Junkyard Find: 1983 Chevrolet Citation

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

We’ve seen an ’81 Citation and an ’82 Citation in this series, so let’s continue down GM’s Bad Memory Lane with a 1983 version of the car that damaged The General’s image even more than the Vega. Somehow, this car stayed on the street— or at least out of the wrecking yard— for 29 years, but now it awaits crushing in a Denver self-serve wrecking yard.

The Citation hung on until the 1985 model year, and… wait a minute, is that a choke warning light on the dash of a 1983 car?

This one has the same 2.8 V6 that went into the Fiero.

Yep, those are molded-in stitches in the maroon vinyl seat upholstery.







Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • And003 And003 on Feb 18, 2013

    I wonder if the Citation has room for a V-8.

    • -Nate -Nate on Feb 19, 2013

      Not unles it was a tiny V-8 ! . Our Undercover X Car was that fancy - schmancy Chevy model I no longer remember the designation of , it came with alloy wheels and one newbie Narco - Cop who must have watched Starsky & Hutch , smacked a curb with it and broke a wheel , Chevy wanted $850 (!) fir a new wheel on that POS $200 car.... -Nate

  • 1981X-11 1981X-11 on Apr 03, 2015

    GM X-Body – Citation X-11 Facebook page. Almost 500 members, over 1000 pics, and every-year X-car dealer brochure in the Photo Albums section. Ha! https://www.facebook.com/groups/chevycitations/

  • FreedMike Um, OK. EVs are just cars, folks. I have no idea why they take up so much rent-free space in some folks' heads.
  • Analoggrotto *What's the most famous track you have driven on while Hyundai foots the bill?
  • 2ACL I'm pretty sure you've done at least one tC for UCOTD, Tim. I want to say that you've also done a first-gen xB. . .It's my idea of an urban trucklet, though the 2.4 is a potential oil burner. Would been interested in learning why it was totaled and why someone decided to save it.
  • Akear You know I meant stock. Don't type when driving.
  • JMII I may just be one person my wife's next vehicle (in 1 or 2 years) will likely be an EV. My brother just got a Tesla Model Y that he describes as a perfectly suitable "appliance". And before lumping us into some category take note I daily drive a 6.2l V8 manual RWD vehicle and my brother's other vehicles are two Porsches, one of which is a dedicated track car. I use the best tool for the job, and for most driving tasks an EV would checks all the boxes. Of course I'm not trying to tow my boat or drive two states away using one because that wouldn't be a good fit for the technology.
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