manual for maximum gas mileage. I'm a car Detailer & the first time I went over the exterior, I saw countless paint defects virtually on every body panel. The Dealership told me to circle the "few" spots with a body crayon, as they thought I was exaggerating. I brought the car in with circles marked all over the body & when they checked, saw they were legit. They resprayed the car with lacquer & afterwards it looked 10 times better than the factory orange-peel paint. The color was Claret Red, a deep metallic maroon. The vinyl top was also stained by the car leaking above it on the Car Loader. They replaced the Factory tan top with a Cadillac grade padded vinyl in gold; 10 times better than it was. At least Buick tried to make it right, but was upset because they had to pay for that 😡. I had no issues with the car & though it was smaller, it looked almost as good as a Cadillac Seville 😊

I remember the Chevrolet Citation fondly, probably because I never owned one. Thank you,

My Mom's X-11 was fast as funk. Off the line with those mid-sixties and early seventies muscle cars it couldn't be beat. Up to 50m.p.h. that "little missile" couldn't be beat.

I have to agree with the comments pertaining to cars being a POS. Every decade had those runs, and every manufacturer did as well. The 80's can be blamed because of the lingering 1970s oil crisis. Mannys were hastily trying to introduce new lighter, cheaper, affordable models with good fuel economy....with that came quality issues. The speedy builds and some untried technologies created longevity and safety issues.

Great video

It's incredible how long GM ran with that Iron Puke. Had one in a Pontiac Grand Am SE. Beautiful car. Too bad the Quad 4 wasn't released sooner, when that motor came out it was like GM finally could compete with Toyota and Honda.

WE lost one of these in Manhatten and never even called the tow trucks due to value lol

I bought a V6 Citation coupe for 150.00 from a gas station dealer. It lasted a month. Boy, I ripped him off.......lol.

Casey Kasem, welcome back!

I purchased a 1983 model. In the first month, I was travelling from Chicago to San Francisco when the Volts light came on. GM dealership in Wyoming wouldn't touch the car on a weekend, so I found a local mechanic. He told me the alternator was never properly assembled and got me back on the road. I went through many alternators with that car.

I loved my 3 door 4 speed manual. I bought 2, 1 was for parts. Being 16 with a new license I basically lived in it because I loved to drive. Would come home long enough to shower, eat and was gone again just driving. The novelty of new independence and a license. Now I am 58 and I hate to even get in a car. My new Jeep Grand Cherokee 2019, only just over 2K. LOL.

I still remember the commercial jingle. Chevy CiTaTION!

Had one in college and i loved that car. The hatch back was so handy going back and forth home. Drove very smooth and was comfortable. Also had a Vega that was nice, the engine was crap.

These cars were notorious for brake problems. They were innovative...1st Chevy w/front wheel drive. My Mom ALMOST bought one, but opted for the '80 Malibu. Unfortunately, that car was a nightmare w/electrical problems. Last Chevy she bought for a long time...we switched to K-cars and such, which will a bit more dependable (far from perfect tho'). NO surprise that reliable Hondas and Toyotas rose to the top of the heap!

The Citation X11 was quick with the V6 engine and manual transmission.

I got a 1980 4 cylinder Chevy citation for 350.00 in 1996. I drove it ALL over 3 states. It lasted 4 years, and the repairs costed Under 300.00. After it played out the odometer read: 437,295.9.... IMPRESSIVE!!!

Drove one when I was young!

I had the 85 version and mine had severe overheating issues. It didn't come with a temperature gage. You didn't know it was hot until the hot light came on. I had to have the thermostat and heater core replaced cause of overheating but after that the car continued to overheat. I believe the head gasket was blown. There were no issues with coolent leaks or bad hoses. I finally traded it in on for a Ford Escourt.

I had a 1980 Buick Skylark with the 2.8 V6. Traded it in 1986 for a Mazda 323.

This car was in the Movie Blind Vision made in Norfolk Va.

My father almost bought one in 1980 but decided to go with a 1979 Caprice 2dr. Beautiful car

I miss mine!! Wish I had another one.

My mom had one, as a kid I called it the "C" car because of how it was shaped lol

Had a Pontiac Phoenix back in the 80's. Same, same, just different...lol.

