The X-Car really wasn't bad once GM fixed its major design flaws. But they never seemed to figure out that you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.
There was also competition that was just better looking and more modern by that time, such as the A body cars ( Celebrity and Pontiac 6000) and the Chrysler Lebaron GTS, even though you had to spend a little more. The Camry and Accord also had gotten larger and cemented their reputation for reliability by 1984-1985
My dad had a Citation and a Citation II. The Citation II actually lasted until 1995, when my mom bought a new Taurus and my dad ended up driving her old one.
Funny thing is, the GM X and A bodies are structurally identical. The A body is just a revised X with a longer wheelbase. If they had allowed the X to continue, it would have been just as good as an A. However, true to GM form, they finally get something right then they drop it.
@@JohnEvans-ct6mz But by the time the x bodies were perfected, the N bodies ( Grand Am, Skylark, Calais- and later Corsica/ Beretta) were already out and GM needed warm bodies to purchase those in order to cover the development costs. Keeping the X Cars available would have eaten into the N body sales. It’s ridiculous to see GM had so many passenger car models back then.
Sounds like a great second car for me. What color truck, would go with a ‘06 Impala SS? She’s White with the Oreo guts. Non chrome wheels, only polished.
My father had the Pontiac version of this. Now he always babied his cars.( I can still remember him saying don't slam the door every time I got out) Anyway one Christmas he got me a control line plane. He had the first go to show me how to do it. He didn't even make a full circle when wham!!, no more plane and a big dent in the B piller. He gathered up the pieces and not a word was spoken on the way home. RIP old timer and thanks for the memories. G.H
I feel the SAME about people slamming car doors (as though the door will close MORE tightly, the harder you slam it). If someone SLAMMED my car door, they would WALK the next time!
I can definitely believe it. This show acted as if there were only slight differences in quality between these POS domestic cars during the dark ages and Japanese vehicles.
I was lucky enough to own a 1985 X-11. I absolutely loved that car. It was quite fast for the days back then and handled amazingly. Unfortunately I got T-boned. They fixed it but it was never right again so I traded it in. But it was an amazing car for it's time. Bright red...damn it was a sexy car for its day!
Neither were their 4-speed transmissions! The one in my '80 V6 "X"-11 BROKE at 18mo and 8000miles. This happened just BEFORE the recall for "major reliablity problems". I did manage to get the transmission rebuilt (in THOSE days, they still repaired instead of replacing things) at NO CHARGE as a "goodwill adjustment" by GM! LOL Btw, the ONLY publication that warned consumers of the MAJOR TRANSMISSION problem was "Consumer Reports" for you haters of CR!!
My mom had an 83 X11 , and that hint of lockup of the left rear tire was enough to have you facing oncoming traffic on rainy or snowy surfaces if you weren't careful .
@@MPMeterman Reminds me of the Fiero - the last year it finally got the suspension Pontiac always wanted and a better engine only for it to be discontinued. Like you said, GM being GM.
@@geekatron8135 hp on a relatively light weight vehicle made for good times. I had a 1983 Camaro Z 28 with 160 hp and traded it for the 1985 X11. My X11 was just as fast as my Camaro and kept it for 15 years relatively trouble free. The downside was the roof started to rust around year 7 and by the 10 year mark, I literally had a two-tone paint job on my car ( brown/rust on top and black on bottom).
They were all the same. If you outright slammed a new car, you wouldn't get anything to review in the future, let alone invited to all expenses paid press junkets...
I won a new fire engine RED X-11 in a citywide lotto back in 1981. I loved that car! For its time it was really a small rocket and the handling with the Goodyear Eagles was fantastic. Mine had the 3 speed automatic transmission and boy did it go when the transmission would kick down from 3rd to second gear. I really miss it😢.
I had an X-11 back in the day. Not a GM fan, but this was a solid offering back then. Dependable, sporty (for the time), very good ride quality and roomy. The only thing I did not like was the vertically placed stereo...almost impossible to upgrade.
@@kevinpatrickmacnutt The quality (reliability) was hit and miss. You had to make sure that it was built in the MIDDLE of the week. The Lordstown plant was running THREE SHIFTS trying to meet demand. What could possibly go wrong?
Got a great deal on one a Boston area dealer had on the lot for a year because it didn’t have air conditioning. Enjoyed it while we had it. It was fun compared to the other X bodies so common at the time. Didn’t have it long though, it was the only car ever stolen from us.
my dad had one back then and I remember him being so disappointed in this car because it only got to 80,000 miles and the engine went. He bought it in 83 and he junked it in 1990.
There was also the Honda Accord, built as precisely as a "Swiss Watch". I remember how EFFORTLESSLY the doors would close, they would latch by LITERALLY blowing on them!
@@TheOzthewizwe were a Chrysler family, but '80 trash reliability made us turn our backs. By 87 my aunt got an accord, my mom got a Toyota Tercel and dad got a Sentra.
