- Seller: Richard B (Contact)
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
- Mileage: 80,900 Shown
- Chassis #: 1G1AX08Z5B6294233
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 2.8-Liter H.O. V6 LH7
- Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, and other muscle cars are nice for car show duties, but if you really want to make a scene, show up with this 1981 Chevrolet Citation X-11 and you’ll see how quickly a crowd gathers. I’m not saying it’s as fun to drive as a muscle car; it’s just that they’re unusual to see today, and this one is listed here as a Barn Finds Auction!
You’ve already noticed the brittle and broken front bumper filler material – no worries. It’s still available, and for a couple of hundred bucks for both sides, you’ll be in business again. Any GM X-body car would probably have a few folks looking at it every time you parked, but a Burnt Orange V6 4-speed X-11? You’d need crowd control every time you get gas or groceries. I’m exaggerating, of course, but I bet there wouldn’t be a day when someone wouldn’t ask you about it. Just 20,574 X-11s were built, and they’re rare to see today.
GM made the X-body cars for Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, and Chevrolet from 1979 for the 1980 model year, until the end of 1985. My first job after high school, while trying to avoid college, was parking and washing cars in a four-level parking garage at a medical building. One thing I remember is that you couldn’t turn the fan off; low was as low as it got. GM wanted to have recirculating air at all times, which is what the owners told me. Maybe one of you could confirm that? This car looks fantastic, other than the front bumper filler, and the seller mentions a bit of rust on the inside of the passenger door that hasn’t made its way outside yet, so get on that.
They had a nice amount of room inside, and this car has vinyl seats, but cloth was another option. The X-11 came in this two-door hatchback body style and a two-door notchback, which is pretty rare to see today. A variety of hatchback/notchback styles with either two doors or four were available in the general lineup throughout its run. Make mine a notchback with a trunk every time, but a hatchback has some nice utility that can’t be found in a car with a trunk. This car also has an optional sunroof, by the way.
This isn’t the Iron Duke-4, it’s an LH7 2.8-liter OHV V6 with 135 horsepower and 165 lb-ft of torque. It’s sent through the four-speed manual to the front wheels. This engine was a serious upgrade over the Iron Duke-4, both in terms of power and smoothness. To make better use of the extra power, the transmission had a unique final drive ratio. To improve handling, the suspension was retuned, and sway bars were added to the front and rear.
With 80,000 miles, this car is said to be original and comes with a set of NOS shocks and struts, a manual, and has had a coolant change, brake fluid change, new plug and wires, new tires, and more. The AC system is all there, but it isn’t blowing cold, and it needs some general tinkering to bring it to the next level. Have any of you owned a Citation X-11? If not, get your bids in on this one here on Barn Finds Auctions!
Bid On This Auction
jka73 bid $3,950.00 2025-06-10 11:59:59
Bob H bid $3,850.00 2025-06-10 11:59:07- jka73 bid $3,750.00 2025-06-10 11:58:29
- Bob H bid $3,600.00 2025-06-10 11:57:39
joetunick bid $3,500.00 2025-06-10 11:56:55- jka73 bid $3,350.00 2025-06-10 11:55:57
- Bob H bid $3,200.00 2025-06-10 11:39:21
- jka73 bid $3,000.00 2025-06-10 11:08:24
- Bob H bid $2,800.00 2025-06-10 10:20:18
RivieraByBuick bid $2,700.00 2025-06-10 10:17:00- Bob H bid $2,600.00 2025-06-06 17:46:15
Mike bid $2,500.00 2025-06-05 10:12:55
Perry Kleine bid $2,150.00 2025-06-05 04:53:56- Mike bid $2,000.00 2025-06-04 13:19:22
Type901 bid $1,500.00 2025-06-04 10:03:04
DatsunDan bid $1,200.00 2025-06-04 09:54:26- Type901 bid $1,100.00 2025-06-03 19:09:41
Oozle bid $1,000.00 2025-06-03 11:50:38- Type901 bid $500.00 2025-06-03 09:04:20
I didn’t know I wanted one of these until now. Love the color. Love the manual tranny.
Nice.
GLWTA
It’s a shame Chevy didn’t make the X-11 as (or exclusively as) a 4-door hatchback. All the 2-door Citations look as though they were meant to have a shorter wheelbase (and attendant shorter overall length) than the 4-door but that was scotched somewhere late in the process.