Even as a Ford & Mopar fan, I wish GM had better durability and quality underneath the X cars' excellent stying. I was a kid then, and the X cars were simply beautiful compared to the foreign junk. Beautifully balanced stying, an extremely elegant transition from GM large vehicle good looks and small car reality.

Living in Northern Illinois, we had these as company cars. We used to have to clamp the fuel line with Vice Grips first thing in the morning on cold days so they didn't flood while we tried to start them. Had the heater core blow out on the interstate dumping scalding coolant on my passengers feet, he wasn't happy. I used to be a GM only guy, this car changed that.

My Dad was close friends with the owner of the local Chevy dealer, so we spent a lot of time there. I remember when the Citation X-11 came out and we went to look at it. Dad's response, "You've got to be kidding me..."

I worked for a couple of Buick stores during the time frame the X-body emerged, and died. Our Buick Skylark, was also an X-Body car (like the Citation), and Monday's were days of dread in the parts and service departments. On Monday mornings, there was a consistent line of Skylark's attached to tow trucks that led out of our Service Drive and out into the street, and occasionally down that street for quite a ways. They were terrible cars! Intermixed with the X-bodies on hooks were the GM cars (and trucks) equipped with the dreaded 5.7L diesel engines. It was a really bad time to be a GM dealer. No matter what the new car was that was sold, you could expect it back on a hook. (The J-car Skyhawk had the shudder in the steering column, amongst other things, so they didn't escape the hooks either!)

Some of those "fuel injection" were fuel injection in the carburetor ("Izzacarb" as heard on Click and Clack) by 1982 or so some of the problems with the underdeveloped rear brake system and the mounting of the steering rack (body vs. engine cradle) may have been solved but remained what should have been a very good car with poor or slipshod assembly qualilty. Not sure if any of them came off the line with loose cylinder head bolts but intake manifold bolts,starter mounting bolts,various suspension mounting hardware could be left untorqued or loose. Don't know whether the failing power steering rack problem was only in the first year or if all of them could have it. Lack of a filter in the power steering fluid/pump circuit? Also if mysterious performance complaints developed it wasn't a bad idea to try substituting a new ignition module before paying out a whole lot of money for diagnosis,carburetor rebuild,etc. Of course the newer ones "CCC" could have problems with such things as throttle position sensors,pressure or airflow sensors (don't remember which kind it had) the 2.5 was basically an uninspiring tractor motor but it was pretty dependable some 2.8 seemed to be more powerful than others even if not the "H.O." style also some of them developed a liking for high test gasoline although they were not supposed to require it. If I remember Snap On's double jointed spark plug getter socket made getting out the rear plugs doable,also you could disconnect a top dogbone engine mount thing,and with the brake off and the car in gear or Park(don't try it unless on a perfectly level surface and don't start the engine!) and by gently pushing the car slightly forward or backward you could make the engine lean forward a little bit and make more room to get the rear spark plugs (V6)

❤ Citations were all over the place along with Buick and Pontiacs I was different and bought the 81 Escort..1.6 lliter with a stick...Had AM radio and no a/c. Red with steel wheels 2dr hatch. I loved that thing. My first enlistment Airforse my best friends mother in law has a 2 dr Citation. They really liked it alot.

got my learners permit in one of these back in 85 in high school

Pretty respectable ack-selleration numbers for the time and market segment.

84 citation is what we had for a driver's ed car

A friend of mine owned an X11, that would be a cool car to find in nice shape today. I owned a ugly brown 4 door that never quite worked right. They didn’t seem to rust though.

When the Chevy Citation was introduced in 1980, the Toyota Camry did not exist. They were introduced in 1983. The Honda Accord had only been around since 1978.

The X-Cars were rushed out by GM before the engineering issues were addressed. I had the great misfortune of owning the Pontiac version of the X-Car, the Phoenix. It suffered from numerous problems. The automatic transmission failed twice. The engine would die at stops. The 2.5-liter engine was anemic when paired with the 3-speed automatic. There were a plethora of X-Cars on the road in the early to mid-Eighties. Then they just disappeared. I haven't seen one on the road in several decades.

Dad gave me his 1980 four door. Traded in for two door. Vertical radio was funny.

my folks had a two-tone paint job of black and gold. it was loaded.