Ah, the General Motors X-body cars! Always good for some anecdotes from readers about rust-through on two-year-old cars, amazing quantities of warranty repairs, and Stuka-dive-style depreciation graphs. After the Citation, the Chevy Corsica seemed like a fine automobile.
So far in this series, we’ve seen this ’80 Skylark, this ’81 Citation, this ’81 Citation, this frighteningly rusty ’81 Citation, this ’82 Citation, this ’82 Citation, this ’83 Citation, and this ’84 Omega, and (because I just can’t resist shooting these things when I see them, no doubt because I believe this ’84 X-body Pontiac to be rivaled only by this 1986 Plymouth Reliant wagon for the dubious prize of Worst Car I’ve Ever Driven), this late-production ’84 Citation II.
The Citation II name was part of The General’s attempt to show that the reliability problems that plagued the 1980-83 Citations were over, forever. Car shoppers were skeptical, and 1985 was the final year for the Citation.
A vertically-oriented cassette deck. It’s not quite a telescreen, but as a member of the Class of 1984, I belonged to the future and understood that vertical orientation was the only way to play my mix tapes.
This is the kind of rust you get in California, where I shot this car. Paint flakes off in the harsh sun, rainwater gets under the trim (back when it used to rain in California), and this happens.
Remember the signature blue AlmostVelour™ of 1980s GM cars? Turns out it survives pretty well.
It must have been a real treat to use a manual-tuned radio mounted sideways in a six inch deep box while you were driving.
Are the radio knobs swapped? I remember volume being on the top.
Those symbols would probably appear to be cryptic to the youth of today.
And yes, the Corsica seemed to be a much better car – I never realized it was the replacement for the Citation (II). I guess the cavalier was quite good compared to the Chevette. It’s all about perspective.
That’s an aftermarket stereo, designed for the usual horizontal mounting with the power switch/volume knob on the left, tuning knob on the right.
That is actually the factory cassette deck for a Citation. Very hard to find today. In fact, if anyone wants to go to the yard and snag this one I will buy it. (Citation owner here…..)
I always thought off the Celebrity as the Citation replacement, and the Corsica and Lumina as Celebrity offspring.
I would agree with this assessment. The Celebrity was stodgy, slow, and conservative – just like the Citations. The Corsica was entirely too modern and “Euro.”
I always thought of the Celebrity as the Citation replacement, and the Corsica and Lumina as Celebrity offspring.
The Celebrity replaced the Citation in that the A-body owed much of its architecture to the X-body, but because of GM’s continuous downsizing in the ’80s, it was meant as a replacement for the RWD A-body. The Citation would be supplanted by the even smaller Cavalier. The W-body eventually replaced the A- and G-bodies, but at a much greater cost and much later than GM would have liked.
The N-body (on which the L-body Corsica and Beretta were heavily based) was a little fuzzier. It was bigger than the J, but smaller than the A–a “premium sport compact” made primarily so that Olds and Buick wouldn’t have to embarrass themselves anymore selling Firenzas and Skyhawks.
Under the skin a FWD A-body is a Citation. They even shared service manuals for several years and each model had either a large X or A stamped in each front apron panel since they were built together on the same lines.
Look at the sideview mirrors on the IIs — probably swappable with a Ciera or Century.
I thought that the vertically-oriented radio and HVAC was replaced with the Delco 2000-series sort-of-double-DIN radios (including ETRs) and conventionally-situated HVAC controls when they renamed the Citation to the II. What year was that? Obviously not 1984!
I am pretty sure they are the same mirrors. Citations started using them in 82 or 83 I believe. I have an 81 X11 and two Celebrity coupes (85 & 86), I think I used a Citation mirror from my old 85 X11 on my 86 Celeb as a replacement when I hit the edge of the garage door!
Citations switched to the 1.5DIN radio in 85 for their final year, the 85 X11 has quite the 80’s interior!
I assume that’s the international symbol for shooting a bullet into a patch of grass.
The L-Bodies (Corsica/Beretta) were much much worse in many ways. Had a Beretta GT. I longed for my X-11 back with that car. The Beretta drove me to Hondas.
