My co-worker had one and it did ok for him. He sold it and the very next day saw it on the side of the road with the hood up.

When you consider how many of these things were made, it’s stunning how rarely they are seen today! Call me crazy, but I would LOVE to see a pristine version of this vehicle at my next car show - I find ALL cars interesting in their own way - to me, there’s no room for snobbery in the wonderful world of collectible cars!

There was a brief move toward "giant chevette" look, which leaked over to cutlass salon. There's a lot I don't miss about that era.

My mother, freshly divorced in 1980 was in the market for a new car, I tried to talk her into at least a 6 cylinder Camaro, but she wanted a Citation, I was 15 and she let my younger brother and me order the car with the stipulation that it could not be an X 11, what we ordered was an X 11 without the stripes, 2 door hatchback, silver over black bucket seat console, it had to be an automatic as my mother could not drive a stick with the V6 and sport suspension, say what you will, but for what it was it was pretty quick compared to some of the stones made at the time and it was alot better than a K car!

Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon L-Bodies were available in 1978

My Mother bought a skylark with the 2.5 L. carbureted 4cyl. back around '81-83, Test drive one car, fall in love with it, The one you bring home becomes the very first lemon-Law case that goes to court in CT...we won...

I owned four different Citations over the years, all in the2.5L 4 banger variant. 3 auto and one standard. I absolutely LOVED these! I ran the odometers over the 200,000 mile marker on each and every one of these. I would buy them at around the 125K mark for next to nothing and drive the snot out of them. At the time I had an 80 mi round trip commute to work every day, so it didn't take long to rack up the miles. If I could find a low mileage model in decent shape, I would buy it in a heartbeat and daily it till the wheels fell off!

I remember seeing a few X11's as a kid. I remember them having cool looking wheels for the time

This does bring back memories! These were good people movers with not bad fuel economy. They were all over the place in the day! Thanks Steve!

What about the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon that came out in 1977? Yes these ware derived from Chrysler Europe models but they were heavily modified for the American market and were made here. Japanese cars used beam axles for many years, and some even reverted from independent suspension to beam axles to save cost. They also just work.

I was 16 in 1980. I believed that horsepower and performance were dead and never to return. I'm glad to see that it came back with a vengeance. One good thing of that era...Muscle cars of the late 60's and early 70's were cheap back then. I currently own a 68 Chevelle with a 454.

Great econobox right there. Wish they still made affordable bare-bones cars.

My stepmother had one of these, she brought it into the shop for a tune up (dad was known as the Carb Guy around town) and a few years later she married my dad. She drove the wheels off that thing, had over 300k on it, and it just kept going. Ugly as sin, got "ok" mileage for what it was, but was better than any 4wd in the slick nasty winter months. In the 90's after it rusted completely out in the rear, Dad took all the running gear out of it, and actually made a Trike out of it & it's still going to this day with well over 400K on the engine and transmission. As a car.... it did what a car does. Got you from A to B, but on the cool factor...... it didn't even register until he made it into a Trike lol.

Citation and Buick Skylark were the first two X-body cars from GM. Front wheel drive was a big deal back then, but the early cars had many quality issues. My dad soon traded it back to another GM dealer, and the dealer complained that he got a lemon. My dad told him what goes around, comes back around! My Dads skylark had oil in the coolant.

Any old car that elicits a memory for someone has a place in the hobby , even if it's not our cup of tea . Besides different can be fun in car collecting .

I can remember having a fleet of new Citations as MP vehicles for when We pulled law enforcement duty at Ft Bragg NC. Everyone hated them, and would try to get one of the two range road patrols, so we could drive a Chevy truck.