My family had one. It lived 5 years before going up in flames. But before it burned, it had the entire steering system replaced at 6 months old, the transmission was replaced twice, the engine was replaced and the radiator sprung a million tiny holes.
You can tell this was before GM figured out how to put an inertia lock on the passenger seat back for coupes. The passenger front seat back almost hits the dash on the panic stop.😂
Changing the oil filter in the 4-cyl (iron duke), (not V6) engine was a nightmare! The iron duke was always used in a "longitudinal" arrangement, in the "X" bodies GM simply roatated the engine 90deg, with the filter butting up to the subframe, making it almost impossible to change the filter!
My dad made the mistake of buying a dark blue Citation hatchback coupe with the Iron Duke way back in 1980. Had issues with the premature locking brakes the first year of ownership. And it was the second time he made the error of buying a "Motortrend Car of the Year" with the previous mistake a Gold Plymouth Volare sedan with the 318 back in 76. That's why its never a good idea to buy a new car in the first model design year (except if it is a Honda or Toyota). Best experiences with reliable cars was a 77 VW Rabbit (from which he traded his 76 Volare to) and a 1982 Mazda GLC (from which he traded the Citation a couple years later). Still dont know how you would deal with replacing that vertical radio setup on the early X Cars. What was GM thinking?
As I remember "Motor Trend" said, "the fit and finish of the X-bodies was the finest on the planet". After all the complaints had been registered, Motor Trend was asked why they would make such an UN-RELIABLE car "The Car of The Year". They answered "Well we can't PREDICT how reliable the car will be"! Then why the F**K would you tell the people that this is the BEST thing since sliced bread and to hurry down to the dealer to buy one!
You forgot to mention ANOTHER "fine" MT car of the year...........the PACER! As far as that vertical radio, all you needed was a vertically oriented face plate, the head unit was not the problem.
If the Citation came out in the age of internet it will not stand a chance due to it’s countless problems. GM gets points for good styling for its time The scarf lol
...2 hours later...it's fixed now, seems like there was a problem the like number would count down from what it was down to zero and show zero no matter what thenumber of likes was, not only on this channel.
Honestly, 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.
As is finally getting the car right, & then dropping it, @@teds7379. They finally got the X's right for the 1985 model year, & then................PFFFFFT!!!! Same with the Pontiac Fiero & the Cadillac Allante` later on.
Yes, the deadline became more important than the product. GM obviously could have engineered a better car, but they didn't want to. They wanted to get the car to market as quick as possible to beat the competition, but the GM management didn't realize that the competition was built with higher quality. Must have been incredibly frustrating to be a good engineer at GM.
You have to remember that if you wanted the quality to be as good as say, a Volvo at about $15k, you would NOT get THAT quality for $8k! You get what you pay for..
My parents had a '81 Olds Omega Brougham they purchased in 1987. I was only 11, but remember the car well. I remember the bottom of the doors were rusted on the backside, the previous owner had covered it in silicone and painted over it... it was a southern car too. I remember the transmission went out before it hit 75k miles and the carburetor had constant issues. It had the 2.8L V6.
My friend in high school had one. I had a 68 Impala 327 went low 14s but still I about shit when he floored it to beat a yellow light lol. It tucked the ass and pulled well. I was surprised and remember it many years later.
Their Cutlass review from the same era, trim pieces literally fell off. Post malaise GM coasted way too long on reputation and fleet sales. Chrysler finally got it together and was moving forward. (Though in finest Chrysler tradition screwed it up.) Ford had a few missteps (Merkur), but had the Taurus and was moving nicely towards the 90's. But GM couldn't get out of their own way. Their older stuff was, just old. And their newer attempts came with a list of recalls longer than the owner's manual. I know pointing out the problems with GM is redundant and has been done to death. But the only thing that kept them going was the momentum of their size and "Too big to fail" status.
"...halts were confidence building.." while the thing is skidding crazily sideways, nearly taking out the poor bundled-up lady with her measuring wheel.
This thing ran much better than the first version Chevrolet Citations but still had too many things going wrong with it,I believe still came with some suspension bolts loose. The 135 horsepower rating was probably much understated as compared to how cars are rated today.
The X-11 that I ordered came with an "extra" rear hub flange bolt that was rolling around INSIDE the rear brake drum. I heard a LOUD snapping sound coming from the rear when I went over a large bump. Thought it was a loose spring mount until one day going down my alley at slow speed, I heard a continuous rattling noise. Decided to pull the rear wheel and drum. Found a bolt that had been "floating" around inside the drum and had been catching on the metal part of the brake shoe. If I hadn't found this extra bolt and I was clipping along at 70mph, it could have locked up that one wheel and made for a VERY BAD DAY!
@@MH-so9oz Oh I wanted those. I just didn't think I could afford it considering insurance, etc. Needless to say, I didn't get a X-11, Mustang, or Camaro when I was young (just out of high school). I did get a Mustang later in life.
