Chevrolet Citation & Friends 

They started out as a good idea then morphed into a nightmare once built and purchased, hence the name "Ex-car" 🤣 It didn't help at all when it was revealed that the car press had been given "ringers" to test instead of the usual pre-production models with an extra going-over to ensure that nothing was obviously wrong.This is where GM fans lost trust and could no longer justify their blind love for the corporation any longer. None of the 'big 3' were regarded as 'the best' by this point; all having had their problems, but these cars stood out as being the worst or the worst till the Yugo showed us exactly how bad a new car experience could be. It's not a good sign when your newest cars experience large-scale failures and recalls even before the warranty expires. I mean how many other cars can you remember which had braking problems this bad under warranty? If you can't trust the basics, how good can the rest of the car be? These cars continued to sell only because it was clear that the old big cars they replaced were no longer viable or valuable and people simply had to buy something smaller and newer. Part of the problem was the multi-division design approach where each company had their own different goals and standards, and none were really used to working with each other before now. Like the GM board and staff, there were too many people doing independent repetitive competitive work when the efficiency of consolidation was clearly needed instead. But GM wouldn't budge; it was not their way to admit they'd screwed up or to change the genius way they did things. I don't think there were even able to grasp the concept of what failure means at that point. Yet some things good did come from this like the acceptance of a V6 instead of a V8, and of hatchbacks being handy (though they're out of vogue in the US now), as well as FWD having clear advantages on snowy winter roads. I once had a RWD Pontiac 6000 with the carburated HiPo 2.8 out of a Citation swapped in; not fast off the line but once rolling it did pretty good and from this we got the most excellent 3.8 later on. The downsizing of all cars has continued from these which is a good thing in every way. And only by need we lost carbs during the lifetime of these "ex-cars" for injection which has grown to be one of the biggest advances in cars ever. Cars don't have to be exciting or special in some way to be good cars or memorable cars, but these cars are best forgotten, and even wearing all of your rose-colored glasses on top of one another can't help them.

The Riviera shown is RWD. The first FWD Riviera debuted for 1979.

my late maternal grandmother drove a used 1984 Buick Skylark which was the top version of the X platform for 2 years when I was very young it was a nice/comfortable car

The whole X-car program was more or less the beta-test for the FWD A-cars, but by 1981, most of the worst problems had been ironed out. My Father's Citation, with an Iron Duke and no AC, was almost trouble-free for over 100K miles. In the later years, they were kind of a bargain, having about the space of the A-cars (more trunk and a little less head room), for a lot less money. But you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Oh how close my dad came to owning an 80 Citation. He was currently leasing a 78 Buick Electra and decided that it was more car than he needed, especially since mom didn’t drive and I had my own car. So we went to the Chevy dealer and looked at a 4 door hatch- light blue over the same interior and no options to speak of-AM radio, auto and AC. I quietly told him to run away. The build quality in the one we test drove was deplorable-pieces loose or missing, clunk every time you put it in gear, really not something you’d want to show off. Thank goodness the deal fell through. Chevy wouldn’t budge a nickel off the price and told my dad “we will sell every one we have, and maybe at sticker plus” Never turned back. Oh and he bought a used 77 Corolla which he put well over 240,000 trouble free miles on! Great video

The GM X-cars will always be one of those car lines that REALLY frustrates me. They had all of the ingredients to be the best cars ever built, & that is exactly what they could & should have been. Ultimately, I feel that the X-cars' undoing was not really the cars THEMSELVES, but the company who built them, late-'70's/early '80's GM. As was the case with Ford & Chrysler, they became too focused on beating the European & Japanese competition at their own game & not focused ENOUGH on providing the American car-buying public with viable alternatives to the imports. As a result, quality & reliability were allowed to fall by the wayside.

I ended up with a 1980 Citation that i did not want knowing they had problems. Paid $58 at a chevy dealer the one hour labor that was owed on it for diagnosis. The old man had his oil changed and the gas station forget to put oil in it. Big hole in the block but it had a brand new transmission and only 58k on it. Stumbled across a low mileage motor for $150. Popped it in and my wife drove it for almost 10 years. It was an Ugly car but u cant do that today at that cost! Hell i just spent $190 for a agm battery for my late model siverado. How times have changed !!!

My dad had one Citation V6, he had the habit of giving gas before rail crossing becasue 'You float over them if you go fast'. It lasted a couple of months before the front supension table broke while crossing them tracks. He got a pickup after that.

