I wish more of these had survived, they're an important part of GM history and the us car industry as a whole. In many ways, they're the opposite of the K Car, nearly destroying a company rather than saving one.
Yes. I read that the GM executives were furious that cash strapped Chrysler could get together their act and produce reliable popular cars while their own cars suffered in the marketplace.
@@fortune300 just to mention a few... Engine fires caused by transmission lines that broke, suspension components braking, rear brakes locking up causing crash...
Nothing illustrates how clueless GM was with small cars compared to big cars than this era. The big Caprice B Bodies absolutely nailed it, and were easily top of the class. The X Body...Less so!
Wow, I just totally zoned out on this trip back to the 80’s!!!! My friends dad had an ‘80 Skylark company car, baby blue with blonde “plastic wood” trim. Stickered for $10k and that seemed like an insane amount for a car. Tofer just keeps taking it to another level 👏👏👏👏👏
I currently own a 1981 Pontiac Phoenix with the 2.5 iron duke and a 4 speed manual. I deliver for Pizza Hut full time and it’s actually been the most trouble free car I’ve owned. And I’ve owned a lot of cars over the years. It handles all weather and never gets stuck in snow storms. Wish more of them were like mine.
The previous owners likely worked out all of GM's many flaws and bugs. My uncle had a Phoenix and swore it never ran right, never held together and ended up nickel & diming him out of his apartment. He sold it for a four year old Honda Accord and never looked back.
@@catjudo1 actually no. Everything was original. We replaced the stuff as it wore out because parts were dirt cheap but it never left me anywhere. I’m putting a new clutch in it this summer as it has 95000 on it now. It’s always started. Always ran and never had any of the issues they were known for.
@@Budjr52 These cars are great in the snow. Mine I ran over something and got a flat and rounded off a lugnut trying to change it. After being unable to find help I got angry and just drove it on home on snow covered roads. It did get hot enough to turn the light on, so I stopped for a bit and let it cool, but I got home fine, and drove it long after getting the tire off and fixed.
I owned an '81 Phoenix with the "iron duke" and an automatic transmission. Bought it used from Budget Rent-a-Car, service records included. Lasted only 11 years and 230,000+ miles. Drivetrain was primitive, unrefined, but very reliable. Hatchback made it versatile. Roomy and comfortable for its size. BUT...the interior hardware and assembly was horrible. Hard plastic everywhere rattled and squeaked. Doors, although heavy and substantial, sounded tinny when opened and closed. Replaced the steering rack twice because of "morning sickness" and sloppy tie rod ends. The headlights burned out frequently because of engine vibration at idle. To replace the oil filter, the right-front tire had to be removed. Sold it for $200 when a timing gear broke. Saw it many times later driven around town sporting new timing gears. Car refused to die! It was one of the few good X-bodies GM made. GM learned, and GM did a better job with the FWD mid-size cars.
So do I. had a 1980 blue 4 cyl manual trans in blue. Figured the engine was half a V-8 so had to be strong, right - Wrong. Engine died catastrophically with about 25K miles on the clock. Coolant leaking into the sump it turned out, destroying the bottom end. Before that it pinged like crazy during acceleration, even on super fuel. I tried installing a water injection system from JC Whitney to calm it down. That sorta worked, except that the pump kept dying. Slammed it into the back of a USPS truck one day due to the rear brakes locking up. But Pontiac was smart - they made up for the lousy brakes with a very strong front bumper on hydraulic shocks. No damage on the Pontiac at all. When I looed under the bumper, I could see by the dirt pattern and shiny metal that the bumper had moved back about 3 inches and then bounced right back out again. Definitely a car not to be cried over its extinction.
I drove mine 1980 Skylark for about 17 years as a daily driver. Been through half a Europe with it. Never let down!! Build to last!! Sold it 4 years a go! Stil have a 1981 skylark v6 stick schift.! Mint condition!!
Similar experience here in the USA, 1981 Skylark. It was a comfortable reliable car that drove smoother than most any modern day small car. I wouldn't want to get into a crash in it and it wouldn't keep up with modern traffic but back then it was a great car.
@@knurlgnar24 true! But we still live in Europe with a lot more smaller cars on the road and almost none full size SUVs! In 17 years a had couple off (rear end collisions )ascidians with compact euro cars and they got totaled 😁berry funny, not even a scratch on the bumper! So we can drive those cars here in Europe no problem. Until we all go “electric “!😁
I remember the X-body cars well! "Motor Trend" magazine ran an article in their May 1979 issue, and I was so impressed! I thought to myself, "At last! GM finally got it right! This is destined to become one of its success stories!" Fooled me. In the first year alone, the X-bodies were hit with recall after recall - bad brakes, to name just one. The way I look at this today, the X-bodies marked the beginning of GM's decades-long downfall. Quality and workmanship became shoddier as the years went by. I feel that all this could have been avoided if GM waited an extra year or two if they took the time to get all the bugs worked out before putting the cars into production. If there was one good thing about them, it was the later 1982 A-bodies that sprang from them. The A-bodies somehow didn't have the numerous recalls that would eventually bring down the X-bodies. The A's were somewhat better built (if that's the word) and far more successful. Amazingly, they survived through 1996 (Olds Ciera and Buick Century were the last offerings). In the end, the Citation and its cousins were well engineered. They were simply poorly executed. And that was the whole problem. A suggestion for a future video: the Ford Escort/Mercury Lynx. (6/16/2021)
Well engineered, poorly executed is the story of GM's US offerings from around 1970 to this very day. The Vega should have been a fine car. The Olds Diesel could have been a fine engine, likewise the Cadillac V8-6-4 and Northstar. The Skyhawk Monza, Sunbird, Starfire, all could have been, should have been so much better than they turned out. The Cadillac Allante , Olds Aurora. They got it right with the body-on-frame rear-wheel-drive cars, but except for the Eldorado-Toronado front-to-back layout, the GM front wheel drive models were irredeemable junk.
5:54 Im EFFIN TERRIFIED !! 🙄 Not sure if its the DEATH trap driving THROUGH a solid wall or that DUDE with the sharp teeth looking THROUGH my precious soul 😳
I had a 1982 X-11 that I had modified by an ex-GM engineer and racer/tuner. It was turned into a really good performer for the time. But, it was built like an utter POS. The head gasket went bad, dumped coolant into the sump, thereby trashing the main bearings. And the starter harness was routed under the oil pan and the insulation melted way back to expose bare wiring. The water pump leaked. At 60Kmi, the transaxle (manual) had to be rebuilt as a shifter broke internally. By 80Kmiles, it was totally shot. It didn't even reach GM's 100K bogey. But, it was still way better than the Pinto I replaced it with!
What I recall as a kid and the experience of all of the x body's multiple name plates we had was the vibration from the moment it was started and how such a small car could create such a rattle n vibration with a very thin metal like shaking sound . I was small but I always felt like I could really sink into the citations due to the high dashboards. The sideways radio always cracked me up I didn't know if they were trying to make it look edgy and assuming that ppl wouldn't realize it was just turned vertical or if they just didn't give a damn cuz it had to go somewhere. We had the x skylark and one day we were driving around while the car was relatively new and suddenly there were sparks flying around the car on the outside cuz the engine just fell to the ground while operating it due to corrosion underneath.
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a silver Buick Skylark Limited. Small on the outside, but soooo luxurious inside. The transmission failed before the car was three years old and they bought a Chevy Celebrity.
Please make a video on the 80s Volvo cars. In the homeland Sweden where I live they are or were cheap and abundant. When I grew up we thought they were slow, heavy and boring compared to the newer 5 cylinder Volvos, German cars and Japanese high revving well equipped cars. But compared to the American cars in your videos they seams very high quality and well engineered.
My mom had a '91 240 estate, in white. We called it "the fridge". Slow as molasses, but an absolute tank. I used that bad boy to move me in and out of a number of apartments back in my college years.
Tofer, you really hit this one out of the park with this one! Laura Branigan, The Shining, Airplane! and the X-car line up. It's 1980 all over again. Love Dr. Rumack's nose growing with the introduction of the Citation II... brilliant! So many wonderful touches in this video. I can't believe you managed to do a long-distance move in the middle of putting this work of art together! And your Tofer Car Tales song rocks! Great job!