In '81 I bought a brand new red X-11, 4-speed. Carbureted (81-82 only) with a rochester progressive 2 barrel. Carb was like a Quadrajet cut in half down the middle with 1 primary and 1 secondary. I never saw or heard of any 5-speeds. Eventually I saw a few with column shift automatics. It has a very typical Chevy performance story. John Heinricy (it was his first performance project) took the '80 X-11(stickers & stripes only) and built it up to go SCCA Showroom Stock B racing. Extra K-frame bracing and harder mount bushings, better brakes and booster, stiffer springs, struts and shocks, quicker steering rack, smaller steering wheel, specific 4-speed and final drive gearing, better motor mounts, better cam, higher compression, bigger valves, bigger stainless exhaust, hi-flow cat, fiberglass hood with functional (for carb cars only) cowl induction, Kelsey-Hayes aluminum 15" wheels and Goodyear Eagle GT tires that were developed using the X-11 as the test mule because front drive performance was here to stay. Carb motor made 145HP and loved to be "on the cam", and the car weighed 2800 lbs. I think Heinricy ran the '80 for a season with pretty good success. Story goes, the brass came down to see it and told him to build them for '81 as he had it set up, and mine had all of it. Option code was Z-19, and there was a Z19 in the VIN, IIRC. The beam axle made it a bit jumpy in rough corners but they were just killer little cars that went like snot and handled great. I had great success in SCCA Solo II F Stock class from 81-84, against Camaros, Mustangs, Corvairs and big BMWs. Worked my way past all but 1 guy in a Corvair Monza. In 83 Heinricy brought a notchback X-11 and a new Firebird Trans Am out to an autocross at PIR in Phoenix, and beat my time by 15 seconds. John Heinricy is just an awesome driver, but still I had to wonder. He was like: "Yea, it's just stock." I said: "Uh-huh." That was the only X-11 notchback I ever saw, except for '80s which were just sticker a package. I had my car 16 years, ran beautifully 150k miles. Until I was rear-ended hard at a stoplight in '96. I miss it. That motor was used in the Fiero GT and developed into an OHC version that was used with a 5 Speed in the Z-34 Lumina.

The first midsize GM front wheel drive. I was working at a Chevy dealer when this first came out. Besides the front wheel drive it was the first year for OBD 1 with it issues. Before it even hit the dealer it had 13 recalls. Brakes were a big one. Spair tire would not fit the front, it hit the brake caliper. Manual trans synchros, drive axle boots, PS rack seals, auto manual clutch adjuster, and parking brake cables. Kept me busy as a young mechanic.

Steve the K car like you stated did come out in 81. Dodge and Plymouth did have the Omni and Horizon that came to market in 78. They were front wheel drive beating Chevrolet to market by 2 years.

Don't forget those awesome GM instalock rear drum brakes from the 1980's. Steve didn't put the air cleaner lid back on all the way. Now, when someone does a "will it run" video in the year 2040 the engine will be locked up!

My best buddy's grandmother bought one brand new and we ALL drove that car. Granny, my buddy Danny, his sister, myself, Danny's cousin "Bodean" and his dad. We drove that car everywhere and not a day went by that it wasn't driven. Ten years she owned that car and all it ever needed was regular maintenance. One Alternator and new calipers. And the calipers had to be replaced because Danny's sister drove it from Birmingham Alabama to Panama City Florida and back with bad brake pads. 301,000 miles when it was traded for an Oldsmobile Cutlass (G body) and still ran just fine. Only the seats and interior were obviously clapped. Wasn't a bad car at all and had plenty of room.

Had a 1980 two door hatchback, sharp looking car at the time. The rear seat folded down so there was lots of room to carry stuff. We owned it for 8 years and never had a problem with it. It was great in the snow, went through just about everything.

I still have my white Citation X-11 Hotwheels car that I got new sometime in the mid '80s. Because of that, and maybe only that, I like the Citations.

Dark times indeed. It started with the compression ratio drop, really hit it’s stride through the Disco era, but the clouds started to part with the introduction of the 5.0 Mustang. Tough times and wasted years for us old gear heads, we had no option but to live in the past.

A mere 2k subscribers until the 100k mark, people need to share these videos because this channel is great for automotive historians like me.

I remember in the mid 1980s one of our neighborhood friends, Anita, had a blue citation like this. She was in love with Bruce Springsteen and played his music constantly - we were all zeppelin and Ozzy types, and one night while we were all wasted, Mike and Andy were sitting in the back and tossed all her Springsteen cassettes out the window one by one. Adding insult to injury, Mike then threw up back there. Lol! Great times! I vaguely recall the stereo was vertical in these cars! Or maybe I was trashed too...lol!