This trim package and this color with 4 doors would be the best the Citation could possibly look (but there’s a reason why nobody’s done a forward-slanting hood with FWD front overhang and dash-to-axle since).
In the early 80’s, 4 doors were just not cool. It wasn’t too long into the 80s that Nissan starting the 4 Door Sports Car campaign for the Maxima.
Personally, I still don’t think 4 doors are cool, but that’s about all we have to choose from these days.
No interest in four doors. The two door 81 & newer X-11’s had a great look to them and fun to drive.
Four doors only look best in demolition derby’s.
All the 4 door hate and I’d bet most people who dump on them have at least that many doors on their daily drivets.
I drove a 1981 Citation with the V6 and an automatic transmission. It was pretty peppy for what it was. I would imagine a 4 speed would be even peppier with that same engine.
Same, but a 1982. You put the rear seats down, and there was a LOT of room in that car.
Frankly, it was a pretty good car, but the head gasket went on ours. My dad wasn’t inclined to pay for the repair, so we sold it. Too bad. I quite liked it…
As I recall, early Citations had some recalls and a passel of TSBs. Once GM worked the bugs out, they renamed it the Citation II and it was a fairly decent car. Of course, being a good car (finally), in typical GM fashion, they axed it shortly after.
I drove one of these with an eye toward buying one when they were new. Torque steered worse than any car I’ve driven…before or since. I could have probably gotten used to it, but my wife woulda put it in a ditch!
Unfortunately I’ve seen one of these “fishtail” after hard breaking resulting in a Nasty accident. It’s the “fishtail” thing that NTSB investigated.
After breaking, a fishtail comes as no surprise.
Was there something about GM repurposing the front/FWD set up in the Fiero?
Hitting driving age during this period, this ad got my head spinning.
Yep, X-car front end turned around and used as the Fiero rear end. Fiero used Chevette front end IIRC.
As far as the fan not shutting off, most GM cars of that era were like that. The purpose was to keep the air circulating in the HVAC system to prevent mold and odors from forming. At least that’s what they told us at GM training.
Yep, that started in 1971 with “Astro Ventilation.” That model year had louvers in the trunk lid that were replaced with door shell vents the following model year. Customers complained about not being able to shut the blower off in cold weather but there were no “official” corrections.
My buddy had a brand new 1980 Citation X-11. One of the first ones off the line. His dad was a GM mid-tier exec, so he got his in August of ’79. First one of my teenage friends to get a brand new car. He sold his ’73 Capri for this car. First week he owned it? He checked the oil, forgot the cap was sitting on the air cleaner, slammed the hood, and got a knot in the hood. The next day, another kid dropped his cigarette on the front seat, burned a nice hole in it. A couple months later, I opened the back flip out windows, and the window fell out. But it looked cool, and was an OK runner. He sold it for a Mustang GT.
The 81’s and newer X-11’s were greatly different and improved from the boring 1980 versions.
I owned an ’81 X-11 as a young man. It was my first new car and I was pretty hard on it. It was really a good car, far superior to the Camaro and trans AM I had. I owned it for six years and I put a lot of miles on it. I disconnected the odometer so it would show fewer miles for a few years. It was starting to rust out though. On mine the AC hoses leaked and had them replaced. Otherwise I don’t recall much other work done to it. The V6 engine was different from the regular Citations and supposedly more robust and for the day kind of a muscle car. There are a lot of articles out there about the X11s and there is a Facebook page. The regular Chevy Citations pretty much disappeared by the early 2000’s and had a history of badly rusting out.
Never liked the rear I Beam suspension, probably why they had trouble fishtailing. But I do like the looks of this car.
I bought a new one in 1983 with the 2.8 V6. Rear main seal leaked off of the show room floor, rear suspension clunked constantly, interior lasted about as long as wet cray paper, and it was a total slug at 110 HP. A total piece of X-Car junk!!!
110 horsepower you say? Chevrolet did a whole lot better in the performance/handling department with their 110 hp Corvairs — the late models with independent suspension all around ala Corvette. One could, of course, opt for 140 or 180 horsepower beginning in 1965 as well.
Perpendicular radios.
I worked at the GM plant that made the radios, and bought one for a project when they were new. Never used it and still have it as I just now remember.
Low was as low indeed. Dad’s 81 Parisienne had the ATC a/c and even when at off you had a low but steady flow through the floor ducts. Interestingly enough when you toggled the thermostat upward or downward and kept an attentive ear open you heard the temp.door cycle. If i remember GM made sure to always have minimal airflow so no mildew or unpleasant odors would grab a hold
Cool color. The rest of the car? Meh…
In 2025, that color is know as Terracotta. My brother in law just bought a Santa Fe in that color.