I had an "X -11" V6 in 1980. Had test reviews from Car and Driver stating 0-60 in 9.2sec. After my car arrived, it was NOWHERE near that fast. Consumer Reports tested a V6 X-11, 4-speed, their 0-60 was 12.3sec, WTF! It turns that the X-11 that Car and Driver test was a factory supplied "press" car, meaning it was "messaged" i.e. had a "blue printed" engine. The one Consumer Reports had was a STOCK V6 bought off a dealers' lot. This why I buy "car" magazines for entertaining reading only, not for factual information!
My Cousin and I were HOOKED on this show from day 1!!! We would be on the phone with each other as we watched it and go back and forth on the featured vehicle 😎🤣
The Achilles Heel of this car was that dreadful 2.8 liter V6. I had one for 7 years and the valve covers never stopped leaking oil. And then there was the blown head gasket and leaking timing chain/water pump cover on the replacement engine which drained all the coolant. Several friends had the same fate. I never bought another GM car again.
Ahh man that was my 1st car, I loved it man. Also my 1at accident, ahh man my insurance went through the roof lol. Fitting a big engine sideways in a compact car. That little car had some power man. Good memories lol
I have an interesting recollection of the 83 X-11. They had just come out and it was interesting to see a new car that was faster than the previous year! (Since 1971 each year had seen slower and uglier cars year to year). Anyway I took my 18 year old self to the local Chevy dealer and the eager young salesman quickly offered me a test drive in a black manual transmission version. It was peppy by 1983 standards and it sounded good. He saw I wasn’t overly impressed (I was driving a ratty old 69 GTO Judge at the time) so he kept egging me to beat hard on it. So I thrashed her hard, shifting only when the rpm’s stopped climbing. The car didn’t like it much and on the way back to the dealership the engine had clearly developed a knock. One of those pulls had spun a bearing. The salesman didn’t know what he was hearing and just said it had an exhaust leak. I didn’t waste any time getting out of there. So somewhere out there there was an 83 X-11 that needed an engine with 7 miles on the odometer.
First car was a 81 manual citation. Red with black interior, front bench and no AC. Had to replace the clutch and when I sold it needed a front axle boot replaced and reseated as I tore it when hitting a curb or pot hole or something (like I said was my first car)
I had an x11 when it was 20 years old. Paid 100 bucks for it, pulled it home on a tow dolly. New fuel and brake lines and it fired right up. Thing was definitely a turd but ran pretty hard with the v6. I beat on it a while and sold it for 1200 bucks!
So a brand new one they had prepped to go to the automotive press and the pulley fell off... And Motor Week is still like "build quality is way up!" lol We take for granted how good cars are today. Dealers having to fix brand new cars from the factory was definitely a GM thing back in the 80`s.
All AMERICAN manufacturers did that "back in the day" unlike Toyota. If a Toyota had defects, the car would be sent back through the line AGAIN to correct those defects! In the US, if a car didn't start during loading, it would be HAND PUSHED onto the carrier. This was known as "goodies for the dealer"!
I test drove one of these when they first came out. I liked it but decided not to buy. And boy, I'm GLAD I didn't given what JUNK they turned out to be! LOL!
At GM, the deadline became more important than the product. GM obviously could have engineered a better car, but they didn't want to. They wanted to get the car to market as quick as possible to beat the competition, but the GM management didn't realize that the competition was built with higher quality. Must have been incredibly frustrating to be a good engineer at GM.
40 years ago... They had refined the Citation X-11 to compete with the likes of the GTI? I would've paid a little more and chose the GTI back then... Any of the GM "X Cars" were pretty much ready for the junkyard after about 5 years...
This is soo hard to watch.. the 80’s GM cars were so bad. And Motor Week bless their hearts, came a long way. Although current Motor weeks are now on corporate ass sucking.
I have never driven a Citation but my sister owned one that I rode in. I did own a J2000 and have driven a few GM FWD cars of the late 60s through the mid 80s. Yes, they handled reasonably well, but steering feel was almost nonexistent. So not sure how good or bad it's mentioned competition was, but my 80 Ford Fiesta was much more fun to drive.
Always appreciated MW honesty, but there are some factors in this test that, well, make this testing questionable. The first is the obvious cold pavement testing which slid the numbers in the wrong direction. Another point here are those Goodyear GTs. Having owned new GM vehicles of the '80s, equipped with those GTs, there was something substandard to what Goodyear supplied to GM and the much better rubber acquired from Tire Rack. The factory GTs only worked well in 65 degrees or higher temps. Cold as well as wet conditions proved sometimes dangerous driving characteristics. This 'Pocket Rocket' needed a five speed. But any test vehicle that threw a belt would be hard to buy as new & improved.
Scarf Guy is Craig Singhaus. He became a regular and did their features for years. Joyce Braga, who did the automotive news and tech stories for years can also be seen as a test driver earlier on. Limited budget on a PBS show means everyone does more than one job.
Don't know why everybody bad mouths those years I like the boxy Angler shapes this is one of the nicer looking ones to come out of that period and I don't know why they say bad quality I used to see a lot of them still on the road not that long ago before the collectors started offering big money for them
I love the line, “just a hint of lockup and axle swing.”