Lol, I was thinking that. Surely it does not matter how long you must take your eyes off the road.
It was easy to use.
You put your pinky and next two fingers on the top of the dash and turned the the top knob with thumb and forefinger.
Far easier to use on rough roads than the then-new digital radios with up/down buttons.
I bet it’s still easier to use than CUE.
Or the original iDrive
My parents had one of the early Citations, and one thing I remember most vividly was the fact that when you put the driver’s sun visor down, it hit the rear view mirror. Chevrolet, to their great credit, eventually saw the problem and added a crease to the visor so that it would readily bend and allow the visor to pass the mirror. Symbolically at least, this half-assed way of operating stood for the beginning of the end of the General making good cars. It took decades to reverse this downward slide and so easy for Japan to gain its foothold.
They reversed it? When?
The rearview mirror to sun-visor conflict is still present in my 2004 Cavalier.
Reversing was also present in the manual windows: forward to close, clockwise to open. (Stayed that way with the A-Bodies, not sure if GM went to all power windows in mainstream cars after that.)
The GM X-bodies: Xperimental at the customer’s Xpense.
My parents had the “fancy” version of the X-car – the Olds Omega (1980). It was surprisingly reliable, lasting over a dozen years without any unusual repairs. However, I do remember that the doors sounded like they would fall apart everytime you closed them. I was shocked when I first closed the door on a Honda (somewhat rare at the time!); even a Ford Fairmont seemed built like a bank vault compared to these things.
The exhaust manifold and the starter were at the front of the car. The ice and snow hitting those hot parts was not helpful for longevity. I had to replace both on mine. The frame ground rusted off too, but who need headlights, brake lights and wipers?
These were everywhere in the Michigan suburb I grew up in… when I was doing warehouse work as a teenager, one of co-workers loved to brag about his 2.8L powered (non X-11 I believe) Citation and how fast it was.
Ah yes, the GM “hair-trigger” throttle. Where light throttle seemed to open the throttle 50%, but crush it to the floor and the response was nearly the same. Fooled everyone into thinking their 2.8, 3.1 3.3 3.4, 3.8 V6 GM car was a rocket.
Granted, some of those engines did make it into some qucker vehicles, and some were fairly quick for their time.But those hair trigger cars were meant to feel much faster than they were.
I guess I’m not sure why that’s a terrible thing.
I have a new car with 370hp but its throttle response is so restricted that it drives me crazy. I have to spend $600 on a tuner to make it react the way I want.
I’ll take “hair-trigger” over the throttle lag of today.
It bothered me because it’s not linear. A tip of the throttle should be just that,. These cars had a very abrupt response to slightly opening the throttle. It was for the illusion of power too, which made everyone think their 10 seconds to 60 2.8 V6 powered car was a rocket ( yes, I know 10 seconds wasn’t awful in the mid 80’s)
That hair trigger throttle is hell to drive in heavy traffic.
They fixed this later in vehicles like the late 90’s Century, where there was only one acceleration option with the pedal: slow. No matter how you press down, the engine will not respond with anything more than a yawn and a “Oh, I don’t think so.” response.
A lot of carmakers do this be it Toyota (Scion Xb in paticular) or Dodge (our Dodge Neon has a very loose gas pedal), it makes city driving a little easier but parking and snowy driving can be a bit trickier.
I personally prefer linear response, it helps save gas and pedal modulation, its an absolute must in RWD cars for slippery surfaces.
That being said todays cars should let you adjust the responsive-ness yourself.
The damn thing is, it worked. Ford would routinely hold focus groups pitting faster Fords with linear throttles against slower GM products with rigged ones, and consumers would rate the GM car as “faster.” I think they eventually ended up copying it.
The Citation always struck me as a GM belated attempt at Passat or Renault 16. Given the larger powertrain it should have been better. Every Skylark I saw seem to come in metallic blue with wheel rings & whitewalls. Those were the days of front drive avoidance. We went for a rear drive LeMan’s with that blue velour interior.
It could have been a contender .