Thanks so much! It was weird composing the first half of this video in California and the second half in a completely new... everything... in Texas. And then there was another unexpected twist/delay when I realized my old Microphone apparently did not survive the ordeal. The first voiceover was awful. I had to re-record the entire voiceover with a new mic. As a result, the voiceover is better in some ways but there are a few tweaks for the next video that will be necessary for sure. Regardless, thanks again for being such a huge champion of my efforts! :)
Yeah you do a much different approach to you're videos than others, and its really immersive. OMG the huge TV !!!! Forgot about those wow flashback we had 4 and damn things were heavy AF!
Thank you so much for making this video. I’ve been looking forward to it. I grew up in the 80’s and remember these disasters. You did an excellent job capturing not only these cars but the early 80’s feel. Fantastic nostalgia.
I remember in 1981, when I was working for a GM subsidiary, and we could buy these at an employee discount, a co-worker had bought a new Citation, and told us how he didn't use much gasoline - because the damned car had to be towed to the dealer for repairs so often.
Another great video Tofer! I'm not from the US, and I've often wondered which car did the most to make the American public decide 'my next car is a Honda' (or any other foreign brand). I'm guessing there was still a stigma about buying foreign cars at the time. Or people who would buy a particular brand because 'my dad bought a Chevy, so I'm buying a Chevy too'. Sounds like the X cars were one of those cars that were so poorly received that people would buy foreign next.
I had two Omegas, one of each body type. The older one was what it was, a fully optioned soft riding Nova. The second, an '82 was 4/5 size Cutlass in style riding on a Citation frame. It was a mass of meh. Nothing horrible, but nothing to get excited about. It's only problems were a trunk that would occasionally fill with water and a transmission that would decide it didn't like the current fluid and get rid of a quart or two. It did seem overweight for the little four cylinder they dropped in.
Thank you for making this its truly wonderful! It really brings back memories of my childhood seeing these cars driving around sadly they are all gone now. But I try to keep the memories of the 1980’s alive with my Chevy celebrity, cavalier an Ford country squire
To be honest, comparing an Xcar to the Kcar, the K car was a very significant step down in almost every category. A truly wretched and more awful car has never been built.
While I have to disagree…. I have found that the K cars was far more tougher. I’m a GM guy too…. The early FWD gm cars sucked.. they finally got it right when the fuel injected engines came along. I mean hell gm turned a cavalier into a Cadillac…. At least Chrysler waited a few yrs before they made a k car into a luxury car….( if you call it that) But when you have a platform that powered 95 % of your fleet. You better get it right or your done…..
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.
The citation X11, was the best looking, and the cowl induction hook. Truly worked. To add to that, I have seen a Pontiac 6000STE dash and shifter installed in an X11
I grew up riding in a 1980 Citation X-11. My mother bought it from a dealership, that the owner was going to give the car to his wife...I wish he had lol
I could tell you so much about these cars I 1st got in the car business selling Chevrolet citations in 1980 it was my favorite car to sell because it was so unique and when you would open up the hatch in the back and fold down the rear seat people were just in awe. And when you showed them an engine mounted sideways transverse mounted again they were in awe My mother had a 1981 Pontiac Phoenix LJ it was a cute car but unreliable of course and not loaded it had a window sticker of 8850 which was a lot of money for a little car back then. And of course this is my 2nd video I have seen from you guys and it's excellent done extremely well thank you
Hi, Tofer! Great video! I had a 1981 Skylark 2-door with the V-6. Poor car. Built and engineered terribly, the car was 9 years old when I got it and I drove it for four miserable months. Had I had the money to put into it, perhaps it could have beef decent. But it was doomed from the beginning. This jalopy is not missed at all!
Almost everything is said about the video. Of course I agree. Especcially (as always too) I like the music. Please give us a list of the tunes. I nearly have bought a ´82 Skylark. (it was a Caprice then). I still like their styling, the designers have done their jobs properly. My favorite is the 2door Skylark. And I wish, we would have that choice of beautiful interior colours today!
Great video ! The 70s and 80s were some good times growing up , I remember these X cars back in the day I had friends and family who owned these cars , they were not as reliable as the K cars but the Oldsmobile and Buick's had more class and luxury in its compact class .
I have a soft spot for the X cars, with the Omega being my favorite, followed closely by the one you didn't mention: The Phoenix SJ (Phoenix X/11 variant basically).
In the early 1990s my brother had the 4 door Oldsmobile version with a 2.8. Other than the dashboard and vinyl covered seats nothing else existed inside- no door panels, no carpeting, no headliner, nothing. Even the steering column housing with key switch was gone… you started it by twisting a couple of wires together that hung from the bottom of the column and pushing a wire rod that was on top of it. The floor pan was rusted out completely and there were pieces of plywood covering the holes and keeping one’s feet from contacting the highway. It was a gold/beige color but all 4 doors were from a brown one. It looked like something pieced together from a salvage yard. It felt like you were literally sitting on the road the driving position was so low. The 2.8 had a pretty cool growl. But, it was ready to go whenever he was, and served its purpose until it was replaced by a 1990 Tempo.
Wonderfully done My friend in high school had a 81 skylark he would do neutral drops in it one night I was with him he revved up that ole iron duke to the floor and dropped it into drive and broke the left half shaft clean Into 2 pieces replaced it drove it for several more years
To be fair regarding the quality of the Citation, many people ran them for 150k miles which was great for that era- but by then they were shot. The transmission would be finished. The floors were rotted out. Door sagged. The V6 would leak antifreeze into the rear left cylinder. Brake booster-shot. An actuator in the carb would fail. But most famously, and I don't recall this being mentioned, the power steering suffered from "morning sickness". But they were one of the last cars which you could safely jack up from the bumper.
German TV was testing the 1980 Citiation, the video is still available. The car was really horrible starting to fall apart in 2000km. I just can't imagine who and how assembled it.
@@MrNeptunebob well as far as I understand that was mostly assembly issue. But just because the Citation wasn't sold in Europe by Opel dealers (private import only) there was no big scandal. And the X-car had actually no market niche in Europe - way too big, inefficient and bland looking to be Ascona competitor.
My favorite scene in the German car Fan Citation video is the sparks flying from under the car as it drug it’s belly in the undulating pavement section of the test track. Nice! The fingertip removable center caps were a nice touch too.
Thank you for the video. In high school I had a 81 citation x11. When it worked it actually drove well and it was pretty fast for the time. Unfortunately the key was when it worked - the car nearly bankrupted me.
Summer 1979...the X car made its debut and they were hard to find...and if you could find one the dealers we marking them up. We were at the Buick Olds Cadillac Honda Mazda dealer in my town and my parents were looking for a new car...something more fuel efficient....and the options were order one and wait, buy what they had in stock, including a handful that were some how Canadian cars but ended up at this dealership in ND...they had no AC and would require a dealer install....or....try something else. Dad was crunching numbers and decided that a 1979 Olds Cutlass Salon Brougham that was a dealer demonstrator model would be the best alternative....and given the X Car's issues, a more proven A body gave us better service than the Buick Skylark or Olds Omegas at the dealer. With that...I spent lots of seat time in X Cars since I got my license in 1981....and many friends had them....a friend of mine had a Citation 5 door hatchback as his college car in 1988 and we would sing the 1980 Chevy Citaaaaation jingle any time we would ride in it. While underpowered, it did get him around without many issues. One family I knew had an 81 Omega ES and I had driven that car many times...sharing driving duties on a roadtrip or borrowing the car for a Thanksgiving weekend...driving it from Chapel Hill, NC to Knoxville TN and back...when ascending the I40 grade east of Ashville the transmission started to slip....and apparently a transmission lead started during my trip....so I spent every gas fill checking transmission fluid and topping the level off....and it did get me home...but made for a nerve wracking weekend.
Awesome. A new video from tofer! I was sharing your K car video on the K car lovers and owners Facebook page. As I spotted a awesome 82 Lebaron convertible with the mark cross interior. The group enjoyed your video! Keep up the great work !
My grandma had one of the Chevy versions, I think a 1980 version. I have a vivid memory of her taking me for a ride in it when I was about 4 (she passed away a couple of years later) what I remember most, besides the unique body style (it seemed modern when compared to my parents 1980 Plymouth Volare) was the vertical placement of the stereo. This is a great video!!! Very informative and entertaining!! I always look forward to your videos, they never fail to impress!! Keep ‘em coming!