Had a 2 door...bought it used...cheap, because of brake controversy...one of my better buys...great family car. Loved the hatchback...used it like a mini truck!

In 1981, I worked at Montreal's biggest Chev Olds Cadillac dealership, Parkway Motors, and I had a number of Citations. they were actually very pleasant, a couple years later, I had a junker rot box notch back with a v6, it had no floors when I bought it for $100, but once the floor was patched, it was fun and reliable and economical, I even removed the passenger seat to do Corvair and any other car repair I could make some money on

I remember these Steve. I always thought it could be worse and have the chevette!!! A guy had a citation in high school rigged with Christmas lights. It didn't help......

Let me tell you a sad story as our family grew in the '80s my mom's told my dad we need a four-door he traded his 1970 plum purple crazy challenger for a Chevy citation . We still talk about it today at Thanksgiving every year LOL he has a lot of regret 🥺

He Steve your videos have taught me more than i ever known . Really like how you go into great detail with all the facts. Walking encyclopedia. A young car enthusiasts like myself really appreciates the content you put out. Thank you man

You were 100% justified in being as hard as you were on that car and those times.

Hated working on those, there was not a lot of room, but it’s the same with todays cars…

Watched the video , then get a commercial for the x11 on my feed, thanks big brother!

My mom had a new V6 Citation but it was her first front wheel drive car and she totalled it her first time driving it in snow.

00:30 seconds.. I hate to say but GM started with FWD in the Cadillac Eldorado back in 1967. Big heavy engine and FWD. I could see it being GM's first transverse setup though. I love your informative videos and how you cover a wide range of vehicles. I can totally understand the feeling of the world ending when these were new. Going from the big boats and fast cars from the 60's - 1970's to high gas prices, emissions, small cars, etc.

We had one bought new in 82' mom's only new car she ever bought she loved it never gave issues and I also grew up in Massachusetts great in winter. Chevy's toybox had two engines in one for testing!

Cars from this era are some of the first ones that I can recall seeing brand new on dealer floors. So even though it wasn't a great era for cars in general, I still have a soft spot for these things. As an aficionado of classic American cars of all sorts, I'd never have thought the day would come that I'd be nostalgic for 80s econo boxes.

My grandmother had one it was brown on brown . Memories of being picked up every Sunday to go to movie and a lunch in white city plaza shrewsbury ma . Good memories

I had an X-body Skylark about 20 years ago. It was a free car, the people who had it couldn't fix the brake lines right. Mechanically the same as this Citation. For a free car with 135K showing it wasn't too bad, I got a year or so out of it. Carb had a flat spot and the rear main leaked pretty bad. Let it sit about three years, it got partially flooded, but it still started right up when I put a battery in it. And they are roomy and comfortable inside. My problem with it was I had the seat so far back I had to reach out to grab the wheel. It needed a tele column. My solution was to stick a big dished wheel off a '64 Skylark on it. it fit ok, I had to modify the horn contact. And these things were great in the snow, they'd go anywhere with a good set of snow tires, including mine with a flat rear tire. I rounded off a lugnut trying to change it, it was a Sunday night at like 5 pm and nobody was open to even buy a nut splitter or something, I finally got pissed off and just drove it home that way like five or six miles on roads coated with snow and ice. I wouldn't mind having a Pontiac Phoenix XJ with a manual and see if you could put a 3400 with EFI out of a Corsica in there and make it all work. EFI would solve the carb issue and I think it would make for a fun, if slow, little car to romp around in.

Back in the day there were millions of these cars around and all their counterparts. Today if I saw one of these on the street or at a car show, I would be far more impressed than if I saw a mustang or a corvette of the same era.

Best darn car I ever got thanks to my Ex wife she showed me what thses cars can do and I call mine. Z71 crew cab with a hich I call her Chevy with a 2.8 v6 she's a work car! Not a show car she's not risted out and she get what she needs she puts food on the table amd pays the rent for the house yes she's a work car. She will ever let us down! Thank you GM! Chevys loved!