I had one , a base model yellow four door , it died , we got hosed on it .
-Nate
I remember my grandmothers Citation II, same style as this one. Powder blue with that awful AlmostVelour interior. Even as a kid, it felt weird and the sideways radio was just strange to young me. I don’t remember much, I know I rode in it a few times but not often (Grandma was not a good driver). I don’t know why grandma got rid of it, but she traded it on an 88 Tempo that was a dealer demo. We had that Tempo in our family for a long time, my sister drove it to college in Ohio for 4 years. She traded on a 2002 Acura RSX. It was a pretty solid car for us.
These X-bodies were everywhere in my youth in blue collar Pittsburgh. They were replaced it seems with Corisica/Beretta ( or whatever GM brand you were loyal to) by the diehard “Buy American” folks and nearly any import by those who the X-body caused them to swear off domestics forever.
Every once in awhile, I will see one that has survived.
My grandmother had one just like that, powder blue with dark blue velourish interior. I was very young then, but I remember it seemed old for being brand new. It would be her last American car. She replaced it with an ’86 Accord and never looked back. I remember riding in the Accord and it looking like a futuristic space ship by comparison.
My mother had one and it confused me. It SEEMED like a nice car but the door panels were (as I recall) a single piece of molded plastic. That AM only radio which we upgraded to AM/FM from a junkyard car. Was not an exciting car but it showed me how much utility a car with five doors and a rear folding seat could have. Am not sure if the rear seat even folded. Mom had a weird mix of a/c, vinyl interior, four cylinder/auto, manual windows and AM radio. Maybe one notch up from the bottom trim package?
It was a good car for my parents for something like 140K miles. No major repairs. Was Mom’s commuter car.
All those features except A/C and auto seem like base trim — and those were common “a la carte” options at the time.
OK the X-cars stunk. We largely agree.
Our family with the exception of the Old Man who stayed true to Cadillac, all eventually migrated to Hondas in the early 80’s and stayed there for a decade. Never had any regrets regarding the Hondas.
Remember my neighbour bringing home his Celebrity Eurosport (not an X-car but still relevant?) and comparing it to my Accord. The Chev seemed Ok for the first 12 months. Within 3 years it was long gone.
However regarding the X-cars 1) at least that dashboard had real information gauges (yes, I know optional) and 2) darn that GM ‘velour’ holds up well. I wish that material was still available in ‘base’ or lower trim autos.
I may be in the minority but I had an ’80 Citation 4-door with the Iron Duke and it was reliable and half way competent at 12-15 years old. It was no barn burner but surprisingly peppy and got good mileage. It could also haul a lot of stuff. Got the job done.
I also had an 80 Skylark and other from the fact that the cooling fan would constantly fail and cause overheating, it was fine by me. That consistent problem is what lead me to get rid of it.
Was it the fan or switch? Sometimes it is aftermarket parts quality. I’ve had that problem with radiators for my CR-V. The OEM lasted 160K miles, the aftermarket versions range from 13 months to 6 years.
My wife and I shopped all the X bodies in 1980 and settled on the Omega. I still have in my collection the sales brochures for the Omega, Skylark, Phoenix, and Citation.
Damn. I need to take a trip to CA one of these days specifically for yarding. If this were local to me half of it would be coming home in the back of my S10. Hatch,bumpers,tailights,grille,bumper fillers,dash,ETC…..this stuff is IMPOSSIBLE to find in IA.
Yes, there are those of us that like these cars!
Thanks a lot for this. Seeing that awful piece of garbage ruined my visit here this morning.
Look at the door panel in the back seat photo. It’s just awful. Awful inside, awful outside, no style – ugh.
I’d rather have a Dynasty.
GM could do worse. At least the rear windows rolled down in this car.
OK, OK, you got me on that one – half-way down, of course!
@CoreyDL
I think I would rather have dysentery than either one.
One of my HS friends had the Pontiac version with 4spd stick. Terrible.
Citation came out early in ’79 and was “The first Chevy of the 80’s” and was an ’80 model. The J-Cars Cavalier came out in early ’81 as an ’82 model. The A-Cars Celebrity came out in ’81 as ’82 models.