And throwing a belt, no big deal 😅
@@Cheezwizzz, I know I laughed at that one too. The early 80’s were not a good time for the General.
If that was a hint I hate to see the full on version 😅
@@Cheezwizzz ..but hey "access to the oil filter was much better" LOL!!!
@@chrisbrowder9184 It’s the little things that count 😂
These older episodes were filmed at the very end of Interstate 70 in Baltimore, which is now a Park & Ride. I grew up right behind there.
It was still under construction then. I don’t remember which episode they mentioned that, possibly the pilot?
Cool info
The X-Car really wasn't bad once GM fixed its major design flaws. But they never seemed to figure out that you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.
There was also competition that was just better looking and more modern by that time, such as the A body cars ( Celebrity and Pontiac 6000) and the Chrysler Lebaron GTS, even though you had to spend a little more. The Camry and Accord also had gotten larger and cemented their reputation for reliability by 1984-1985
My dad had a Citation and a Citation II. The Citation II actually lasted until 1995, when my mom bought a new Taurus and my dad ended up driving her old one.
I cried when I realized this is from 40 years ago
Funny thing is, the GM X and A bodies are structurally identical. The A body is just a revised X with a longer wheelbase. If they had allowed the X to continue, it would have been just as good as an A. However, true to GM form, they finally get something right then they drop it.
@@JohnEvans-ct6mz But by the time the x bodies were perfected, the N bodies ( Grand Am, Skylark, Calais- and later Corsica/ Beretta) were already out and GM needed warm bodies to purchase those in order to cover the development costs. Keeping the X Cars available would have eaten into the N body sales. It’s ridiculous to see GM had so many passenger car models back then.
I think Rodney Dangerfield’s joke applies here “ my car is always on a lift. It’s got more miles vertically than horizontally! You- know “😅
And "I bought the perfect second car--a tow truck"
Sounds like a great second car for me. What color truck, would go with a ‘06 Impala SS? She’s White with the Oreo guts. Non chrome wheels, only polished.
My father had the Pontiac version of this. Now he always babied his cars.( I can still remember him saying don't slam the door every time I got out) Anyway one Christmas he got me a control line plane. He had the first go to show me how to do it. He didn't even make a full circle when wham!!, no more plane and a big dent in the B piller. He gathered up the pieces and not a word was spoken on the way home. RIP old timer and thanks for the memories. G.H
Sorry for your loss
I feel the SAME about people slamming car doors (as though the door will close MORE tightly, the harder you slam it). If someone SLAMMED my car door, they would WALK the next time!
We had a couple of those control line planes! However, we flew them out in the front yard away from our cars. They were fun!
You need a lot more room for those planes than you'd think. Poor Dad.
I can’t believe it threw a belt on a press test
It was only for the emissions air pump, which I would rip off anyway for better performance!
I can definitely believe it. This show acted as if there were only slight differences in quality between these POS domestic cars during the dark ages and Japanese vehicles.
Reliability was NOT among the qualities of US cars in those days!
@@TheOzthewizit still isn't 😂
@@scdevon maybe some the small ones rest are solid
I like how we can see a lot of 60s and 70s cars driving in the background
I can already see rust and corrosion forming in the opening shot of that duded-up Citation
Where I don't see it
@@2525alb
I'm being facetious
@@Rampant_Colt- be careful using big words 😂
My father had a 1981 X-11 and it was rusting out (in the middle of the drivers door?!?) by 1983. We had it repainted in 1984.
Those were terrible cars. America couldn't make a good small car if the life of an industry depended on it.
It threw a belt. But Hey! You can get to the oil filter... GM quality of the 80s. Top notch!
I was lucky enough to own a 1985 X-11. I absolutely loved that car. It was quite fast for the days back then and handled amazingly. Unfortunately I got T-boned. They fixed it but it was never right again so I traded it in. But it was an amazing car for it's time. Bright red...damn it was a sexy car for its day!
@ 3:45 "As are the checkpoints for all the bodily fluids" 😂
Snigger !!😂
I had a V6 81 Citation as a 1st car. The premature brake lockup was a “fun” introduction to driving as a 16 year old.
It was my first car, too. I had fun, picking up girls, driving to wherever I felt like going. I junked it 2 years later..
Neither were their 4-speed transmissions! The one in my '80 V6 "X"-11 BROKE at 18mo and 8000miles. This happened just BEFORE the recall for "major reliablity problems". I did manage to get the transmission rebuilt (in THOSE days, they still repaired instead of replacing things) at NO CHARGE as a "goodwill adjustment" by GM! LOL Btw, the ONLY publication that warned consumers of the MAJOR TRANSMISSION problem was "Consumer Reports" for you haters of CR!!
Can you imagine a time when an air pump pulley falls off and a car review treats it like a minor thing.
On an AMERICAN BUILT car? SNAFU (situation normal, all F**KED UP)!
My mom had an 83 X11 , and that hint of lockup of the left rear tire was enough to have you facing oncoming traffic on rainy or snowy surfaces if you weren't careful .
