By Shant Jaltorossian
First of all, these still exist? Second, where do I sign way my soul?
The Citation is a largely forgotten car from the early 1980s, when American car companies were still stuck in the Malaise era. For those of you who don’t know, the X-11 package packs a 2.8 liter V6 pumping out an amazing 135 horsepower, directed to the front wheels. SPORTY!
It may not look the part, but the X-11 was designed to compete in SCCA events. Whether they were any good is beyond me, but I wouldn’t say no to one of these.
From the ad:
This is a rare completely original and 100% rust free 1982 Chevy Citation X-11. This car is 1 of 3,864 units produced in 1982.
The car is a one owner California car since new and has an above average auto check score/report (see below for complete report).
The engine starts right away and sounds great. The acceleration is super and the car is a lot of fun to drive. Super clean engine and compartment appears ads thought the engine has been rebuilt once before. There are no leaks, smoke, overheating or strange noises. She runs extremely well. The Clutch is perfect and shifting through the gears is effortless. The brakes, steering and suspension are all in good working order. All mechanical, electrical and climate control systems function properly. Car has power windows and they both work.
Cosmetically a car does not get more original and untouched. The body, chassis, frame and floors are 100% solid and rust free. There are no dents. The paint is entirely original without even a touch up spot. There are of course minimal nicks, chips, dings, fading, etc. The overall appearance is outstanding.
Interior : The interior compliments the exterior beautifully. The seats are still firm and comfortable with no tears and little wear. The headliner and visors are in need of repair. The dash has a few cracks, however there is a nicely fitted matching dash cover. Nice door panels. The carpeting does show some wear on the drivers side. Rear parcel shelf is intact.
Misc: Original “blue and yellow” plate car, verifies it’s California heritage – Original Owners manual – Original Stock X-11/embossed “Citation” wheels – Original radio and console -Passenger side of the windshield is cracked
[Source: eBay]
Jeff Glucker
Added to watch list. A few years back, I really was into GM X-bodies and A-bodies.
And then you convinced "them" to let you out of the asylum?
There's an outside?
Was on my way to a dealers to buy one of these, then got word of a 1978 Malibu coupe, V8, 4-speed for sale and bought that instead. Feel like I dodged a bullet considering how bad the X-bodies turned out to be. But it does look cool.
You chose wisely, Mr. Smee
This is a future classic. There are very few late seventies/early eighties compact cars around in the states. Personally, I would rather a 1st gen Prelude but this would be pretty slick to park next to the 2013 CUVs here at work.
Classic?! Hardly, COLLECTIBLE? Sure.
Forgive my anal retentiveness, but when it comes to cars, the word Classic gets thrown around with almost careless abandon. If it wasn't head and shoulders above anything else on the road in it's day, had exceptional quality and performance and style, and wasn't / isn't rare even in it's era, it's NOT a classic.
Example: Bugatti Veyron = Moderm and future Classic. New Porsche Turbo, Nissan GTR, or C6 Corvette GS = Future Collectible.
One of 3864 is not rare? Realistically, of those original ~3800 around…maybe one fourth exist today (for the 82 model year which is considered by many to be the best year). Also the X-11 is an SCCA winning vehicle.
What is your definition of a classic? Race pedigree? Low production run? Impact to automotive history?
135 hp out of 2.8 liters was impressive at the time – it was the same or more than most 5 liter V8s of the era were putting out.
I knew a guy who had a silver 10th Anniversary '79 Trans-Am he loved dearly.
He traded that car in on an X-11. Within weeks, he wanted to shoot himself.
I remember showing off to a buddy on a test drive in a White one back in my college days.
The engine in that car sounded great, and for its era it was pretty powerful. It was also my first time in a front drive car, and I nearly crashed it on a 90 deg corner.
One of the first cars to offer a "+1" tire combo with the 215/60-14 on the X-11 vs the "+0" 205/70-13 available as an upgrade on the lesser versions and the first year of the X-11 compared to the base 185/80-13. That was a huge tire for a "compact car" of the era.