4sp. makes it better. 👍
Amazing there are any X-11s left. This car was a pseudo-punching bag for us in high school. Like the Citation sucked but woah daddy a tarted up Citation…the stuff of dreams!
4 speed fun. Closer by and under $1500 I’d be bidding. Loys of attention and a fun driver.
Parents bought the first year skylark, with the V6. Held up well, and was peppy.
Felt just a quick as their previous car, 1973 Caprice with a 400. Same 1/4 mile, 16.8. With better mileage and more room. And much easier to put in the garage.
Dad (an automotive and mechanical engineer) had to own a 1980 as the first transmounted engine. He also bought a first-year Plymouth Voyager too. I bought the Citation from them after graduating from college. Lots of good miles before selling it to a coworker.
Wow! I’m shocked that any survive. They ere such junk! At the time, they were the most recalled cars in history. This one doesn’t look too bad o had ordered an X car, but the build and waiting lists were months long. I cancelled my order. Good thing too. I liked the Olds Omega Brougham coupe. Oh well.
I thought that honor went to to the Dodge Aspen & Plymouth Volare. Chrysler techs used to call them rolling TSBs.
I took a hard look at the X-11 back in 1983 when I was 15 and thinking about my first car. I liked the looks, but I didn’t care for the FWD. I wanted rear drive and a V8, even though the newer ones were pretty anemic by then. Still liked the looks of the X-11 with the cowl hood and streamlined hatchback, and the “HO” (ha) 6 banger seemed a step up from the Honda & Mitsubishi/Dodge 4 cylinder FWD cars, but the Hondas had the durability rep, and the Dodge/Mits had the turbo performance advantage, so the X-11 just got a hard look and a pass.
So…what did you end up getting?
1979 Olds Cutlass Calais with 305 V8, T-tops, bucket seats and console. My grandfather and great uncle were GM mechanics and big Olds and Buick guys, so an Olds was top of the list (even though it had a Chevy engine) Dad found the car for me, I was shocked he found one with T-Tops and bought it for me. Today I have a different 79 Olds Cutlass Calais with T-Tops, again with a Chevy engine – 6.0 LS (iron block) and 4L80 trans. Finally got to hot-rod my Cutlass like I wanted to as a teen, but had no $$ back then.
You know I really like it. I have had several GM 2.8s all were nearly trouble free. If I was in the market for just a odd fun car I would be bidding. I don’t think I have ever seen one in that color.
Saw the virtual twin to this near Pontiac Michigan on Memorial Day. Appeared to be registered and a runner. These get awful flack but would have been real players had GM not cut so many corners. The manufacturers struggled and made a lot of poor decisions. A lot has been rectified today but we still see endless recalls and bulletins. If only for a perfect world.
I had one of these. 290,000 miles never cost more than routine maintenance. A deer totaled it. Some of these cars were really junk, some were extremely reliable.
The last time I saw one of these was 1981. Never in the wild since then.
The mighty X/11, what a joke. Competed against several in autocross back in the day, while piloting my Plymouth Champ. I was a rookie and could still beat them. Poor performers, awful handling, terrible seats. I’ll keep my X1/9 thank you.
I also competed against a friend’s X/11 in autocross. I had a BMW 320I. If I remember right they put him in a slower class after his first or 2nd time running it. Good enough looking car, but just not enough power.
They were known as a Mutation in the trade in market
I watch a heavy haul channel on you tube. On one of his episodes he was picking up gm stamping dies to be hauled to a scrapper. One of the dies had “Left Front Fender Citation” stenciled on it. And then this one pops up on barn finds.
The car Is forgettable, but my ’82 S-10 had that 2.8 V6 and a 5-speed. My first new vehicle, and it would run away from most cars on a curvy road. I loved that truck.
I had the Pontiac version I got a long just fine with it for 225k miles. Was it garbage yes. It ruined the American car companies. Thus never forgive them. It was the butter vs margarine of the auto industry based on lies.
Young mechanic just at a high school when these cars came out. Used to have to prep them for delivery. P o s! Recalls after recalls! Mainly carburetor problems. Unleaded fuel was new and these cars wouldn’t run. All of them.