Just a hint of rear wheel lock up lmao
The best yr for the X11 was 1985. It finally got horizontal hvac and radio controls, and the X11 got a 2.8 MFI V6.
All 135 horsepower of it.
It makes you wonder why GM even bothered making those changes at all in the last year of production.
@@milfordcivic6755- GM being GM.
@@MPMeterman Reminds me of the Fiero - the last year it finally got the suspension Pontiac always wanted and a better engine only for it to be discontinued. Like you said, GM being GM.
@@geekatron8135 hp on a relatively light weight vehicle made for good times. I had a 1983 Camaro Z 28 with 160 hp and traded it for the 1985 X11. My X11 was just as fast as my Camaro and kept it for 15 years relatively trouble free. The downside was the roof started to rust around year 7 and by the 10 year mark, I literally had a two-tone paint job on my car ( brown/rust on top and black on bottom).
With opinion pieces like this, it’s amazing to me that Motor Week was ever taken seriously
They were all the same. If you outright slammed a new car, you wouldn't get anything to review in the future, let alone invited to all expenses paid press junkets...
I won a new fire engine RED X-11 in a citywide lotto back in 1981. I loved that car! For its time it was really a small rocket and the handling with the Goodyear Eagles was fantastic. Mine had the 3 speed automatic transmission and boy did it go when the transmission would kick down from 3rd to second gear. I really miss it😢.
It’s 2023, and for some reason, that car design still looks cool
I remember these all being broken down and headed to the junkyards back in the late 80’s. Then completely gone and forgotten by the 90’s
I remember strolls through the junk yard in the mid 90’s. 80’s garbage as far as the eye could see 😂
Except by me lol was my first car in 1998 ........
I had a 1984 Pontiac Phoenix with the 2.8L engine and I rebuilt it with an X-11 camshaft.
I had an X-11 back in the day. Not a GM fan, but this was a solid offering back then. Dependable, sporty (for the time), very good ride quality and roomy. The only thing I did not like was the vertically placed stereo...almost impossible to upgrade.
I would question dependable. We had one and I remember a lot of loaner cars when we had it.
I like the stereo
@@kevinpatrickmacnutt The quality (reliability) was hit and miss. You had to make sure that it was built in the MIDDLE of the week. The Lordstown plant was running THREE SHIFTS trying to meet demand. What could possibly go wrong?
My aunt owned a Citation it rotted out in 5 years. Hood front fenders rear quarters and frame. Well unibody.
Got a great deal on one a Boston area dealer had on the lot for a year because it didn’t have air conditioning. Enjoyed it while we had it. It was fun compared to the other X bodies so common at the time. Didn’t have it long though, it was the only car ever stolen from us.
SOMEBODY STOLE THAT CAR!!!!!
Did they bring it back?
Never saw it again….
@@richkuban2027 What did the insurance give y'all for it??
my dad had one back then and I remember him being so disappointed in this car because it only got to 80,000 miles and the engine went. He bought it in 83 and he junked it in 1990.
Of course by this time General Motors had managed to squander a lot of goodwill. And, 1983 was the first year for the Toyota Camry.
The 2nd gen 1982 Honda Accord also swayed a lot of people away from the junk the big 3 were making back then.
There was also the Honda Accord, built as precisely as a "Swiss Watch". I remember how EFFORTLESSLY the doors would close, they would latch by LITERALLY blowing on them!
@@TheOzthewizwe were a Chrysler family, but '80 trash reliability made us turn our backs.
By 87 my aunt got an accord, my mom got a Toyota Tercel and dad got a Sentra.
Always liked the look. Hard to believe what was acceptable back then.
i remember liking the mags
My family had one. It lived 5 years before going up in flames. But before it burned, it had the entire steering system replaced at 6 months old, the transmission was replaced twice, the engine was replaced and the radiator sprung a million tiny holes.
Typical for a SMALL AMERICAN car!
just bad luck 🤞
@@glennschiffer1742 just a piece of junk
Gene Margolis Chevy here in Michigan had a Turbo Charged Special Order one back in the day that was a BEAST!
Got any info on it?
I WISH! @@VcArena
Huh
It MUST have been a "special order" vehicle. I never heard of a TURBO version. Was it the 4 or V6?
It was a 3.8 V6 and it Screamed!@@TheOzthewiz
You can tell this was before GM figured out how to put an inertia lock on the passenger seat back for coupes. The passenger front seat back almost hits the dash on the panic stop.😂
I took driver's Ed in high school in one of these...man, good times!
Quirky.
The Japanese compacts forced US manufacturers into venturing in compact designs that was quirky.
Good old late 70's early 80's. :)
50-70s Japan copies America
80s-x America copies Japan
MORE IMPORTANT.....the Japanese FORCED American auto makers into making SOMEWHAT quality cars!
Would never see ease of maintenance highlights in a modern car video.