Yeah, the first year X-11 was just an appearance package, and the second year was when they started to get serious. I can remember that Hot Rod magazine took one of these and dropped in a Buick 3.8 V6 (don't remember what transaxle they used), as a project car.
It needs a lot of cosmetics, and after seeing how it has 150,000 miles, I don't think it will sell for a lot. When these first came out, I thought they were DA BOMB. It may be super clean under the hood (but it's got some aftermarket plug wires), but I wonder what kind of shape that 2.8 is in? Is it tired after 150k? Is the intake gasket ready to let go?
I still think it's an appealing shape.
Not many X Bodies had manual shift. The auto was a real weak spot, so a manual? Maybe OK at 150K.
It was faster than a Corvette at the time, which says nothing about contemporary performance at all.
I drove a base one with that V-6 in drivers training. The build quality was horrendous, but the heater worked well.
To answer the question below…. I'd have about 50 cars like these. Special versions of unappreciated models from the '70s through '90s, preferably with bad ass engine swaps.
Contour SVT
How about a supercharged 3800 and a RWD conversion…
I prefer my malaise Made in Kenosha, but this ain't half bad. I can almost smell the aroma of spilled PBR.
The winning bidder is going to have to buy some Mondale-Ferraro bumper stickers to complete the picture
Put a Fiero body on it backwards and you have a LeMons winner.
This is brilliant! Really, all you need is the front subframe and everything that mounts to it.
Of course you could re-use the Fiero subframe since it's the same part, but bringing over the whole front end would just be less work.
Interesting car and historically significant. However, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. The performance envelope is modest. And the Citation has the distinction of receiving the largest number of vehicle recalls of any model. Ownership of one would not be a casual project.
Sweet. Though, to be honest, I'd rather have a base-model one in this condition.
But what's really heartwarming is the fact that there are 15 positive comments above, while this same car, if posted on BringATrailer, would have 150 negative comments. I love it. 🙂
Perhaps Mad Max has gotten hold of one too?
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/942052_128609794003489_2093888533_n.jpg" width="600">
<img src="http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/969893_128609784003490_330979202_n.jpg" width="600">
<img src="http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/970366_128609777336824_1312873665_n.jpg" width="600">
Dash mounted meat thermometer for proper monitoring of apocalyptic temp's
<img src="http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/947033_128609824003486_649774128_n.jpg" width="600">
What on Earth am I looking at?
Awesomeness!!!
I've always loved these. In their final years, in typical GM fashion, I hear that they were actually pretty darn good. I always liked the design.
Grandpa bought a 1980 Citation 5 door with the Iron Duke and a 4 speed and later sold or gave it to my Dad. I learned to drive a stick in that car. It actually didn't suck, which is pretty high praise for X-bodies.
Don't get me wrong, I like this car WAY more than I should, but the words and pictures don't really match. "Cosmetically a car does not get more original and untouched." So you're telling us that it came from the factory with mis-matched taillights? 80's GM it's not that far-fetched of a thought, but methinks it's had some unwanted contact…
"Wouldn't say no to one of these?" (!) Dear Marcal, are you really that desperate? Or reduced to taking public transportation because your car project slush fund is non-existent? Good god, man, have a little pride, a little aspiration, a little TASTE. These things were a disaster almost as severe as the Cosworth-Vega, and certainly not worth a second look when they were NEW, never mind 30 years later. Find something worthy enough to drool over before you favor us with another column.
Family owned several. I personally had an '81 that I ran in the SCCA and Pro Solo out of Florida. In it's day, I could run with Mustangs and actually beat them due to they munsi 4 speed Chevy offered at the time in short burst of distances. For what ever reason our two '81's were quicker than our '82 or '83 models. As for the x bodies… Yes big issues with rust and the 2.8 liter (173 Cubic Inch) Buick V6 also had stroke issues which caused blow buy after about 40k miles. The fix was boring it our .30 over which of course increased HP by about 25 plus and install the proper connecting rods. GM finally fix the stroke issues by installing the proper connecting rods in "84 or '85 which ever year the citation X 11 offered fuel injection.
Lot of fun and performance in the day. Most people did know know about the X-11's or how quick they were for the time.
This still for sale?