I took my driver's test in a citation I thought it drove and handled well! maybe one day in the future it will be considered a classic!

i picked my new while stickshift citation up at the dealer in the spring of 1979. i bought it for 5000$ with a gmac loan. 500 down,..payoff the 4500 in a year. i was handed a partially full can of paint thinner at the dealer and a rag to clean off the rust proofer that was splattered on all the door bottoms. i tried to roll the driver window down and it dropped in the track and was told, they all do that. one good slam and the hatchback had a dent where my hand had closed it. sold it in 11 months. Fords and Hondas ever since

I owned an 82 x-11... One of the best cars I've driven.

My grandpa had one. Years later the clutch packs burned out. 125a trans in the valve body had an aluminum roll pin that wore causing fluid to leak by a valve and land causing loss of pressure to the clutch packs. I had just taken a transmission class at tech school and that was my first overhaul on a transmission. It stayed in the family after my grandparents passed away.

My mother bought a new one back in 1981. First couple years, it was a great car. It really drove well and comfy on long trips. For the time, it sipped gas compared to the big cars. About two years old or so the problems started. First the transmission left her stranded on a long trip away from home and it cost a fortune to have the trans repaired. Then the brakes, radiator and on and on, always something. Finally on the third year... By By car. I agree 100% with your $**tation nickname. Best Regards - Mike

the citation was built at the GM Oklahoma City assembly plant. which went on to build the Buick LeSabre , Olds Cutlass and finally the extended version of the Trailblazer , Envoy and Isuzu Ascender. The plant closed in Feb 2006 and sat idle until 2008 when the county purchased it and leased it to the Air Force. Then the Air Force bought it.. It is now part of Tinker Air Force Base.

173 cubic inches, 110 somesuch or H.O. 135 HP depending. Loved Chevy's balls to make this work. They got Ralph Nadered over reduced drag brakes. Great thing...it made Later Letter cars...quite a Celebrity.....

I had a 1981 Buick Skylark X body with the iron duke 2.5 and a 4 speed. It got the job done.....as transportation, but it was certainly anemic as far as power was concerned. Wouldn't die though.....the floor was literally dragging the road the day I drove it to it's ultimate resting place!

The shape of that X-11 looks suspiciously similar to the Aussie LX Sunbird and Torana, which were finishing their production run around the early 80's, and got replaced by the J-car platform "Camira". Torana's were the last mid sized RWD made here, everything smaller then a Commodore or Falcon after that was front drive. That beam axle made it in to the J-car platform.

My Grandmother had the Pontiac version, of the car, the Phoenix, in 1984. She bought it new. The pontiac motor was fairly bullet-proof. Eventually, when I inhereted the car, it had an oil leak because it was just so oil by that point, the oil pan gasket I think it was. I ran it out of oil, it quit on me, dead on the side of the highway. I got some oil, loaded it up, and the car started, and ran like there was never a problem. That was a great car. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Steve. Love your channel, and these crawls!!

Front grill and 2-door body style very similar to the 1978-81 Malibu.

I had one in 1988. It was a white 2 door stick with red interior. was a POS and it lost the clutch in East St Louis! I got rid of it soon after that!

Chevy loved those red interiors in the 80s and early 90s. Had a 92 lumina and an 94 astro with this red interior

I grew up in a GM town (Oshawa ON). These X bodies were belly button cars....everyone had them and I hated them. The dash would warp In even the few months of serious heat in the summer here in Canada; the V6 was not as smooth as it should have been, the styling was no frills and ugly.... Ya, the early 80's was a shitty time to be a car guy

Great video. My sisters and I shared a 1980 Chevette 4 door to drive to High School. A clean 50,000 mile 2 door sold for $4,000 in Eastern Iowa in 2021.