I have a 1980 x11 that was owned by cliff gottlob. Got it with 2700 miles now has 18000. Power steering, power brakes, tilt wheel, ice cold a/c, removable sunroof, v6 (without cat) 4 speed, br Goodrich, fold down rear seat, full instrumentation, and yes. vertical radio. Love it
My wife and I, my Brother and my Father were kind of an 81-85 X-11 family owning 4 of them (not all at the same time) and 4 different colors. All were bought as low milage and typically maybe a year old. I had the only stick shift. Nothing but good memories from them and lots of trouble free miles. Spunky to drive but nothing like my GTO’s or Dads Trans Am parked in the garage back then. I would not really mind owning one again. There was an extremely low mile one that went on a different auction recently and sure looked nice. I came up short though on the bidding.
So, I went to place a bid, and it requires registration, which I totally get. I’ve been getting my daily BarnFinds email for years and have commented on dozens, if not hundreds, of ads over the years. But apparently, I need to join at the cost of $9/month, just to bid? Is that real? No other auction site requires me to pay a monthly fee for the ability to place a bid on an auction (that I may or may not even win).
I’m not spending the money for the so-called “privilege” to place a bid on a possible purchase. Sorry.
Some online auction houses charge $1000 to bid online. $9 isn’t much and it helps a great website on top of just bidding. I took the plunge and won a sweet Daytona Z last week.
Plus, it helps to weed out the false (shill) bidders.
I haven’t seen one this nice in a couple of decades. When these came out it was a revolution for America car manufacturers. FWD, wow, and nobody wanted it at first
I had this same X11 in white, drove it for 11 years. I believe it had 135 HP it was no slug and it had a special exhaust with a great sound, plus I enjoyed how well it handled. windy roads
I had this same X11 in white, drove it for 11 years. I believe it had 135 HP it was no slug and it had a special exhaust with a great sound, plus I enjoyed how well it handled. windy roads.
I owned an ’83 X-11 for years and stopped driving it at 325,000 miles (one engine rebuild and one tranny replacement). Never had any issue with brakes causing fishtailing. They did NOT have a rear sway bar. I added one and made the car handle incredibly well. That, and stiffer shocks and one size up in tires. By the way, there was no problem with head gaskets on these engines. It was the intake manifold gasket that would leak. The dealerships took advantage of this.
I had this same exact model Citation x11 in a dark metallic brown. OMG that car was so much fun to drive! It was v6 4 speed and it wasn’t fast but it sure was fun to drive and it looked so cool! I loved that car. Those V6 Citations were no joke. My Dad had an 81 Citation 4 door V6 and I entered it in a drag race at Keystone Raceway Park in New Alexandria, PA on family night run whatcha brung. I actually beat a late 70s Camaro 305 and advanced. Then I beat a Newer Buick, and ended up getting eliminated by a Chevy truck. Then when I showed Dad the little trophy his car won I got an ass kicking lol. I ended up trading my X11 even up to a guy for a 75 Dodge pickup, lifted 6 inches, wearing 36″ Denman Ground Hawg tires, rollbar. I loved that truck too! Vehicles today just don’t have the same “fun factor” or maybe I just got old and boring lol
Does the X indicate an X rather than an H shift pattern?
So I’ve been told. Anyone?
No, traditional H shift pattern for the 4-speed in the Citation X-11. Same 4 speed that was used in other GM cars of the era.
Noooo. It was an option package
KC, there was a batch of 2.8s with bad crankshaft. I know as at the time I was working at a Jeep store and the Cherokees had GM 2.8s in them also with the bad crankshaft. Many of warranty crankshaft replaced in the shop.
Imagine what this poorly-built car could have become with the GM 3800 V6. The bodies would have disintegrated into rolling rust piles, but the engines would still be purring. Aptly named, as Chevy should have received multiple citations for selling this POS.
Wow! Look at all of the comments generated! The PD I worked for bought some of these for the traffic guys, trying to get away from the gas-guzzling Mopars they were used to. Somewhere I have a pic of one of these all decked out with emergency equipment…the guys hated them. Next year they went back to gas-guzzlers….
63 (now 64) comments and still counting!
I didn’t realize there are so many people who like the goofy stuff like I do. The 80’s had some car’s that are unique enough today to be special. When was the last time you seen one of those
Wish I could have afforded this. The price seems fair to me.
I have an 81 Olds Xbody Sport Omega with 2.8 4sp 2dr coup that Im the original owner, bought brand new in Dec 1981. Put over 240000 near trouble free miles on it.