I drove an 81 Skylark for many, many years and put over 225,000 miles on it. You can say whatever you want - I've heard it all before. I was perfectly happy with my car and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as what the magazines and bad press would have you believe. It was more like, "are we talking about the same car?" There were some problems with the 1980 models, but the 81 and later model years were fine. In fact, I bought two other Buick Skylarks of this generation because I liked the car so much. I still have them to this day. I may not drive them as regularly as I once did, but I will say when I use them, they're still perfectly pleasant to drive. I don't really understand all of the hatred towards GM regarding these cars. There is some truth to it - but it's been greatly exaggerated and blown out of proportion, especially by people who never even owned one of these cars. They think they know what they're talking about because it's the narrative that's been told and re-told for many years - but in reality they don't know what they're talking about. They're just repeating what they heard others say. Yes, the 1980 models were released too early in 1979 because of the fuel crisis going on at the time. Thousands were sold. And not all of them were so bad. Especially if you got an 81 through 85 model.

You forgot one model that used that chassis. It is said that the Pontiac Fiero was just the front clip of the Phoenix moved to the back. So the Fiero shared the chassis and suspension geometry from a part of that chassis I guess. Just a thought.

GM really needed this car to be right at the start. And they got it wrong, not for the first time and not for the last. This was probably the most important car GM had released since WWII and through cost cutting and corner cutting, they blew it, starting the trend of Americans buying ever more imported cars. Has GM learned from this? I doubt it, if a bankruptcy and a slew of also-ran products are any indicators. When they want to, GM can make good cars, but most of the time, they just half-ass it and call it a day.

My sister had the Phoenix LJ coupe. I learned to drive in that car and was pretty nice.

Seen a citation 5door driving today in Dallas!

I believe the GM X bodies passed the Chrysler F bodies in recalls. A dubious honer for sure.

Citation: it’s BUZZY!

19:39 - I don't know that GM deserves grace for "rapidly" adjusting. As I understand it, the first embargo of '73 is when X car development began. They had seven years to introduce such a troubled vehicle. They knew FWD...they knew compact... A compact FWD wasn't a revelation for them. So, to me, the resulting product is entirely GM's lack of effort. That...and their workforce's lack of give-a-damn...is why the X Cars got such a deservedly bad reputation.

The X-cars were the most recalled cars in General Motors history. The A-body cars(which were stretched versions of the X-cars) actually were better cars. The Pontiac 6000STE was the best version of the A-body platform ever. I want one with the standard antilock brakes, V6, AWD, and automatic transmission.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for the effort placed into this video. The footage was quite good as well and the photos and videos. You have put a great deal of effort into this video. I liked how you mention what was on the market before and what came after and the long term impact the X Body had. I liked how you backed up what you were saying with photos and footage. I know the A Bodies and N Bodies were came after when they learned from their mistakes. I wonder if that had been successful what would GM had offered to the market. Just a thought.

None of them here has a working rear drum brake.

1980 I was 16 and was looking for a first car and my dad and I drove a citation with a stick shift, then a Renault LeCar, and a Dodge Omni, he and I then stopped by the Ford dealer and test drove the Fiesta and he and I both loved it and that's the car I bought. Probably a good thing as it was a more reliable car than the X cars and the others. Thanks for the video as I remember these cars well. Stay well

Minor correction to the video: Buick Rivieras were RWD, not FWD, prior to 1979, even though it shared its E-Body platform with Toronado and Eldorado.

FYI - The Riviera wasn't front wheel drive until 1979. The Eldorado and Toronado have always been FWD from the start in 1966/67.

I had a 1980 Buick Skylark Custom with the 2.8 v6 it was a lot of fun when the rear brakes locked up and I spun around at a red light.

I own an 80 skylark, which i drove today. Still amazed how roomy they are for small cars. Good ride, handling, and comfort too. Iron duke engine is reliable but very crude. Had they had smooth engines i think the public would have better tolerated some of the other issues. Still like these and really like the 85 N cars, particularly the Grand Am.

18:59 Did that generation of Skylark end in 1995? You sure it wasn't 1985?

We need an N-body platform video now. Usually chevy gets the spotlight with sales (like with the citation at first) but this time around pontiac got the golden child of the platform.