I wish it would come back, I love seeing it in these old school videos
Changing the oil filter in the 4-cyl (iron duke), (not V6) engine was a nightmare! The iron duke was always used in a "longitudinal" arrangement, in the "X" bodies GM simply roatated the engine 90deg, with the filter butting up to the subframe, making it almost impossible to change the filter!
My dad made the mistake of buying a dark blue Citation hatchback coupe with the Iron Duke way back in 1980. Had issues with the premature locking brakes the first year of ownership. And it was the second time he made the error of buying a "Motortrend Car of the Year" with the previous mistake a Gold Plymouth Volare sedan with the 318 back in 76. That's why its never a good idea to buy a new car in the first model design year (except if it is a Honda or Toyota). Best experiences with reliable cars was a 77 VW Rabbit (from which he traded his 76 Volare to) and a 1982 Mazda GLC (from which he traded the Citation a couple years later).
Still dont know how you would deal with replacing that vertical radio setup on the early X Cars. What was GM thinking?
My Dad replaced a 1977 Volare station wagon with a Citation.
As I remember "Motor Trend" said, "the fit and finish of the X-bodies was the finest on the planet". After all the complaints had been registered, Motor Trend was asked why they would make such an UN-RELIABLE car "The Car of The Year". They answered "Well we can't PREDICT how reliable the car will be"! Then why the F**K would you tell the people that this is the BEST thing since sliced bread and to hurry down to the dealer to buy one!
If the Motortrend Car of the Year was based on reliability only, Toyota would have won every year for the last 45 years.
You forgot to mention ANOTHER "fine" MT car of the year...........the PACER! As far as that vertical radio, all you needed was a vertically oriented face plate, the head unit was not the problem.
If the Citation came out in the age of internet it will not stand a chance due to it’s countless problems.
GM gets points for good styling for its time
The scarf lol
The Citation is nice car
Learn when to use it's, which is "it is", vs. the possessive its. Lol...
@@thomaspierce9458 Thanks for pointing that out. I am also guilty of that grammar error!
I loved my 81 Citation. Plenty of room for me and my girl in back with the seats down. Homemada homemada
@ 3:45 "As are the checkpoints for all the bodily fluids" . Would never see ease of maintenance highlights in a modern car video..
I drove one for a couple of years in the nineties. Bought it cheap had no serious issues either. Sold it to a kid long ago.
Whats wong with YT, thymbs up for the vid aren't registering. :/
...2 hours later...it's fixed now, seems like there was a problem
the like number would count down from what it was down to zero and show zero no matter what thenumber of likes was, not only on this channel.
Had a 87 celebrity v6. Mpi was pretty peppy.
Where’s the Cavalier Z24? I want a Cavalier Z24 retro review hehe
How about a Pontiac 6000 STE road test?
Someone pirated and uploaded an 85 STE test from one of the monthly marathon streams if you’re interested.
Good god i remember these junk boxes and so happy we moved on from those dark days of automobile design.
I see an X-11, and I always smile.
Honestly, 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.
It's kind of become a GM hallmark: doing 90% of a great job then crapping out on the final 10% to ensure the car feels cheap and doesn't work well.
As is finally getting the car right, & then dropping it, @@teds7379. They finally got the X's right for the 1985 model year, & then................PFFFFFT!!!! Same with the Pontiac Fiero & the Cadillac Allante` later on.
Yes, the deadline became more important than the product. GM obviously could have engineered a better car, but they didn't want to. They wanted to get the car to market as quick as possible to beat the competition, but the GM management didn't realize that the competition was built with higher quality.
Must have been incredibly frustrating to be a good engineer at GM.
You have to remember that if you wanted the quality to be as good as say, a Volvo at about $15k, you would NOT get THAT quality for $8k! You get what you pay for..
@@TheOzthewiz It's not that simple. A lot of luxury cars were and are terrible. A 1980's Toyota was built better than a Jaguar or a Cadillac.
My parents had a '81 Olds Omega Brougham they purchased in 1987. I was only 11, but remember the car well. I remember the bottom of the doors were rusted on the backside, the previous owner had covered it in silicone and painted over it... it was a southern car too. I remember the transmission went out before it hit 75k miles and the carburetor had constant issues. It had the 2.8L V6.
My friend in high school had one. I had a 68 Impala 327 went low 14s but still I about shit when he floored it to beat a yellow light lol. It tucked the ass and pulled well. I was surprised and remember it many years later.
Love these videos
Never forget my 1977 Chevy Chevette
The X cars weren't perfect but a small step in the right direction,a perfect starting point ❤😂😮
Nothing says reliability like throwing a belt on the test drive.
Word
Their Cutlass review from the same era, trim pieces literally fell off.
Post malaise GM coasted way too long on reputation and fleet sales.
Chrysler finally got it together and was moving forward. (Though in finest Chrysler tradition screwed it up.) Ford had a few missteps (Merkur), but had the Taurus and was moving nicely towards the 90's.
But GM couldn't get out of their own way. Their older stuff was, just old. And their newer attempts came with a list of recalls longer than the owner's manual.
