The Chevrolet Citation was a moonshot for GM that ended up becoming little more than a footnote in its history. Introduced as a potential import fighter in the economy car class, the Citation was a front-wheel drive economy car that was just one model launched across a wide assortment of X-body models. While the standard model proved to be nothing exceptional, the high-performance X-11 offering proved to be quite compelling – and rare. Find this 1982 X-11 here on eBay with no bids yet.
When the X-11 first appeared on the scene, it was merely a handling and decor package. Some cosmetic tweaks, sporty suspension – nothing too exciting, but it was at least a hint at GM’s evolving thoughts around its new front-driver. After a while, the engine finally got a much-needed shot in the arm, and models produced after 1981 came equipped with a high output carbureted V-6 accented by a sport exhaust system and functional hood scoop to produce a respectable 135 horsepower.
The X-11 could actually reach 60 in about 8.5 seconds (when equipped with the four-speed manual), which was only a step or two behind the Corvette of the same era. Other enhancements included meaty Goodyear tires that helped give the X-11 some decent chops on the road course. The X-11, like so many cars from this era, would begin to see its performance actually decrease as the model evolved, thanks to increasingly stringent emissions requirements. The interior of this X-11 is in good shape and shows it is equipped with the optional automatic.
The seller has showered this X-11 with a bevy of recent maintenance, and has decided to quit while he’s ahead (or at least, not completely buried). Take a gander at the recent improvements: belts, fuel pump, air filter, transmission gaskets, torque converter, new thermostat, tires, tie rod ends…the list goes on, and on, and on. It ends up feeling like a car that’s been substantially rebuilt, which it very well may be. The X-11 has the potential to be a bit of an item, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about the $5,000 opening bid.
As usual engine bay pics would be nice, this was one nice mini rocket in an era of going 0-60 under 10 seconds was an accomplishement. The car itself was spacious and f.w.d. made winter driving a breeze. A lot of stuff was done here so if the engine is sound this can be a worthwhile keeper with a good week-end of detailing
I have a 1982 model. It was two-tone blue. Base model.
I got it with 44,000 miles.
The only thing I replaced on it was a radiator hose.
Car had get up and go.
But at 108,000 mi.
The car completely died.
DROVE LIKE A TANK IN THE SNOW.
As long as there wasn’t serious rust, chances are there was just 1 or at most 2 serious things wrong that probably could have been repaired for not a lot of money back then – or even rebuilt, if it was the not so complicated auto trans or motor.
Or when the car died, it may have been something simple in the HEI distributor that failed. Unlike today’s vehicles with a coil for each cylinder & sensors & body control modules galone, your ’82 had just 1 coil.
Too much tourkstèer for
Me to enjoy driving . I had 81 4 speed got rid of it asap.
This may be the nicest X-11 left! My Uncle bought one new and I don’t think it looked as good! Kind of a cool car as a Honda Accord fighter….even if it lost the fight.
Had one of these X-11, this appears to be a rebadged clone. Wrong wheels and interior and without showing the GM HO motor, I suspect this is not the real deal. These Citations were fast for front wheel drive. GM put a weak automatic behind that HO motor, keeps breaking the transmission input shaft. Buyer beware. Check the VIN before buying.
At the Chevrolet dealership we had a mechanic that ordered one in 82, silver 4 speed. We used to go to lunch in it when he drove it to work. It had meticulous care from him for years. Yes, these are extremely rare and I’d be willing to bet most people have never seen one, let alone for sale. I hope someone bites.
So I am a full time mechanic and for some reason I dream about fixing cars. Ya, I know, I need a hobby… They are for some reason in real ish time. For the last week I have been restoring a black 81 X11. Last night was the engine. Don’t know why, haven’t thought about or seen one in years.
Had a Used 1980 X- 11 Notchback in 1994 and it Really wasn’t a Bad Vehicle ! But underbody was EAT up in RUST from front to Back & it was BAD.
Lipstick on a pig. Perhaps GM’s absolute darkest days.
Hot Wheels made these in this exact color.
I owned one of those pigs for 11 years– it handled great and was quick for what it was, and I pushed it all the time it liked to run. It kept breaking the top engine mount so I made it solid, really helped in the shifting –I’ll say I enjoyed my lil. Pig.
Was a kid back in the time of the GM Intermediates, including the Chevelle Super Sports. As the reality of downsizing to meet fuel and emission standards kicked in, I always thought the X11 as well as the Cavalier Z24 as the modern era equivilent to those GM mid-late sixties muscle cars.