A Chevy Citation also played a hilarious role in a phonied up NBC Dateline report about C/K series pickups in 1992 that got NBC sued for liable and defamation to the tune of $5.000.000.000 by GM. The producers of the piece (which was entitled "Waiting To Explode") admitted too using remote controlled mini rocket motors to ignite gas the spewed out of the overfilled fuel tank of a 1/2 ton pickup that was fitted with the wrong fuel cap and had its safety systems disabled. They tried to say that the fire was caused by the broken headlight bulb of the citation which was used to simulate the accident but GM was able to track the trucks used in the report down and have them examined by an independent examiner which led to a hilarious retraction of the story by Stone Phillips and his co-host on air where they basically said "we're sorry, we made a whopsie in our pants with that story and it'll never happen again".
My dad test drove an ‘80 Citation. He bought a Volvo. I bought my first new car in 1980. I bought a Celica GT. The GM cars seemed cheap and tinny. The front wheel drive turned me off.
6:46 While people today might consider Chrysler "K" car styling to be dull, The square look WAS absolutely THE style for non sporty American cars at the time. Ironically, it was the 1st generation (RWD) Seville that kicked the look into high gear, quickly adopted by the downsized 1977 RWD "B"/"C" cars. To the fan of American cars, Hatchbacks offered some benefits, but "screamed" CHEAP CAR. (This would explain why Buick would have a "notchback" body on their FWD "X" based Skylark). People were OK with a low cost Buick, But not a CHEAP Buick! If I would have had new car money ( I only had 10 year old used car money then, So I had a 10 year old car, LOL) for a basic FWD econobox then, I'd have likely went with the Plymouth Reliant over the Chevrolet Citation. And I'm a GM guy! History would have made me "right" (for different reasons) but the Plymouth just looked more like a "normal" car to me. At least the FWD "X" platform DID have a part in the FWD "A" cars, A vast improvement. So not a TOTAL loss of development costs? IDK.
I believe it was Lincoln that kicked off the square look for cars...all the way back in 1956. In a world of swoopy bloated catfish looking 1950s cars...Lincoln came through with something unique: The 1956 Continental Mk.II After this Lincoln just kept releasing cars that were noticeably squarer than the competition -1956-1957 Lincoln Premiere -1958-1960 Lincoln Premiere/Continental And finally the mack daddy of the square cars that America would make for the next 40 years: -1961 Lincoln Continental
@@joecool9739 Yes, FoMoCo DID kick it off in 1958 with NOT ONLY the Lincolns, But also the 2nd gen T-Bird. And while Lincoln did carry on, Most other cars from GM,Ford and Chrysler went BACK to swoopy designs as the 60's and early 70s rolled on. The Seville made "square" cool again.
Good video, you got me searching for Laura Branigan... The car from the 80, not everything was a huge success, but great advances were made on fuel economy and structural design. Cars began to design by computer, and tested on wind tunnel. Passenger safety was a concern. Engines were developed to be efficient reliable and economic. Often times the car model of the 80's is lower to the 90's equivalent.
I love your voice and hope you continue to speak in your videos. You have a gift Sir, it's honest, flows like honey, and draws people in. You have a lot to offer, so please don't stop what you are doing!
Informative video. I enjoyed the video for the content. I do remember the X cars too. You put a lot of effort in the video and gathering content. Good work.
My dad worked at a Chevy dealer when these came out and I remember what a big deal they were at launch. The beige over metallic red 2 tone is quite attractive. I always liked the looks of the X-11 especially in later versions with the 5 spoke alloy wheels. I remember reading an old Car & Driver article by Patrick Beddard about how the cars given the press at launch were great drivers as they were ringers that had been thoroughly worked over by GM engineers. His first drive in an actual production car with the V6 revealed a loose floppy torque steering monster that would readily change lanes under acceleration to the extent he got pulled over by the highway patrol for suspected impaired driving. Such a missed opportunity that GM didn’t spend more time to engineer and build it right. I actually passed a Citation coming out of my neighborhood the other day. I was shocked. Haven’t seen one on the road in years
As to over all styling The Buick version looked the best as a downsized "Regal" is more appealing to the customer than an upsized "Chevette". The Citation looked very MUCH like a larger Chevette particularly from the rear. While the Skylark was small, It looked enough like a bigger Buick to be a convincing deal. Same holds for the Oldsmobile Omega, But I'm a loyal Buick guy! LOL.
I liked the look of the Skylark as well - Buicks even today tend to have very tasteful styling, but it is useful to remember that Chevettes were very, very popular at the time so buyers might not have rejected a vehicle that reminded them of one.
@@colibri1 I was not implying that the Chevette was unpopular, or even a bad car. In fact I could argue that the Chevette was a BETTER choice than the Citation, even if smaller, Unlike Citations, Chevettes were reliable, and cheap and easy to maintain. And they sure lasted longer, I still see the occasional Chevette. I can't say when I last saw a Citation! The problem with the Citation LOOOKING like a Chevette is that the Citation was a newer designed and higher priced model than the Chevette. Usually when a new car is designed "they" either look more modern than past models, Or if "aping" a past model, attempt to look like a higher price model. This is why the Buick/Olds versions can be seen as better bargains. They look more like their more expensive brothers, not their cheaper brothers. Many who liked the Chevette styling AND existing reputation for economy would be tempted to just buy the Chevette instead. Sorry this is so long, I hope it explains what I meant. 😊
I agree, even the little "econobox" Buicks like the Skyhawk still had style to them, even though they were just a dolled up Cavalier. I've always liked Buicks too, especially the older ones. My dad had a '70 Skylark and a '75 Regal. I had a 2000 Regal and even though my wife said it was an "old man car", I still enjoyed it. It had the 3800 so it moved, but it was really comfortable too. Traded it to my uncle for a Tacoma because I had 3 four door sedans and needed a pickup. It's a good truck, but I still miss the Buick.
Learned to drive in a 1980 Citation. I wrecked it twice my little sister once…hers was much more dramatic…backed into a parked car smashing the large rear glass hatch. For a 16 year old kid it was an ok car. Didn’t set any records and got the job done. These were very dark days for GM.
My mom had a Citation 2-dr hatch for a while with the 2.8. First time I popped the hood, I thought maybe it'd be somewhat of a runner. Lol the Iron Dukes were just as fast & more reliable. She hated every moment of driving that thing. She wanted to borrow my Fox Cougar a lot 😆 Alas, without the X-car underpinnings, the Fiero wouldn't have existed, as well as the GM-10 platforms. They may have been flops but I think it's safe to say they got their money's worth out of the hardware. Fabulous video, scratch that, WORK OF ART, as always Tofer. 🥇
It's funny everything they were going for in the X car they achieved 2 years later with the A body cars. Comfort, reliability and efficiency. The X car went from being the worst car GM ever built to the A car maybe the best car that ever rolled off a GM assembly line.
The A body was a derivative of the X body. However, they weren't without issues. My dad's '83 Chevy Celebrity (with the 2.8 V6) wasn't exactly trouble free to own. The only family car we ever owned that had to have a new short block put in it (because the computer-controlled carburetor, which we were constantly fighting to get it working right, kept going full rich, which caused fuel to work its way into the oil). It also had a habit of making the choke act up, which could cause stumbling and stalling. My dad bought it new, but it was a miracle when you drove it and the engine and/or choke idiot light wasn't on. At least extending the X-body platform fixed the weight distribution issues that caused the rear end brake lockup issues (probably completely unintended).
Well if you think about it the X-body was responsible for what we know as the A-body Chevrolet celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Oldsmobile cutlass ciera and Buick century that went on to be the one of the best selling and competitive cars of the 80’s and 1983 Pontiac and Buick had higher trims available with 6000 STE and century T-Type with Chevrolet waiting a year to release 84 with the celebrity eurosport and Oldsmobile with cutlass ciera GT in 85 the 6000 STE went to be car & driver’s 10 best for 83,84 and 85
Really like the videos and editing. Takes a lot of time I’m sure but worth it. My uncle had a Citation - unbelievably traded in a Monte Carlo for it - two tone Brown, Brown interior, wire hub caps, roof rack. Yuck. He loved it - outside every morning wiping the dust off and making sure the white walls were spotless, we had to walk our bikes past it, not ride less we somehow scratch it or get it dusty. I was a little kid thinking uh I don’t think this is a good car. And as per this video .. it wasn’t !
The Citation had alot of improvements for a small car. If they would have just thoroughly tested the dam thing it would have helped. You can't rush an entirely new car that was technologically about as far as they could go at the time.