I remember reading an interview from an engineer who was on the development team for the X-cars.He said that these cars needed another year of development before coming to market and that Roger Smith, head of GM at the time, wanted these cars out in showrooms ASAP.He was told that the cars weren't ready for the public yet,but he didn't care what anyone said, just get them out.

My dad had two Citations, including a two-tone brown Citation II that somehow was still running strong in 1995. It had the V6 and not the Iron Duke.

First year sales figures are artificially inflated since the cars were introduced in April of 79, five months ahead of the normal introduction time of September.

We had both a '80 Skylark (2.8 v6) as well as a '82 Citation (4 cylinder 4 speed) - both took the abuse that I dished out as a teen driver in the 80's and I learned to drive a manual on the Chevy and it survived that as well. Aside from a '94 Saturn SC2 those were the only GM products I've ever owned since - nothing against them - just never really tripped my trigger.

My mother had a used 85 four door Citation. She nicknamed it Droopy. lol😂

Great review 😊 ! I hope you also do a segment on the GM A body cars which were new and improved X body cars .

I remember the commercial for these back when they were coming out - there was a lot of hype around the launch of these. The design of them, especially the two door reminds me of the previous generation Oldsmobile Cutlass Saloon (which had a weird bustle back design). I believe Buick had a version of this as well, but I do not think Oldsmobile or Pontiac had one, I could be wrong though. Maybe a feature for a future episode. Great videos! Thanks for creating these time capsules of memories.

I'm amazed how many were sold in the first year, though that was a long sales year.

We never had any of these issues with our V6 Citation, except for the carburetor.

All of your videos are very good and informative.

The burgundy X11 was my favorite . should have bought that on BAT a few months ago

lol the europeans made a car called a BETA! Can't make it up!

My very first car was a used 1980 Citation with the exact same interior as the one at 8:51 in this video with the exception that mine was a 4 speed manual. I bought it the day I turned 16 in 1982. What a piece of junk. If I filled up the gas tank, I had to leave to gas cap loose for a bit or it wouldn’t run. It had a leak in the exhaust and it backfired with every gear change. The amber turn signals in the rear lit up with the brake lights. As much as I hated that car, I’d love to drive it again one more time.

Had a family member who owned a Citation when I was a kid. Ik high school i dated a couple of girls; one who's dad bought her a Citation to learn on. Another had a Buick Skylark. Always had a soft spot for these cars.

Amazing how much better we've gotten at badge engineering today even though we still do it just as much, if not even more.

People knock the Pinto. I had 2 Pintos. They would run circles around those crappy early 80's cars.

I agree. Taking a trip to Africa (Ghana), and first seeing a Opel Astra, I first thought, Chevy Citation.

I'm 44 so I was little when these cars we're on the road but I honestly thought that the chevy citation was just a big chevy chavette until very recently. Even as a little ki loved cars and would impress anyone with my ability to identify any car that was pointed out but I wonder how many times I referred the citation as a Chevette? When I was a little kid in the late 1980s My friend across the streets dad had a 2 toldsmobile omega who is always complaining complaining about about it rusting. That was weird considering the car spent its entire life here in Miami Beach records even then didn't seeinterest very much especially after only being 4 years old. I remember that was the first time hearing the term rust bucket thrown around. He traded it in for a brandu 88 Pontiac grand am. It wasn't very reliable though because that wouldn't earn cute nickname the grand damn it. My parents drove Toyota's so I didn't know anything about cars being unreliable

I had a 1984 Chevy Citation with the four cylinder engine. It was a white exterior with a blue interior. I had the steering rack replaced due to a fault with turning the wheel. I replaced the vertical head unit with an Alpine head unit mounted vertical. Unusual to say the least but it worked. The electrical system had its own issues as well as getting vapor lock with the fuel injection system. I had a lot of GOOD memories in that car because of all the room available in the back! Anyway, I went to pick up my brand new 1992 Eagle Talon TSi and the Citation blew a head gasket after turning on the AC. So, I had to fork over $500 to get the engine fixed as it was the family vehicle at the time. Overall, it was a pretty good vehicle at the time. Btw, I think the hp rating for that year’s four cylinder was 90 hp.

Buick riviera was not front wheel drive until 79 !

Phoenix & citation different from omega & skylark.

Which one is your favorite?

I bought a new Citation X11 and was so happy to have the only one in the area. After about 11mo. As a daily i had numerous issues that left me stranded and the dash board shaking at a stop light was the final straw. The car was supposed to be a trend setter but they didn't live up to the hype.