I know pointing out the problems with GM is redundant and has been done to death. But the only thing that kept them going was the momentum of their size and "Too big to fail" status.
That was a GOOD thing! Would save you the trouble of having to disable the air pump for BETTER performance!
"...halts were confidence building.." while the thing is skidding crazily sideways, nearly taking out the poor bundled-up lady with her measuring wheel.
This thing ran much better than the first version Chevrolet Citations but still had too many things going wrong with it,I believe still came with some suspension bolts loose.
The 135 horsepower rating was probably much understated as compared to how cars are rated today.
The X-11 that I ordered came with an "extra" rear hub flange bolt that was rolling around INSIDE the rear brake drum. I heard a LOUD snapping sound coming from the rear when I went over a large bump. Thought it was a loose spring mount until one day going down my alley at slow speed, I heard a continuous rattling noise. Decided to pull the rear wheel and drum. Found a bolt that had been "floating" around inside the drum and had been catching on the metal part of the brake shoe. If I hadn't found this extra bolt and I was clipping along at 70mph, it could have locked up that one wheel and made for a VERY BAD DAY!
Looking back at the Citation, Gm has definitely come a long way and it's no wonder the imported competition caught up.
You have that BACKWARDS. GM caught up (?) to the imported competition!
Thank you for posting another GM review.
When I was a young man, I wanted a Citation X11.
I was also young back then so I have to ask,,, with Camaro and Mustangs available, why would you want this pos?
@@MH-so9oz Oh I wanted those. I just didn't think I could afford it considering insurance, etc. Needless to say, I didn't get a X-11, Mustang, or Camaro when I was young (just out of high school). I did get a Mustang later in life.
I had the redwood metallic '82 X-11. It was peppy and handled great taking corners exceptionally well. Dry, clean corners were fun.
I had an "X -11" V6 in 1980. Had test reviews from Car and Driver stating 0-60 in 9.2sec. After my car arrived, it was NOWHERE near that fast. Consumer Reports tested a V6 X-11, 4-speed, their 0-60 was 12.3sec, WTF! It turns that the X-11 that Car and Driver test was a factory supplied "press" car, meaning it was "messaged" i.e. had a "blue printed" engine. The one Consumer Reports had was a STOCK V6 bought off a dealers' lot. This why I buy "car" magazines for entertaining reading only, not for factual information!
I loved this little car,, back in the day I remember wanting ☝🏿 one!! Even tho I am not a Chevy guy, I would own one of these today!!❤️
At least the 80s had good music.
That's YOUR opinion. And you know what "they" say about opinions...........they are like arseholes, everybody has one!
My Cousin and I were HOOKED on this show from day 1!!! We would be on the phone with each other as we watched it and go back and forth on the featured vehicle 😎🤣
Wow, yeah, I didn't even notice that rear end lock up.
My sister had a 1980 Chevy citation not the X11 just the standard citation with 2.5 L 4 banger. It was OK car but I was always working on it for her.😂
The Achilles Heel of this car was that dreadful 2.8 liter V6. I had one for 7 years and the valve covers never stopped leaking oil. And then there was the blown head gasket and leaking timing chain/water pump cover on the replacement engine which drained all the coolant. Several friends had the same fate. I never bought another GM car again.
the last year i bought a new gm car was 1982. a S10 pickup V6 5 speed, what a piece of shit
Ahh man that was my 1st car, I loved it man. Also my 1at accident, ahh man my insurance went through the roof lol. Fitting a big engine sideways in a compact car. That little car had some power man. Good memories lol
I owned a 1980 model bought in 1984, owned it for 5 years and never had any problems.
This was my second car I bought in 1988. Kept it for 2 years.
Struts and shocks wore out at about 20k. I know I used to sell them.
Back in the 90's weren't you supposed to change Monroe shocks every 12,000 miles?
@landonbenford8369 No Mercedes shocks used to last two hundred thousand miles. Toyota would go 50,000miles.
I drove a Citation in 1985, for a courier service. The brakes had a propensity to lock up...a death trap.
I have an interesting recollection of the 83 X-11. They had just come out and it was interesting to see a new car that was faster than the previous year! (Since 1971 each year had seen slower and uglier cars year to year).
Anyway I took my 18 year old self to the local Chevy dealer and the eager young salesman quickly offered me a test drive in a black manual transmission version.
It was peppy by 1983 standards and it sounded good. He saw I wasn’t overly impressed (I was driving a ratty old 69 GTO Judge at the time) so he kept egging me to beat hard on it.
So I thrashed her hard, shifting only when the rpm’s stopped climbing. The car didn’t like it much and on the way back to the dealership the engine had clearly developed a knock. One of those pulls had spun a bearing.
The salesman didn’t know what he was hearing and just said it had an exhaust leak. I didn’t waste any time getting out of there. So somewhere out there there was an 83 X-11 that needed an engine with 7 miles on the odometer.
This was the true beginning of the end for GM “quality.”