I usually find these episodes an enjoyable walk down memory lane. Watching this brought back the nightmare experience I had in owning a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix. I must have had the base model as it didn't have any pretensions of sportiness. Its anemic engine couldn't get out of its own way when it actually worked. I have not so fond memories of the engine dying on me at stoplights. The transmission failed and had to be replaced. Then the replacement engine failed and had to be replaced. I can't think of any positives to say about the damn thing. The 2nd generation X-Cars from GM represent the nadir of the US Auto industry. Vehicles today are light years ahead of the X-Cars thanks to government regulations on emissions, safety, and efficiency as well as the competition from Japan. Now I have to purge these memories before I go to bed tonight!
I bought a new 1982 Citation X-11. I loved the roominess and styling, but it had quality issues and was always at the dealership to repair something, most notably there was an issue with vapor lock and the smell of raw gasoline coming from a bad fuel pump. I never had the brakes lock up. but I did have a bolt fall out from under the dash that held the steering column up. Eventually, somebody stole it. They may have done me a favor.
We bought the 1984 PONTIAC PHOENIX 4DOOR as we had two boys at the time. We were fortunate as my father in law was one of the directors of the Pontiac proving grounds, and we got a "test mule", fully loaded, 1200 miles on it and we paid only 2400 dollars. The first year it was great, but then small irritating items kept popping up. We eventually traded it in for more than we paid for it, for a full size Pontiac sedan.
My father had a 1980 Buick Skylark and it was a great car. He drove it for ten years, and it was one of the cars that I learned to drive in as a teenager. The max-downsized cars of that era like these were very well designed, with great visibility and space efficiency. It was very easy to drive. The only problem it developed was that the steering got kind of loose as it aged. On the other hand, a friend's father bought a 1980 Oldsmobile Omega and it turned out to be a lemon. I don't think he had it two years before replacing it with a Honda Civic.
I totally intended to include that clip but only realized I had forgotten to after I had completed the video. I think I'll work it into a short video in the next couple of days so stay tuned. The cross-country move has had me a bit distracted.
@@TofersCarTales I hear that. I remember driving across the country in my 95 trans am moving from Florida to Arizona in 2005. Now I'm back in Florida LOL.
Magnificently edited, 100% factual and very well narrated video about the 2nd generation, GM X-Body! If I had a "con" (and it's actually more like a disagreement) it's with what the narrator says at 22:34: The engineers had the formula right with the 1st platform in 1962. They perfected it in 1968-1974. Going smaller (as SUVs/CUVs are proving today) wasn't actually the right thing to do if you can't make them safer! gm? Grade: F! This video? Grade: A++! 🚗! 🐰
I like the x cars. Right size, good mileage, still comfortable. My 1980 Buick Skylark rides good, has a nice comfortable ride and despite its reputation the 2.5L iron duke is the quickest starting engine of any vehicle I’ve owned. I’ve owned over 100 cars both domestic and foreign. I’m not joking. I literally tap the key and it’s running. It also has surprisingly nice seats. Very comfortable. Of course it won’t match a 2021 car, but it’s 41 years old. Way way better quality than the 79 Datsun I had and better than my 83 Honda Civic I still have
Great information, and enjoyable video. I did not know about its brakes system failure. So sad, because the models look very well, for me, the most attractive, the hatch back models. I had a 1984 Celebrity, so, I can`t dig it how they turned from X models fails, to a reliable A models, like my Chevy. Good cuiser and excelent for climbing roads, like we have here at Colombia, so many hills and high altitude cities like mine, Bogota, over 6.500 feet over sea level. The A car was up to this type of topography.
It's a shame the flaws of the X car family hurt the reputation of not just GM, but by association other American manufacturers also. As a kid, even a Ford guy, I admired the X cars for their excellent styling. They made small cars pretty, well proportioned and elegant, something foreign manufacturers still haven't perfected.
I had one of these and I didn't think it was a bad little car. It would go anywhere in the snow. '84 Skylark with a 2.8. Biggest flaw was the computer controlled carb needed some work, it had a flat spot. But it was roomy inside and handled well enough. Just slow. Of course it was a freebie somebody gave to get rid of because they had no clue how to repair brake lines, but I think it would be fun to put together maybe a Phoenix XJ with manual trans and transplant a 3400 with the EFI for the engine. Still wouldn't be a race car but it would probably scoot pretty good.
Also kind of ironic Buick and Olds didn't market the fastback X-body - but did offer the fastback in the mid-size Cutlass and Century for a couple years.
I can't see WHY they continued Citation after 1983.(to use up tooling?!?) The FWD "A" Celebrity and "J" Cavalier were already out, and between the two of them, there HAD to be something for the Citation's intended buyer. GM Did go on to make good FWD unibody cars: My first FWD car was also my first new car: the 1986 Buick LeSabre. It was a "new" platform, "H" shared by the Pontiac Bonneville and Oldsmobile 88 (but in reality the 1986 "H" was based on the 1985 FWD "C" Electra,98 and Deville/Fleetwood...) It was well screwed together and had a basically "bulletproof" running gear. I kept it for 11 years!
I'm amazed at how much footage you can come up with along with your incredible production quality. In actuality I don't view the x cars as a failure at all. Despite huge headwinds in terms of size, cafe, safety, and emissions all at the same time, gm was able to come up with very nice vehicles. The downside was the production rush which left some fine tuning unfinished. In reality the x cars sold very well, and led to the long lived A bodies and to a lesser amount established the template for the later 80s C platform. I own an 80 buick skylark and even today it still has excellent packaging efficiency, pleasing design, and decent quality materials were used.
Thanks for your support and please do consider becoming a supporter of my efforts... www.patreon.com/TofersCarTales
I wish more of these had survived, they're an important part of GM history and the us car industry as a whole. In many ways, they're the opposite of the K Car, nearly destroying a company rather than saving one.
Yes. I read that the GM executives were furious that cash strapped Chrysler could get together their act and produce reliable popular cars while their own cars suffered in the marketplace.
Good buddy restoring a Oldsmobile omega gt
What was the main issues with the X-body cars?
@@fortune300 Too many recalls apparently among other problems.
@@fortune300 just to mention a few... Engine fires caused by transmission lines that broke, suspension components braking, rear brakes locking up causing crash...
Nothing illustrates how clueless GM was with small cars compared to big cars than this era.
The big Caprice B Bodies absolutely nailed it, and were easily top of the class.
The X Body...Less so!
Wow, I just totally zoned out on this trip back to the 80’s!!!! My friends dad had an ‘80 Skylark company car, baby blue with blonde “plastic wood” trim. Stickered for $10k and that seemed like an insane amount for a car. Tofer just keeps taking it to another level 👏👏👏👏👏
TOFER, you make some of the greatest car videos on TH-cam! Great work as always my friend. Cheers.
I currently own a 1981 Pontiac Phoenix with the 2.5 iron duke and a 4 speed manual. I deliver for Pizza Hut full time and it’s actually been the most trouble free car I’ve owned. And I’ve owned a lot of cars over the years. It handles all weather and never gets stuck in snow storms. Wish more of them were like mine.
The previous owners likely worked out all of GM's many flaws and bugs. My uncle had a Phoenix and swore it never ran right, never held together and ended up nickel & diming him out of his apartment. He sold it for a four year old Honda Accord and never looked back.
@@catjudo1 actually no. Everything was original. We replaced the stuff as it wore out because parts were dirt cheap but it never left me anywhere. I’m putting a new clutch in it this summer as it has 95000 on it now. It’s always started. Always ran and never had any of the issues they were known for.
@@Budjr52 These cars are great in the snow. Mine I ran over something and got a flat and rounded off a lugnut trying to change it. After being unable to find help I got angry and just drove it on home on snow covered roads. It did get hot enough to turn the light on, so I stopped for a bit and let it cool, but I got home fine, and drove it long after getting the tire off and fixed.
I owned an '81 Phoenix with the "iron duke" and an automatic transmission. Bought it used from Budget Rent-a-Car, service records included. Lasted only 11 years and 230,000+ miles. Drivetrain was primitive, unrefined, but very reliable. Hatchback made it versatile. Roomy and comfortable for its size. BUT...the interior hardware and assembly was horrible. Hard plastic everywhere rattled and squeaked. Doors, although heavy and substantial, sounded tinny when opened and closed. Replaced the steering rack twice because of "morning sickness" and sloppy tie rod ends. The headlights burned out frequently because of engine vibration at idle. To replace the oil filter, the right-front tire had to be removed. Sold it for $200 when a timing gear broke. Saw it many times later driven around town sporting new timing gears. Car refused to die! It was one of the few good X-bodies GM made. GM learned, and GM did a better job with the FWD mid-size cars.