I like the full instrumented dash on this (Cavalier Z as well) and the requisite hood scoop and spoilers. These cars were probably more honest then the mid-late 70’s, low compression small block intermediates. That 2.8 was a great engine for GM; had one in the 2 Fieros I owned. They always had a nice exhaust growl to them and gave pretty good gas mileage for a V6.
I had one of these under a different badge. The Pontiac Phoenix. First car in high school. Great ride.
Terrible time for GM to be building anything, especially this. Seemed to start rusting while being transported to the dealerships. .
Glad I’m not the one trying to unload this thing. Take it out back and put it out of it’s misery. Sorry for being so blunt.
regret disowning my X11
I still have my hotwheel in this color.
Tim said it first (lipstick). We survived the early 80s and that gives me hope for the future. I can’t think of any new vehicle that I’m excited about.
I’m hoping for back to basics utility that is fun to drive. Keep your electronic mind sucker in your pocket please and drive.
In 1980 the small high-tech company I worked for was bought by East Coast Perkin-Elmer and we got the benefit of a large Corporation. As a result the leased cars for our service engineers got replaced by the Corporate-buddies at PHH and the first offering was for Citations, or Slow-tations. It wasn’t a bad car, but it wasn’t a good car either. It ate it’s steering rack at about 20000 miles and had the distinction of being replaced in less than 3 years with a Topaz! The X-11 power and suspension tweaks would have changed the attitudes in my department, but it was a Corporate no-no.
Success in Fleet is keeping it as cheap as possible.
Back then I thought these were sooo cool. Domed hood and nice stance. Sorta wanted the club coupe a little more. Alas I wanted a woman who would change my first name to Dad even more. Still like this car and its less common shade of red.
These, with the hi output V6 and a 4 speed were an absolute ball to drive. I was with Bob Bondurant for a ride in a Skylark T-type with that engine/trans combination. Absolutely amazing. He really made that car dance.
I factory ordered (Canada) a silver ‘82 four speed. A quick little car with the HO engine but if you have ever driven one you’ll remember the heavy torque steer on acceleration!!
I had this X-11; same color and everything. The wheels aren’t original in this example we see here. These came with Eagle GT tires; state of the art tires back then. The X-11 cornered very well and tracked reasonably straight under acceleration. I remember liking that it proclaimed High Output on the hood’s power bulge; nice touch that was. I traded the X-11 on a red Fiero GT in August ’85. I did this without notifying my wife who was irritated to say the least. My dear wife looked at me like Jack’s mother did when he traded the family cow for a handful of magic beans in Jack & the Beanstalk.
I bought a 81 from the original owner who lowered it and removed all the decals and emblems. It was a blast to drive and had plenty of room. I loved it but it developed a starting issue that took the dealer a month to resolve ( bad engine ground) and I was disappointed to see that even they could no longer get parts for it.
I had a Club Coupe also. Red. I want to say red over black but I hesitate in declaring it for certain. It had a 4 speed manual transmission. Fun to drive. My wife sanctioned the purchase and we went to Reedman’s Chevrolet in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, November 8, 1980. I remember writing the date of purchase on the out cover of the owner’s manual.
What sticks in memory (two things) is that someone at work told me that an overseas shipment of vehicles had fallen through and the Reedman’s was practically giving away the Citations in the shipment. Recalled from the Port of Baltimore. I never knew if that was true but it became a part of the car’s lore. The other thing; it had no air conditioning. I came to rue buying the car the following two summers. I resolved to never buy another vehicle that did not have air conditioning. The heater worked though. In all sincerity, I remember being comfortable in winter, parts of spring and fall. I kept the Club Coupe for almost two years before getting the Redwood Metallic X-11 in November ’82.
Hopefully with air conditioning this time.
Yes, ACZ, it had air conditioning. I made sure of that. I also began to notice, going forward from ’83 on, that more vehicles were including air conditioning as standard equipment.
Citations were cheaply made, poorly constructed and ugly. No thanks!
There wasn’t a Mutation made that didn’t need a lot of money spent on it
Oh my… somebody saved one?…
Probably an agent of the law…
I could never figure out why GM named a car after a traffic ticket.
I am not sure but I believe it was named after a experimental jet the air force was testing.
A citation is also a declaration of merit, as in the military.
It was also an Edsel model name.