My parents had one, seemed like it needed a new clutch every other week

In 1980, I was 11 years old. My Dad drove a 1976 GMC Vandura he made into a camper. Dad decided to trade in the GMC for a new custom Chevy van. I was so excited because I knew when I turned 16 this would be my ride because my Mom walked to work and Dad would have moved on to a new car. We went to the Chevy dealer and drove home 4 hours later in a new Citation. I have no idea what that salesman said to my Dad to convince him to buy a Citation over a custom van but my life has never been the same since. Haha!!😂

Learned to drive in '80 Citation. V6 Auto. Worked at GM dealer starting in 80s, seen yellow X11 sold brand new. New owner had outside stickers & stripes removed before delivery.

Broo these old 80s econo cars are what make me happy

"Slime-tation" with the "Rail Road track rear suspension!🤣

My uncle had one of those maybe 10 years ago that lost oil pressure going on the interstate locked the motor up

In 1984 I worked for a German company in California where BMWs and Mercedes were the status quo. I went to Montreal, Quebec, for company training. A german co-worker picked me up every day at the hotel in a Chevy Citation. He said, "It has better traction in the snow and doesn't rust like a BMW."

Steve, why do you have to bring back bad memories?

For the viewers here, explain the advantages of a five door car and fold down rear seat when visiting your G/F. Sorry Mr Mags, couldn't resist. Much love for the memory lane...

did you know they made the citation for an extra year in mexico? They were still sold in mexico new in 1986 and all were 4 speed manual 5 door hatchbacks. I love the citiation! 4:25 my personal favorite spec right there!

Boy talk about reliving the past. I remember them well. They were all over NYC.

I saw one of these last week on the road. I couldn’t believe it!! It was in good condition.

I could watch an entire channel of Steve just exploring car museums.

My girlfriend in 1983 had a Citation, all I remember was going parking in it to watch the “submarine races” since myZ-28 had bucket seats. And if anyone gets those references you are as old as me.

I owned a 1983 Citation X-11, auto on the console, 2.8L H.O., absolutely loved it. This being around the 1992 timeframe. Thanks for the flashback Steve!

STEVE! THE HELLS YOUR PROBLEM!? THERE'S A SWEPTLINE RIGHT THERE! RIGHT THERE! 5 minutes of Citation you put me through when there's a 'fridge-door Dodge literally RIGHT THERE! You're forgiven but try not to let that happen again, ok? Again, it was RIGHT THERE!

I drove one of these Shitations in HS, 4 door, red with tan interior. Mine had the V6 + auto. Would go in any sort of inclement weather with the FWD. Radio was installed vertically in the dash..... Was happy to get rid of it and don't want another one any time soon. :-) Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Love this type of video Steve. A bit of history to show younger people just how bad the early 80s were. All hail the 157hp 1982 Mustang GT with its 2bbl, single exhaust and marine camshaft for bringing us out of the doldrums.

Great review ! I remember these cars I was in my early teens back in the day . My parents owned full-sized cars from GM and Ford back in the day .These X bodies were very popular but popularity waned with issues cropping up .

I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned having any cooling issues with these cars. My dad and I replaced the radiator, thermostat, heater hoses and water pump. The cooling fan would come on and the car would overheat immediately after reaching and exceeding operating temperature. We were completely stumped. By chance, on a visit to the parts department at the Chevy dealership, another customer told us that they had reversed the water pump impeller halfway through the model year to flow coolant the opposite direction! The water pump casting for both direction water pumps was identical. This was a little before parts departments used the VIN as standard procedure when looking up parts.

Ok the nightmares are back now, thanks Steve :)

My father in law had one in white. Used all of his skills as a Chevrolet mechanic to keep it on the road. Those certainly were dark days for auto enthusiasts.

I had one in the early 90's. Paid $300 for it and it carted my ass back and forth to work just fine. Sold it a couple years later to the local junk yard for $50

I owned an 85 citation that was also white but with blue interior. It was a 4 cylinder so it got very good MPG. Just a fun fact, 85 was the only year for the 2.8 ltr v6 with MPFI. Also the citation got a new IP with finally horizontal hvac and radio controls.