So do I. had a 1980 blue 4 cyl manual trans in blue. Figured the engine was half a V-8 so had to be strong, right - Wrong. Engine died catastrophically with about 25K miles on the clock. Coolant leaking into the sump it turned out, destroying the bottom end. Before that it pinged like crazy during acceleration, even on super fuel. I tried installing a water injection system from JC Whitney to calm it down. That sorta worked, except that the pump kept dying. Slammed it into the back of a USPS truck one day due to the rear brakes locking up. But Pontiac was smart - they made up for the lousy brakes with a very strong front bumper on hydraulic shocks. No damage on the Pontiac at all. When I looed under the bumper, I could see by the dirt pattern and shiny metal that the bumper had moved back about 3 inches and then bounced right back out again. Definitely a car not to be cried over its extinction.
I drove mine 1980 Skylark for about 17 years as a daily driver. Been through half a Europe with it. Never let down!! Build to last!! Sold it 4 years a go! Stil have a 1981 skylark v6 stick schift.! Mint condition!!
Similar experience here in the USA, 1981 Skylark. It was a comfortable reliable car that drove smoother than most any modern day small car. I wouldn't want to get into a crash in it and it wouldn't keep up with modern traffic but back then it was a great car.
@@knurlgnar24 true! But we still live in Europe with a lot more smaller cars on the road and almost none full size SUVs!
In 17 years a had couple off (rear end collisions )ascidians with compact euro cars and they got totaled 😁berry funny, not even a scratch on the bumper!
So we can drive those cars here in Europe no problem. Until we all go “electric “!😁
Period
I remember the X-body cars well! "Motor Trend" magazine ran an article in their May 1979 issue, and I was so impressed! I thought to myself, "At last! GM finally got it right! This is destined to become one of its success stories!"
Fooled me. In the first year alone, the X-bodies were hit with recall after recall - bad brakes, to name just one. The way I look at this today, the X-bodies marked the beginning of GM's decades-long downfall. Quality and workmanship became shoddier as the years went by. I feel that all this could have been avoided if GM waited an extra year or two if they took the time to get all the bugs worked out before putting the cars into production. If there was one good thing about them, it was the later 1982 A-bodies that sprang from them. The A-bodies somehow didn't have the numerous recalls that would eventually bring down the X-bodies. The A's were somewhat better built (if that's the word) and far more successful. Amazingly, they survived through 1996 (Olds Ciera and Buick Century were the last offerings).
In the end, the Citation and its cousins were well engineered. They were simply poorly executed. And that was the whole problem.
A suggestion for a future video: the Ford Escort/Mercury Lynx. (6/16/2021)
Well engineered, poorly executed is the story of GM's US offerings from around 1970 to this very day. The Vega should have been a fine car. The Olds Diesel could have been a fine engine, likewise the Cadillac V8-6-4 and Northstar. The Skyhawk Monza, Sunbird, Starfire, all could have been, should have been so much better than they turned out. The Cadillac Allante , Olds Aurora. They got it right with the body-on-frame rear-wheel-drive cars, but except for the Eldorado-Toronado front-to-back layout, the GM front wheel drive models were irredeemable junk.
Using The Shining as a visual metaphor for GM's decent into madness is a stroke of GENIUS!!
5:54 Im EFFIN TERRIFIED !! 🙄
Not sure if its the DEATH trap driving THROUGH a solid wall or that DUDE with the sharp teeth looking THROUGH my precious soul 😳
I had a 1982 X-11 that I had modified by an ex-GM engineer and racer/tuner. It was turned into a really good performer for the time. But, it was built like an utter POS. The head gasket went bad, dumped coolant into the sump, thereby trashing the main bearings. And the starter harness was routed under the oil pan and the insulation melted way back to expose bare wiring. The water pump leaked. At 60Kmi, the transaxle (manual) had to be rebuilt as a shifter broke internally. By 80Kmiles, it was totally shot. It didn't even reach GM's 100K bogey. But, it was still way better than the Pinto I replaced it with!
What I recall as a kid and the experience of all of the x body's multiple name plates we had was the vibration from the moment it was started and how such a small car could create such a rattle n vibration with a very thin metal like shaking sound . I was small but I always felt like I could really sink into the citations due to the high dashboards. The sideways radio always cracked me up I didn't know if they were trying to make it look edgy and assuming that ppl wouldn't realize it was just turned vertical or if they just didn't give a damn cuz it had to go somewhere. We had the x skylark and one day we were driving around while the car was relatively new and suddenly there were sparks flying around the car on the outside cuz the engine just fell to the ground while operating it due to corrosion underneath.
WOW !!!
My mum had a 2005 Renault megane brand new out the showroom and the engine literally fell out the bottom of that after about 2 months.
GM: Hey, car buying public! Look at the Citation 2! It's totally different! Please buy it!
Car buying public: Yeah, nahhh....
No, it's a Citation Too.
Yeah, you'd think Chevy was like Cessna trying to sell you a business jet...they even stole the names and Roman numeral numbering 🤣
You don't make videos, you make art. Well done Sir!
Well said Sir
One of the absolute best vehicle historical video makers on TH-cam thanks Tofers
When I was a kid, my grandparents had a silver Buick Skylark Limited. Small on the outside, but soooo luxurious inside. The transmission failed before the car was three years old and they bought a Chevy Celebrity.
Please make a video on the 80s Volvo cars. In the homeland Sweden where I live they are or were cheap and abundant. When I grew up we thought they were slow, heavy and boring compared to the newer 5 cylinder Volvos, German cars and Japanese high revving well equipped cars. But compared to the American cars in your videos they seams very high quality and well engineered.
My mom had a '91 240 estate, in white. We called it "the fridge". Slow as molasses, but an absolute tank. I used that bad boy to move me in and out of a number of apartments back in my college years.
With a price to match.
Tofer, you really hit this one out of the park with this one! Laura Branigan, The Shining, Airplane! and the X-car line up. It's 1980 all over again. Love Dr. Rumack's nose growing with the introduction of the Citation II... brilliant!
So many wonderful touches in this video. I can't believe you managed to do a long-distance move in the middle of putting this work of art together! And your Tofer Car Tales song rocks!
Great job!
Thanks so much! It was weird composing the first half of this video in California and the second half in a completely new... everything... in Texas. And then there was another unexpected twist/delay when I realized my old Microphone apparently did not survive the ordeal. The first voiceover was awful. I had to re-record the entire voiceover with a new mic. As a result, the voiceover is better in some ways but there are a few tweaks for the next video that will be necessary for sure. Regardless, thanks again for being such a huge champion of my efforts! :)
Great once again,,a friend had a x11 but at 17 we were grateful for a running car and not too critical of it
Yeah you do a much different approach to you're videos than others, and its really immersive. OMG the huge TV !!!! Forgot about those wow flashback we had 4 and damn things were heavy AF!
Thank you so much for making this video. I’ve been looking forward to it. I grew up in the 80’s and remember these disasters.
You did an excellent job capturing not only these cars but the early 80’s feel.
Fantastic nostalgia.
I remember in 1981, when I was working for a GM subsidiary, and we could buy these at an employee discount, a co-worker had bought a new Citation, and told us how he didn't use much gasoline - because the damned car had to be towed to the dealer for repairs so often.
Another great video Tofer!
I'm not from the US, and I've often wondered which car did the most to make the American public decide 'my next car is a Honda' (or any other foreign brand).
I'm guessing there was still a stigma about buying foreign cars at the time. Or people who would buy a particular brand because 'my dad bought a Chevy, so I'm buying a Chevy too'.
Sounds like the X cars were one of those cars that were so poorly received that people would buy foreign next.
It was one, just one of the best recruiters to Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc. Most American cars of the era were horrid.
I had two Omegas, one of each body type. The older one was what it was, a fully optioned soft riding Nova. The second, an '82 was 4/5 size Cutlass in style riding on a Citation frame. It was a mass of meh. Nothing horrible, but nothing to get excited about. It's only problems were a trunk that would occasionally fill with water and a transmission that would decide it didn't like the current fluid and get rid of a quart or two.