What happened to X-1 thru X-10?
Imports could learn a lesson or two here about putting NUMBERS on aux gages – espec TEMP gages.
Looks like same steering wheel as in later Monte SS.
Some company(ies), even back then, must have made an adjustable brake porportioning valve for these.
Nostromo, just 1 new Eagle GT ORWL tire today could set you back $500!
My goodness. Wow! They are still nice looking tires. Thank you for that detail, Joe.
A friend back then got an X-11 hot off the presses. His dad worked for GM, and he got it for him in August of ’79. It was dark blue metallic, sans the striping, or call outs. No one I hung out with ever had a new car. We were impressed! A year later, things were falling off at an accelerating pace. That car was put together like a cheap toy.
Bad brakes and deadly fires…….. crazy torque steer, despite crappy power numbers. That is all I recall. Cute car. They sold a ton year one, but after that, everyone figured out it was a dressed up turd. Just saying🤷🏻♂️
Recall,that was the nickname for it after the first year! I was looking for a new car, bought a Ford Fairmont Futura instead. THATS another story! Japanese cars had it all over American cars back then.
As I recall, none of that was true. Just sayin’
I had a 81 model with a 4-speed. It was medium fast but fun to drive. I had a hard time keeping front half-shafts in it as I loved to smoke the tires. Used to race a guy with a Camaro to work, I always beat him on the curves. I liked the car but it cost too much to keep it going. Fun while it lasted!
Back in 1988, I owned a 1985 light blue, auto trans, with the 2.8 MPI engine. One of the best cars that I ever owed. An awesome car to take on twisty roads. Plenty of space the take family of 4 to the shore. Sold for caravan when #3 arrived.
And whose fault was that?
I had one, same color, but two toned with a Charcoal bottom. V6 4 spd. 1982 model , had it in 85.
Only thing I did to it was an alternator in the whole time I had it…5years
Was a great car.
These were part of the reason imports became what they are today. The quality control of most us made cars back then was horrible. The big 3 thought the public would buy anything they made. They were wrong.
The thing that sticks out in my mind regarding US cars of this vintage is the miserable fit and finish… especially with the interiors… cheap looking and feeling materials… wavy molded bits that were meant to be flat… abysmal panel fit… switches that felt like they were about to break each time you used them. As a kid just coming of age, this turned me off for US vehicles for years… I just wouldn’t consider them.
Know I know why they call you luckless. Just sayin’
I oddly dont hate this, the style has aged well as has the interior surprisingly – the plastic had the durability of popcorn when exposed to UV. Our shop had a base model as a courtesy car for a while, the biggest pos lol, was always fixing something on the then 5yo car. Eventually got a Honda, vast improvement.
The interior does look dried-out and faded from how I remember the inside of mine. Certain ABS compounds will leach their plasticizers and pigment when exposed to heat and UV rays. That’s why the inner glass can get that slippery film when the vehicle is left uncovered in direct sunlight. Oddly, the paint looks pretty good for being over 40 years old. I loved that Redwood Metallic color.
I remember the rumor of this reaching the factory floor before the vehicles were released for sale, so the rumor mill worked pretty quickly. Our GM hardware plant manager had a Buick Skylark brought into our plant and rolled into the cafeteria up on the second floor. Our freight elevator was good for things like that. The vehicle was adorned with little green stick-on dots to denote the pieces our plant produced. This was before the X-bodies were released for sale so we were privileged to get a sneak peek.
Worked at a Pontic dealership in 83-84 and we had a couple of these in trades. These things could keep up with the trans ams in 82. Always kinda liked them.
Cheap GM junk. Having learned nothing from the Vega, GM went through with these crappy cars. Worst part was its replacement, the Cavalier, wasn’t much of an improvement. GM may have improved with FWD since it’s regrouping after the bankruptcy, but 70’s and 80’s GM small cars turned me against the brand. Even the V8 GM cars I’ve owned from that time frame have been cheaply put together, although the power plants have been reliable.
This was my Grandma’s car, she barely drove and it basically sat in a garage for the most part. Id drive it around the yard when i was 10 or 11.
Had an 82 X-11 beige with a red interior. Handled very well, was comfortable, and with the hatchback could hold a lot. The vertical radio was a little strange. Rusted away on about 5 years on the Florida coast.