I'll need to give you a CITATION for featuring a Citation on your KZfaq Channel, Steve. My neighbor had one. Even he thought it was a POS. Only reason he bought it was his Toyota Corolla wouldn't pass Pennsylvania State Inspection any longer.

had a 82 Citation 2.8L great car this one we had had real bucket seats, center console, A/C, electric door locks, roll up windows go figure, take the rear trunk cover put it behind the front seats fold the rear, you had tons of room behind you the v6 was a good engine. except the fuel injection would have been a bonus, only problem it spung a leak in the oil pan. never could get it fixed right called it the Chevy Valdes until a drunk took it out with his van sitting next to a curb in front of a home improvement store, still kind of miss it

These things would take a beating and keep on running. A high school friend had a 5 speed and would take it offroading during the dry summer months. We would stay up on top of the ruts. Had to get out from time to time to move a rock out of the way. Nothing like a group of people standing next to their 4x4s parked in a circle looking over their shoulder as a citation pulls up. This was in 1996 in Oklahoma.

I found a X-11 sitting abandoned on a lot the other day. Has a few pieces missing, but the cowl induction hood, rear wing, pretty cool looking factory aluminum wheels were still there.

I parked right next to one of these just a few hours ago in an Aldi's parking lot. It really took me by surprise. I never expected to see one in person. Unless it was at a junkyard, car show, or swap meet. It was a white beige color. I ended up taking a picture of it to add to my collection of spotted classic cars. :)

Sister had a silver one . I drove around in it, don’t remember the year of the Citation, when I was 15 (1988) with my dad in the passenger seat as I only had a learner’s permit. Good memories.

I loved my 1985 Citation II, 2 tone blue just like the brochure.

Thanks for doing 70s and 80s cars! Awesome. I suggest a 73 Vega!

Wow what a flashback! Back in the 80's my sister and her husband bought one of these cars. All of us, my parents, me and my niece piled into it and headed to the coast for the day and had a fantastic time. Such a great memory. I put a lot of work into the car in it's later years and it ended up having internal engine issues. I think it broke a rod or something. I remember pulling a plug and seeing it completely bashed over. The biggest pain with the cars though was the radio. Aftermarket radios would be sideways due to the vertical mounting of the factory radio. Weird. It is always amazing to see a car that is in showroom condition many years later. I wonder if Jay Leno has one of these in his collection. Take care! -Jon

How NEVER to get a date in high school? Drive a Citation.

They were all over, I even remember the commercials, “ Chevy citaaaaaation”

Was issued a Citation 4 door hatchback company car. Very soft ride, adequate acceleration V-6. But easily overloaded with just driver & trunk full of safery and risk control reference books, PPE and client handout materials. Cannot imagine the handling with 4 adults and luggage!

I had a Camaro with that engine, I cut the tab that allowed the secondary barrel to open 100%. Nice little power increase with that.

That Citation is exactly like the one I took Driver's Ed. in, in 1984. It was so gutless, it made my parents' 79 Monte Carlo 305 feel like a muscle car...

My dad had a x-11 bought to flip. He made good money on it, amazing how many people took Interest in it in 88or89

Had an ‘84 Citation 4 door hatchback. Hated the dashboard so much that I decided to change it. I got a dashboard out of an ‘86 Celebrity Eurosport with full instrumentation and used an ‘82 Celebrity wiring harness with the body harness connector switched to the other side. This ended up being a drop-in fit and worked better with the Buick Century tilt steering column I had already installed!

My high school parking lot was full of these in 1988. Thought they'd all been crushed!!!

I was just watching your 1001 muscle car fax. Too bad you can't put pictures into the video, lots of editing, lots of time. But very fun to listen to, love it love it love it. I had a few citations and their friends, and I'm very familiar with repairing them, I still have some parts from 30 years ago, even sold them new, alongside GM's 350 diesel, which all got converted to Olds 350 gas, I do have a V6 diesel front-wheel drive Olds 98 at this time, along with several corvairs, which I'm a specialist at repairing, and many full size GM cars, I prefer the survivors, I even have 3 409 clones

You’ve got a great channel, Steve!That is an awesome boneyard! I see all kinds of cool stuff every time I watch your videos. 👍🏽👍🏽