I used to have one it had 2.8L four speed manual transmission it was great dependable car flawless
First car was a 81 manual citation. Red with black interior, front bench and no AC. Had to replace the clutch and when I sold it needed a front axle boot replaced and reseated as I tore it when hitting a curb or pot hole or something (like I said was my first car)
I had an x11 when it was 20 years old. Paid 100 bucks for it, pulled it home on a tow dolly. New fuel and brake lines and it fired right up.
Thing was definitely a turd but ran pretty hard with the v6.
I beat on it a while and sold it for 1200 bucks!
Those were nice looking cars with the "Sideways Radio" before they Rotted Out
So a brand new one they had prepped to go to the automotive press and the pulley fell off... And Motor Week is still like "build quality is way up!" lol We take for granted how good cars are today. Dealers having to fix brand new cars from the factory was definitely a GM thing back in the 80`s.
All AMERICAN manufacturers did that "back in the day" unlike Toyota. If a Toyota had defects, the car would be sent back through the line AGAIN to correct those defects! In the US, if a car didn't start during loading, it would be HAND PUSHED onto the carrier. This was known as "goodies for the dealer"!
I test drove one of these when they first came out. I liked it but decided not to buy. And boy, I'm GLAD I didn't given what JUNK they turned out to be! LOL!
"Look how effortlessly the X11 takes a high speed manuver, little twitch and lots of confidence"
At GM, the deadline became more important than the product. GM obviously could have engineered a better car, but they didn't want to. They wanted to get the car to market as quick as possible to beat the competition, but the GM management didn't realize that the competition was built with higher quality.
Must have been incredibly frustrating to be a good engineer at GM.
That was both entertaining & comical at the same time. 😅
Don’t know if I’ve ever seen one of these, if I did I must’ve mistaken it for a Chevette
"Turn the wheels into the direction of the skid!!" said my Driver's Ed instructors!😎
The simple design with thin-pillar glasshousre has aged well.
40 years ago... They had refined the Citation X-11 to compete with the likes of the GTI? I would've paid a little more and chose the GTI back then... Any of the GM "X Cars" were pretty much ready for the junkyard after about 5 years...
How do you get 0-59 mph in 9.2 seconds but 0-60 mph in 10.1? Almost a whole second to go one more mile per hour? 😂
FM!
This is soo hard to watch.. the 80’s GM cars were so bad. And Motor Week bless their hearts, came a long way. Although current Motor weeks are now on corporate ass sucking.
Hatchbacks were considered symbols of poverty back then, now everyone drives lifted hatchbacks
The first Chevy of the 80's
The first Chevy of its kind.
This could be the car you had in mind.
Great video!
I have never driven a Citation but my sister owned one that I rode in. I did own a J2000 and have driven a few GM FWD cars of the late 60s through the mid 80s. Yes, they handled reasonably well, but steering feel was almost nonexistent. So not sure how good or bad it's mentioned competition was, but my 80 Ford Fiesta was much more fun to drive.
Always appreciated MW honesty, but there are some factors in this test that, well, make this testing questionable. The first is the obvious cold pavement testing which slid the numbers in the wrong direction. Another point here are those Goodyear GTs. Having owned new GM vehicles of the '80s, equipped with those GTs, there was something substandard to what Goodyear supplied to GM and the much better rubber acquired from Tire Rack. The factory GTs only worked well in 65 degrees or higher temps. Cold as well as wet conditions proved sometimes dangerous driving characteristics. This 'Pocket Rocket' needed a five speed. But any test vehicle that threw a belt would be hard to buy as new & improved.
When are you doing another Motorweek Marathon? I love those.
Is that a Datsun Nissan Maxima wagon parked when the Citation took off?
Or a Cressida?
@@GeeEm1313I believe Maxima. The side panel bumpers look higher on the Cressida … in line with the top of the wheel cover.
There's a Citation X11 at Standard Auto Wreckers in Toronto Canada. Body still in good shape. Engine still in it. Hood missing. Needs work.
Boy we’ve come a loooong way since then in automotive reliability!😂
THANK THE JAPANESE!
The sound effects from the wheels screeching just makes me laugh. Not to mention the scarf that guy is wearing.
Scarf Guy is Craig Singhaus. He became a regular and did their features for years.
Joyce Braga, who did the automotive news and tech stories for years can also be seen as a test driver earlier on.
Limited budget on a PBS show means everyone does more than one job.
You can just tell that John wants to say, "Eff it, this car sucks rocks!"
Don't know why everybody bad mouths those years I like the boxy Angler shapes this is one of the nicer looking ones to come out of that period and I don't know why they say bad quality I used to see a lot of them still on the road not that long ago before the collectors started offering big money for them
Always remember the commercials in 1979- "The First Chevy of the 80s..."
I owned a 1981 X11 for 4 years. Traded it for a 85 Mustang GT. The X11 was a decent car.
My favourite line, "Bodily fluids." X11 ambulance perhaps?
Motor Week reviews before they sold out to the car companies. I miss them.
I guess they needed funding.
Do you mean "after" ? Sounds like they've sold out here.