The hatchback was cavernous as I remember. Was able to get an entire stereo rack system in it with the huge speaker boxes taking up the most room. By chance, on the day my wife and I went to Jefferson Ward to pick up the stereo, our daughter was with her aunt and uncle. With the back seat folded flat there would have been no room for a driver and two passengers. If it had come to it I would have walked the six miles home and let my wife drive our daughter and the new stereo back to our place.
X-ellent! That was Chevy’s tagline for the X-11. I was the citation specialist at the Chevy dealer in the early 80’s. We sold 100’s of them.
I bought a Sport Omega new in 1981 the Oldsmobile version of the X-11 citation. Drove it till the starter quit at 240,000 miles. Still have it in my garage. It has the HO 2.8 V-6 4spd, cornered like it was on rails, would cruise 80mph all day long and got 35mpg. I had it up to around 140 mph on a long flat run. Very comfortable car.
140MPH??
Really?!
Reminds me of a t-shirt I once saw. Said “The older I get, the faster I was.”
We used to call them the Bad situation cars!
@vrwalk… Pics of the Omega?? Love to see it!!
My X-11 had a real good growl sound coming from the exhaust, I did like that car a-lot
Needed a cheap “Family” back in 82. Bought the 4 door version. Tan outside, beige inside. Tan carpet. Automatic, bench seat, a.m. radio. Most Boring car ever, very reliable, but booooring.
I find it hard to believe these rusted as fast as, let alone faster, than any ’70s GM car.
Everything rusts in NY.
My Dad had one of the 1981 X11 HO models. It could be best described as the torque-steer monster with a throaty exhaust note. It was a much better X-body example then my same year Oldsmobile SX.
Not many love these and in the early 80’s performance cars were not what they used be in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a white with back trimmed x11 that some mechanic owned near me. I liked it but then I love underdog underloved cars.
Say what you will haters but this could look cool with a bit of love at a RadWood car show or concours de’lemons show.
What can I say–My x11 was a tough lil. car with a big heart, in 11 years the only thing that quit was the rack muffler and top engine mount. and I drove it HARD. an added note, I taught my three children how to drive a stick with it and they torched` it while learning. That lil. car surprised a lot of people at the traffic lite. It was a mini sleeper.
Ok. Just gunna throw this out there… It seems like cars such as this generate the most discussion, polarizing opinions and vivid memories. Here is the middle of the road approach. Yes, the Citation could be terrible. Build quality was a joke. Recalls aplenty. But….. Stop me if you’ve heard this. The Mustang II isn’t a real Mustang. Gussied up Pinto. The Vega is the worst car GM ever made… until the Citation.. Malaise Era…etc… Remember this. Taken in context, they were all the right car at the right time. They were designed by engineers branching out into new endeavors. Small cars, front wheel drive, fuel efficiency. One of the freedoms we have is the freedom of choice. Not everyone wants Japanese or European cars. The GM 2.8 V6 has been maligned by lots of people but in my opinion it was a great little engine. Read Pat Gahahl’s book V6 Performance. In the 80’s people were looking to small cars much the same way intermediate cars popular in the late 60s and 70s. I am glad there are people passionate about cars like this. They were important stepping stones to where we are now. I wish I could afford this. I would even sell one of my Capri’s for it. Alas, I am too stubborn and want to finish what I have. Someone needs to buy this and preserve it. Long live Radwood!
Cars from the 80’s on were disposable. Buy it, run it ’till it quits and then off to recycle it goes. Never meant to last more than 5 to seven years. It was a race to see which would fall apart first. The body or the drive train!
If my memory is correct, the introduction date for the GM X cars was delayed due to a total of 6 safety recalls the cars required, prior to any sales to the public.
One recall was for GM’s President, Elliott “Pete” Estes, supposedly knicking the tip of his shoe on an exposed end of a seat adjuster while getting into the back seat of one of the X-cars. I’d heard it was a Citation. Engineers had to knock-out a plastic protector for the end of the seat adjuster. That story, true or just a legend, has stuck in memory for decades.
If that were true, credit him for doing that. Can anyone imagine Roger Smith doing that? Pete was an engineer.
I remember the rumor of this reaching the factory floor before the vehicles were released for sale, so the rumor mill worked pretty quickly. Our GM hardware plant manager had a Buick Skylark brought into our plant and rolled into the cafeteria up on the second floor. Our freight elevator was good for things like that. The vehicle was adorned with little green stick-on dots to denote the pieces our plant produced. This was before the X-bodies were released for sale so we were privileged to get a sneak peek