It did seem overweight for the little four cylinder they dropped in.
Thank you for making this its truly wonderful! It really brings back memories of my childhood seeing these cars driving around sadly they are all gone now. But I try to keep the memories of the 1980’s alive with my Chevy celebrity, cavalier an Ford country squire
To be honest, comparing an Xcar to the Kcar, the K car was a very significant step down in almost every category. A truly wretched and more awful car has never been built.
While I have to disagree…. I have found that the K cars was far more tougher.
I’m a GM guy too…. The early FWD gm cars sucked.. they finally got it right when the fuel injected engines came along.
I mean hell gm turned a cavalier into a Cadillac….
At least Chrysler waited a few yrs before they made a k car into a luxury car….( if you call it that)
But when you have a platform that powered 95 % of your fleet. You better get it right or your done…..
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.
So when a killer murders someone it’s not their fault, it’s their parents? The ones who made him? These cars were death traps.
@@IcelanderUSer They were NOT 'death traps'......being dramatic is just going to make people realize you don't know the subject.
And even if they were, @@67marlins81, these "death traps" did NOT build themselves. I think that's what B bo is not getting, here.
@@landyachtfan79 Fair enough.
Lol welcome to gm.
The citation X11, was the best looking, and the cowl induction hook. Truly worked. To add to that, I have seen a Pontiac 6000STE dash and shifter installed in an X11
I grew up riding in a 1980 Citation X-11. My mother bought it from a dealership, that the owner was going to give the car to his wife...I wish he had lol
Thank you for taking the time to share so much about these cars. I really dig the 80's clips throughout, very cool!
I could tell you so much about these cars I 1st got in the car business selling Chevrolet citations in 1980 it was my favorite car to sell because it was so unique and when you would open up the hatch in the back and fold down the rear seat people were just in awe.
And when you showed them an engine mounted sideways transverse mounted again they were in awe
My mother had a 1981 Pontiac Phoenix LJ it was a cute car but unreliable of course and not loaded it had a window sticker of 8850 which was a lot of money for a little car back then.
And of course this is my 2nd video I have seen from you guys and it's excellent done extremely well thank you
Was waiting so long for this. Great job!
Hi, Tofer! Great video! I had a 1981 Skylark 2-door with the V-6. Poor car. Built and engineered terribly, the car was 9 years old when I got it and I drove it for four miserable months. Had I had the money to put into it, perhaps it could have beef decent. But it was doomed from the beginning. This jalopy is not missed at all!
Almost everything is said about the video. Of course I agree. Especcially (as always too) I like the music. Please give us a list of the tunes.
I nearly have bought a ´82 Skylark. (it was a Caprice then). I still like their styling, the designers have done their jobs properly. My favorite is the 2door Skylark. And I wish, we would have that choice of beautiful interior colours today!
Great video ! The 70s and 80s were some good times growing up , I remember these X cars back in the day I had friends and family who owned these cars , they were not as reliable as the K cars but the Oldsmobile and Buick's had more class and luxury in its compact class .
I have a soft spot for the X cars, with the Omega being my favorite, followed closely by the one you didn't mention: The Phoenix SJ (Phoenix X/11 variant basically).
Me too...I'm a Ford guy but the Omega was beautifully styled for a compact. If they'd made a wagon I'd be looking for one still today.
The story I've been waiting for thanks Tofer for telling the story.
In the early 1990s my brother had the 4 door Oldsmobile version with a 2.8. Other than the dashboard and vinyl covered seats nothing else existed inside- no door panels, no carpeting, no headliner, nothing. Even the steering column housing with key switch was gone… you started it by twisting a couple of wires together that hung from the bottom of the column and pushing a wire rod that was on top of it. The floor pan was rusted out completely and there were pieces of plywood covering the holes and keeping one’s feet from contacting the highway. It was a gold/beige color but all 4 doors were from a brown one. It looked like something pieced together from a salvage yard. It felt like you were literally sitting on the road the driving position was so low. The 2.8 had a pretty cool growl. But, it was ready to go whenever he was, and served its purpose until it was replaced by a 1990 Tempo.
Wonderfully done
My friend in high school had a 81 skylark he would do neutral drops in it one night I was with him he revved up that ole iron duke to the floor and dropped it into
drive and broke the left half shaft clean
Into 2 pieces replaced it drove it for several more years
To be fair regarding the quality of the Citation, many people ran them for 150k miles which was great for that era- but by then they were shot. The transmission would be finished. The floors were rotted out. Door sagged. The V6 would leak antifreeze into the rear left cylinder. Brake booster-shot. An actuator in the carb would fail. But most famously, and I don't recall this being mentioned, the power steering suffered from "morning sickness". But they were one of the last cars which you could safely jack up from the bumper.
German TV was testing the 1980 Citiation, the video is still available. The car was really horrible starting to fall apart in 2000km. I just can't imagine who and how assembled it.
Was there any explanation given later why the quality was so bad? Was it plant were it was assembled, the parts of poor quality?
@@MrNeptunebob well as far as I understand that was mostly assembly issue. But just because the Citation wasn't sold in Europe by Opel dealers (private import only) there was no big scandal. And the X-car had actually no market niche in Europe - way too big, inefficient and bland looking to be Ascona competitor.
My favorite scene in the German car Fan Citation video is the sparks flying from under the car as it drug it’s belly in the undulating pavement section of the test track. Nice! The fingertip removable center caps were a nice touch too.
The editing in these videos is truly S-Tier. Mad props, full points awarded!!
Thank you for the video. In high school I had a 81 citation x11. When it worked it actually drove well and it was pretty fast for the time. Unfortunately the key was when it worked - the car nearly bankrupted me.
Another fantastic care tale from Tofer. Please keep them coming ❤️
Somehow missed the notification for this one! Cant wait till im done work!
Summer 1979...the X car made its debut and they were hard to find...and if you could find one the dealers we marking them up. We were at the Buick Olds Cadillac Honda Mazda dealer in my town and my parents were looking for a new car...something more fuel efficient....and the options were order one and wait, buy what they had in stock, including a handful that were some how Canadian cars but ended up at this dealership in ND...they had no AC and would require a dealer install....or....try something else. Dad was crunching numbers and decided that a 1979 Olds Cutlass Salon Brougham that was a dealer demonstrator model would be the best alternative....and given the X Car's issues, a more proven A body gave us better service than the Buick Skylark or Olds Omegas at the dealer.
With that...I spent lots of seat time in X Cars since I got my license in 1981....and many friends had them....a friend of mine had a Citation 5 door hatchback as his college car in 1988 and we would sing the 1980 Chevy Citaaaaation jingle any time we would ride in it. While underpowered, it did get him around without many issues. One family I knew had an 81 Omega ES and I had driven that car many times...sharing driving duties on a roadtrip or borrowing the car for a Thanksgiving weekend...driving it from Chapel Hill, NC to Knoxville TN and back...when ascending the I40 grade east of Ashville the transmission started to slip....and apparently a transmission lead started during my trip....so I spent every gas fill checking transmission fluid and topping the level off....and it did get me home...but made for a nerve wracking weekend.
Another masterpiece! I can tell a lot of work and research go into your videos!
I had a gold 1980 Skylark 2.8 V6 until I replaced it with a 1986 Mazda 323 hatch.
Awesome. A new video from tofer! I was sharing your K car video on the K car lovers and owners Facebook page. As I spotted a awesome 82 Lebaron convertible with the mark cross interior. The group enjoyed your video! Keep up the great work !
Awesome thank you!
Thanks so much for the beautifully designed and edited intro. clips of Laura Branigan singing alongside 80s X-body commercials.
My Dad owned a Citation II and my Aunt a Skylark. Both were reliable cars to them.
Please do a video on the Vega /Monza /Skyhawk/sunbird.
My grandma had one of the Chevy versions, I think a 1980 version. I have a vivid memory of her taking me for a ride in it when I was about 4 (she passed away a couple of years later) what I remember most, besides the unique body style (it seemed modern when compared to my parents 1980 Plymouth Volare) was the vertical placement of the stereo. This is a great video!!! Very informative and entertaining!! I always look forward to your videos, they never fail to impress!! Keep ‘em coming!
A Chevy Citation also played a hilarious role in a phonied up NBC Dateline report about C/K series pickups in 1992 that got NBC sued for liable and defamation to the tune of $5.000.000.000 by GM.