With that being said…Citation replaced the aging RWD NOVA. The CAVALIER replaced the MONZA. The CELEBRITY replaced the MALIBU. Notice all old models were RWD, the new FWD.
GM was on a FWD roll as it was the way to package cars eficiently…and reduce weight, yeilding better mileage.
Gas had gone up considerably in the late ’70s. People wanted more efficient cars.
Unfortunately, they didn’t know when to quit when the Park Ave/ 98 Regency/ de Ville came out. As well as other B-bodies being replaced. Leaving the Caprice/de Ville Brougham as the only original B-bodies.
Realizing their mistake on some level. Other B-bodies came out. Pariseianne, then Roadmaster, then a Fleetwood and Caprice…all updated…of course.
The Citation seemed like a better car than Nova…and in some ways it was…but like they say, the grass is NOT ALWAYS greener, on the other side.
Was there a contest in the 80’s to make the worst dashboard possible? Vertically oriented radio: is this a kit car? And why is it so recessed?
why is it so recessed?
Well, it was designed in the late 70’s. There was a big recession going on at the time.
…
Go to bed, Dad.
I cannot believe that car made it into production with a vertical radio and AC control panel. That is egregious!!!
I had an 82 Omega. I got rid of it when I realized it was dieing the death of a thousand cuts. It always ran, just poorly. Nothing major broke, but constantly needed minor things checked, adjusted, replaced. I never did find all the sources for its phantom fluid leaks, just checked, adjusted, replaced again.
The paint job was atrocious, the plastic interior faded at different rates, yet the fabric (deeper blue than this example) always looked new.
Somehow, probably by sheer numbers produced, they were still fairly common on the road several years after production stopped.
A full set of gauges, a vertically mounted radio, and even four on the floor. Driving this car must have been like piloting a Corvette, I mean except for the car being slow and ugly.
Dad had one of these when I was a kid.
Rust it certainly did, and the interior was rather decrepit, but I recall the thing logged some hard miles on it for many years as car No. 3 in the household without any major mechanical issues. I also recall driving worse things in this era.
Has my memory deceived me?
Not necessarily. A buddy of mine’s girlfriend owned a Citation II and loved it, never let her down. I guess it’s one of those many instances of GM getting something right just before it has to kill it.
Fascinating history.
Sure, GM started its decline with a minor (but significant) error on an otherwise OK Chevy Corvair. Then came the Lordsburg Chevy Vega with a semi-aluminum meltdown engine. The ensuing X-body Citation came next.
Subsequently, GM spiraled slowly into bankruptcy in the early 21st century. Do you think there is any writer around who can tell this story?
Well, let’s start with the Cimarron. And then….
Just point out that GM has always released a product, fine tuned it while people were buying them, and just as they get it “right” they kill it off and restart the whole process.
They basically poison a model/brand at the start with a half-baked product. Microsoft often does the very same thing.
Wait until late in a model cycle and you could have a quality purchase.
The large public university in Oregon that employed my father in the 1980’s started using these in the university motor pool in 1984. All 4-door hatchbacks, and all light blue. According to Dad, they were a huge improvement over the prior fleet: a choice between white 1980 Chevy Chevettes and beige 1980 AMC Concords. Maybe the state was able to get an incredible fleet deal on the “II’s” because the Citation’s rep among regular retail buyers was all but shot by that time. The fleet got even better and more varied when the man in charge of the motor pool started buying better, more assorted stuff from rental car companies at auction: 1-year old red Buick here, 1-year-old tan Olds there, and so on.
CC ect ! .
I was at Valley Mercedes Thursday evening and the same old Oldsmobile of this platform was still sitting there all dusty with it’s original paint…
Being a four door I imagine it’s worthless .
-Nate
CC effect ! .
I was at Valley Mercedes Thursday evening and the same old Oldsmobile of this platform was still sitting there all dusty with it’s original paint…
Being a four door I imagine it’s worthless .
Wait ~ it has a hatchback so it’s a five door ? .
-Nate