The producers of the piece (which was entitled "Waiting To Explode") admitted too using remote controlled mini rocket motors to ignite gas the spewed out of the overfilled fuel tank of a 1/2 ton pickup that was fitted with the wrong fuel cap and had its safety systems disabled.
They tried to say that the fire was caused by the broken headlight bulb of the citation which was used to simulate the accident but GM was able to track the trucks used in the report down and have them examined by an independent examiner which led to a hilarious retraction of the story by Stone Phillips and his co-host on air where they basically said "we're sorry, we made a whopsie in our pants with that story and it'll never happen again".
Very good video, but definitely had a creepy vibe to it. I’m now scared of the Citation. 😂
Happy Tuesday all! A NEW TOFER!!!! :)
I'm here flat tire peterbilt and all
I really hope you're not stuck on the side of the road for too much longer! Been there myself a number of times as a lover of older cars.
I have super single, when they go the rim does too ,been waiting since 545 eastern, luckily I packed a lunch and made a pot of coffee before going
My dad test drove an ‘80 Citation. He bought a Volvo. I bought my first new car in 1980. I bought a Celica GT. The GM cars seemed cheap and tinny. The front wheel drive turned me off.
Your dad had the MONEY for a Volvo! Besides, it used 75% more gas. We po' folks had to make do.
6:46 While people today might consider Chrysler "K" car styling to be dull, The square look WAS absolutely THE style for non sporty American cars at the time. Ironically, it was the 1st generation (RWD) Seville that kicked the look into high gear, quickly adopted by the downsized 1977 RWD "B"/"C" cars. To the fan of American cars, Hatchbacks offered some benefits, but "screamed" CHEAP CAR. (This would explain why Buick would have a "notchback" body on their FWD "X" based Skylark). People were OK with a low cost Buick, But not a CHEAP Buick! If I would have had new car money ( I only had 10 year old used car money then, So I had a 10 year old car, LOL) for a basic FWD econobox then, I'd have likely went with the Plymouth Reliant over the Chevrolet Citation. And I'm a GM guy! History would have made me "right" (for different reasons) but the Plymouth just looked more like a "normal" car to me. At least the FWD "X" platform DID have a part in the FWD "A" cars, A vast improvement. So not a TOTAL loss of development costs? IDK.
I believe it was Lincoln that kicked off the square look for cars...all the way back in 1956.
In a world of swoopy bloated catfish looking 1950s cars...Lincoln came through with something unique:
The 1956 Continental Mk.II
After this Lincoln just kept releasing cars that were noticeably squarer than the competition
-1956-1957 Lincoln Premiere
-1958-1960 Lincoln Premiere/Continental
And finally the mack daddy of the square cars that America would make for the next 40 years:
-1961 Lincoln Continental
@@joecool9739 Yes, FoMoCo DID kick it off in 1958 with NOT ONLY the Lincolns, But also the 2nd gen T-Bird. And while Lincoln did carry on, Most other cars from GM,Ford and Chrysler went BACK to swoopy designs as the 60's and early 70s rolled on. The Seville made "square" cool again.
Good video, you got me searching for Laura Branigan...
The car from the 80, not everything was a huge success, but great advances were made on fuel economy and structural design.
Cars began to design by computer, and tested on wind tunnel. Passenger safety was a concern.
Engines were developed to be efficient reliable and economic. Often times the car model of the 80's is lower to the 90's equivalent.
I love your voice and hope you continue to speak in your videos. You have a gift Sir, it's honest, flows like honey, and draws people in. You have a lot to offer, so please don't stop what you are doing!
Informative video. I enjoyed the video for the content. I do remember the X cars too. You put a lot of effort in the video and gathering content. Good work.
My dad worked at a Chevy dealer when these came out and I remember what a big deal they were at launch. The beige over metallic red 2 tone is quite attractive. I always liked the looks of the X-11 especially in later versions with the 5 spoke alloy wheels. I remember reading an old Car & Driver article by Patrick Beddard about how the cars given the press at launch were great drivers as they were ringers that had been thoroughly worked over by GM engineers. His first drive in an actual production car with the V6 revealed a loose floppy torque steering monster that would readily change lanes under acceleration to the extent he got pulled over by the highway patrol for suspected impaired driving. Such a missed opportunity that GM didn’t spend more time to engineer and build it right. I actually passed a Citation coming out of my neighborhood the other day. I was shocked. Haven’t seen one on the road in years
As to over all styling The Buick version looked the best as a downsized "Regal" is more appealing to the customer than an upsized "Chevette". The Citation looked very MUCH like a larger Chevette particularly from the rear. While the Skylark was small, It looked enough like a bigger Buick to be a convincing deal. Same holds for the Oldsmobile Omega, But I'm a loyal Buick guy! LOL.
I liked the look of the Skylark as well - Buicks even today tend to have very tasteful styling, but it is useful to remember that Chevettes were very, very popular at the time so buyers might not have rejected a vehicle that reminded them of one.
@@colibri1 I was not implying that the Chevette was unpopular, or even a bad car. In fact I could argue that the Chevette was a BETTER choice than the Citation, even if smaller, Unlike Citations, Chevettes were reliable, and cheap and easy to maintain. And they sure lasted longer, I still see the occasional Chevette. I can't say when I last saw a Citation! The problem with the Citation LOOOKING like a Chevette is that the Citation was a newer designed and higher priced model than the Chevette. Usually when a new car is designed "they" either look more modern than past models, Or if "aping" a past model, attempt to look like a higher price model. This is why the Buick/Olds versions can be seen as better bargains. They look more like their more expensive brothers, not their cheaper brothers. Many who liked the Chevette styling AND existing reputation for economy would be tempted to just buy the Chevette instead. Sorry this is so long, I hope it explains what I meant. 😊
I agree, even the little "econobox" Buicks like the Skyhawk still had style to them, even though they were just a dolled up Cavalier. I've always liked Buicks too, especially the older ones. My dad had a '70 Skylark and a '75 Regal. I had a 2000 Regal and even though my wife said it was an "old man car", I still enjoyed it. It had the 3800 so it moved, but it was really comfortable too. Traded it to my uncle for a Tacoma because I had 3 four door sedans and needed a pickup. It's a good truck, but I still miss the Buick.
Learned to drive in a 1980 Citation. I wrecked it twice my little sister once…hers was much more dramatic…backed into a parked car smashing the large rear glass hatch. For a 16 year old kid it was an ok car. Didn’t set any records and got the job done. These were very dark days for GM.
Thank you for giving attention to the Underdog cars of my youth, you do a great job on these videos!
My mom had a Citation 2-dr hatch for a while with the 2.8. First time I popped the hood, I thought maybe it'd be somewhat of a runner. Lol the Iron Dukes were just as fast & more reliable. She hated every moment of driving that thing. She wanted to borrow my Fox Cougar a lot 😆
Alas, without the X-car underpinnings, the Fiero wouldn't have existed, as well as the GM-10 platforms. They may have been flops but I think it's safe to say they got their money's worth out of the hardware.
Fabulous video, scratch that, WORK OF ART, as always Tofer. 🥇
@Tofer's Car Tales
7:32 "....regulations loomed _0minously_ over the _Horizon_ ..."
I see what you did there🙄😏
It's funny everything they were going for in the X car they achieved 2 years later with the A body cars. Comfort, reliability and efficiency. The X car went from being the worst car GM ever built to the A car maybe the best car that ever rolled off a GM assembly line.
The A body was a derivative of the X body. However, they weren't without issues. My dad's '83 Chevy Celebrity (with the 2.8 V6) wasn't exactly trouble free to own. The only family car we ever owned that had to have a new short block put in it (because the computer-controlled carburetor, which we were constantly fighting to get it working right, kept going full rich, which caused fuel to work its way into the oil). It also had a habit of making the choke act up, which could cause stumbling and stalling. My dad bought it new, but it was a miracle when you drove it and the engine and/or choke idiot light wasn't on. At least extending the X-body platform fixed the weight distribution issues that caused the rear end brake lockup issues (probably completely unintended).
Well if you think about it the X-body was responsible for what we know as the A-body Chevrolet celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Oldsmobile cutlass ciera and Buick century that went on to be the one of the best selling and competitive cars of the 80’s and 1983 Pontiac and Buick had higher trims available with 6000 STE and century T-Type with Chevrolet waiting a year to release 84 with the celebrity eurosport and Oldsmobile with cutlass ciera GT in 85 the 6000 STE went to be car & driver’s 10 best for 83,84 and 85
Really like the videos and editing. Takes a lot of time I’m sure but worth it. My uncle had a Citation - unbelievably traded in a Monte Carlo for it - two tone Brown, Brown interior, wire hub caps, roof rack. Yuck. He loved it - outside every morning wiping the dust off and making sure the white walls were spotless, we had to walk our bikes past it, not ride less we somehow scratch it or get it dusty. I was a little kid thinking uh I don’t think this is a good car. And as per this video .. it wasn’t !
The Citation had alot of improvements for a small car. If they would have just thoroughly tested the dam thing it would have helped. You can't rush an entirely new car that was technologically about as far as they could go at the time.
Nice video. Loved it. Thanks. Know it took tons of time.
I usually find these episodes an enjoyable walk down memory lane. Watching this brought back the nightmare experience I had in owning a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix. I must have had the base model as it didn't have any pretensions of sportiness. Its anemic engine couldn't get out of its own way when it actually worked. I have not so fond memories of the engine dying on me at stoplights. The transmission failed and had to be replaced. Then the replacement engine failed and had to be replaced. I can't think of any positives to say about the damn thing. The 2nd generation X-Cars from GM represent the nadir of the US Auto industry. Vehicles today are light years ahead of the X-Cars thanks to government regulations on emissions, safety, and efficiency as well as the competition from Japan. Now I have to purge these memories before I go to bed tonight!
Totaya is the American car now
I bought a new 1982 Citation X-11. I loved the roominess and styling, but it had quality issues and was always at the dealership to repair something, most notably there was an issue with vapor lock and the smell of raw gasoline coming from a bad fuel pump. I never had the brakes lock up. but I did have a bolt fall out from under the dash that held the steering column up. Eventually, somebody stole it. They may have done me a favor.
Fantastic as always Tofer!
We bought the 1984 PONTIAC PHOENIX 4DOOR as we had two boys at the time. We were fortunate as my father in law was one of the directors of the Pontiac proving grounds, and we got a "test mule", fully loaded, 1200 miles on it and we paid only 2400 dollars. The first year it was great, but then small irritating items kept popping up. We eventually traded it in for more than we paid for it, for a full size Pontiac sedan.
My father had a 1980 Buick Skylark and it was a great car. He drove it for ten years, and it was one of the cars that I learned to drive in as a teenager. The max-downsized cars of that era like these were very well designed, with great visibility and space efficiency. It was very easy to drive. The only problem it developed was that the steering got kind of loose as it aged. On the other hand, a friend's father bought a 1980 Oldsmobile Omega and it turned out to be a lemon. I don't think he had it two years before replacing it with a Honda Civic.
These cars may have the bad rap they did because of quality consistency. One swore by one, another swore about it.
There is a guy making an AWD supercharged V6 Olds Omega SX coupe.
Btw, where's the citation clip from Junkman where it gets ripped in half?
I totally intended to include that clip but only realized I had forgotten to after I had completed the video. I think I'll work it into a short video in the next couple of days so stay tuned. The cross-country move has had me a bit distracted.
@@TofersCarTales I hear that. I remember driving across the country in my 95 trans am moving from Florida to Arizona in 2005. Now I'm back in Florida LOL.
This video is a piece of art. With a wonderful soundtrack!!
Please cover the Diamond Star Motor coupes of the early 90's(Eagle Talon/Plymouth Laser/Mitsubishi Eclipse). 💛
The NUMMI plant and it's cars would be a good one as well.
My brother had the eclipse and my boyfriend had the talon. They loved those cars
I’d love to see a Tofer video on Saab. The story needs to be documented by someone like you!
I had an Eclipse, but I sold it when I realized I could not look directly at it.
@@agent3857 You are very "Intrepid" for that joke. 😌
Make sure you stay to very end of vid! Excellent as always Tofer 👌
Magnificently edited, 100% factual and very well narrated video about the 2nd generation, GM X-Body!
If I had a "con" (and it's actually more like a disagreement) it's with what the narrator says at 22:34: The engineers had the formula right with the 1st platform in 1962. They perfected it in 1968-1974. Going smaller (as SUVs/CUVs are proving today) wasn't actually the right thing to do if you can't make them safer! gm? Grade: F! This video? Grade: A++! 🚗!
🐰
Great video. Now most of these cars are long gone.
I like the x cars. Right size, good mileage, still comfortable. My 1980 Buick Skylark rides good, has a nice comfortable ride and despite its reputation the 2.5L iron duke is the quickest starting engine of any vehicle I’ve owned. I’ve owned over 100 cars both domestic and foreign. I’m not joking. I literally tap the key and it’s running. It also has surprisingly nice seats. Very comfortable. Of course it won’t match a 2021 car, but it’s 41 years old. Way way better quality than the 79 Datsun I had and better than my 83 Honda Civic I still have
Great information, and enjoyable video. I did not know about its brakes system failure. So sad, because the models look very well, for me, the most attractive, the hatch back models. I had a 1984 Celebrity, so, I can`t dig it how they turned from X models fails, to a reliable A models, like my Chevy. Good cuiser and excelent for climbing roads, like we have here at Colombia, so many hills and high altitude cities like mine, Bogota, over 6.500 feet over sea level. The A car was up to this type of topography.
It's a shame the flaws of the X car family hurt the reputation of not just GM, but by association other American manufacturers also.
As a kid, even a Ford guy, I admired the X cars for their excellent styling. They made small cars pretty, well proportioned and elegant, something foreign manufacturers still haven't perfected.
Yes, I've been waiting for this!
Excellent video T 😎
I had one of these and I didn't think it was a bad little car. It would go anywhere in the snow. '84 Skylark with a 2.8. Biggest flaw was the computer controlled carb needed some work, it had a flat spot. But it was roomy inside and handled well enough. Just slow.
Of course it was a freebie somebody gave to get rid of because they had no clue how to repair brake lines, but
I think it would be fun to put together maybe a Phoenix XJ with manual trans and transplant a 3400 with the EFI for the engine. Still wouldn't be a race car but it would probably scoot pretty good.
Also kind of ironic Buick and Olds didn't market the fastback X-body - but did offer the fastback in the mid-size Cutlass and Century for a couple years.
Another award winning video!! Did these x body cars turn into the first cavalier car?
Actually they were stretched to become the FWD A body (Chevy celebrity)
@@sutherlandA1 thank you! We had a Celebrity growing up. For some reason I really loved that car.
It's too bad you focused on the crap end of the X-Body stick... I personally own a 73 Ventura with a Pontiac 350 and I love it.
I would kill for an unmolested '68 Nova sedan with a straight 6 . . .
Did you mention anything about the rear wheels coming out of their housing? Also I remember some sort of catastrophic brake problem...
That _Airplane!_ footage was just gold. Especially Leslie Nielsen's nose growing.
ETA: The whole video was gold!
Had an 1980 citation x-11 got it in 1990 drove the shit out of it for 5yrs then sold it to my dad after I restored it.
I grew up in a Citation II. Glad I didn’t know it was so dangerous in a collision!
Damn! I’ve been waiting for this!!!!! Yay
I can't see WHY they continued Citation after 1983.(to use up tooling?!?) The FWD "A" Celebrity and "J" Cavalier were already out, and between the two of them, there HAD to be something for the Citation's intended buyer. GM Did go on to make good FWD unibody cars: My first FWD car was also my first new car: the 1986 Buick LeSabre. It was a "new" platform, "H" shared by the Pontiac Bonneville and Oldsmobile 88 (but in reality the 1986 "H" was based on the 1985 FWD "C" Electra,98 and Deville/Fleetwood...) It was well screwed together and had a basically "bulletproof" running gear. I kept it for 11 years!
Because how else would GM have a Citation Too?
@@MrNeptunebob 🤔😜
I'm amazed at how much footage you can come up with along with your incredible production quality. In actuality I don't view the x cars as a failure at all. Despite huge headwinds in terms of size, cafe, safety, and emissions all at the same time, gm was able to come up with very nice vehicles.
The downside was the production rush which left some fine tuning unfinished. In reality the x cars sold very well, and led to the long lived A bodies and to a lesser amount established the template for the later 80s C platform.
I own an 80 buick skylark and even today it still has excellent packaging efficiency, pleasing design, and decent quality materials were used.
I owned a 1984 white citation for 5 years. It was a great hatchback. It had its repairs but nothing major. I really miss it.