I have never read Frank Herbert’s science fiction epic Dune, but by the time I became aware that the 800-page novel was being adapted for the silver screen, I was pretty well versed on the story.
1980 Chevrolet Citation: Review Flashback!
My buddy Bob had read the book in high school, and could not say enough good things about it. As it turned out, I knew several people who had dipped their literary wickets into the pool of Herbert, and all of them were crazy excited about the film. If you’re old enough, and if your memory is good, you know where this is headed: Dune the motion picture, which debuted in 1984, was an epic flop, panned by virtually every film critic of any significance.
I was crushed. I was sure I was going to be able to immerse myself in the amazing world of Dune without sitting down and turning nearly 1000 pages. For the record, I saw the movie despite the reviews, and it really was awful. And, since I did not yet know who Patrick Stewart was, his presence in the movie didn’t really do much to improve things for me.
X-Cars
Bad as it was, Dune was not the biggest disappointment of the Eighties, at least not for car guys. There was the Chevrolet Citation. Launched in the middle of 1979 for the 1980 model year, General Motors’ X-Car program—which included the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Omega, Pontiac Phoenix, and the Citation—was one of the most anticipated car launches since the Edsel (ominous comparison intentional).
Unlike Dune, which was panned at its introduction, the X-Cars launched to incredible fanfare. The cars were design breakthroughs, and rightfully heralded for their clean and modern silhouettes, roomy cabins, spritely handling, and impressive fuel economy. The Citation especially impressed the media so well that Consumer Guide named it the best car of 1980.
Thanks in part to a massive ad campaign, the public embraced the X-Cars. Chevrolet sold an astonishing 1.2 million Citations in the car’s first two model years. But sales would fall off quickly after that.
Problems and Recalls
For all of their goodness, the X-Cars were plagued with quality and design issues that were simple too critical to ignore. By the end of 1980, the X-Cars were the subject of seven recalls, all of which were troubling. Issues included:
- Leaking brake lines
- Leaking fuel likes
- Faulty seat-track anchors
- Body structure flaws
- Faulty front-strut mounts
- Transmission overheating
- Faulty steering rack
The 1980 models would be subject to additional brake recalls, one in 1981, and another in 1983.
Not surprisingly, the media picked up on the quality issues and painted GM’s new breakthrough rides as the disappointments they were—utterly destroying public confidence in the vehicles and killing sales.
Citation II
Chevrolet rebadged its X-Car Citation II for the 1984 model year, but by then the damage had been done. Chevy sold nearly 100,000 examples for ’84, which sounds healthy, but that number was a mere fraction of the volume the car saw at its debut. Worse, many of the sales were plied with substantial rebates, reducing GM’s profit margins.
The Omega and the Phoenix were dropped after 1984, the Citation and Skylark after 1985.
Club Coupe
Unique among the X-Car variants was the Citation Club Coupe, a coupe with a larger rear quarter windows and a less formal rear roofline. The Club Coupe body style proved to be relatively unpopular, and is a particularly rare sight today.
What follows is Consumer Guide’s original review of the 1980 Citation, which, though glowing, already takes note of the car’s early “teething problems.”
I wish I could tell you that I drove to see Dune in a Citation II, but I cannot. I did drive a Citation in driver’s ed, however, and recall it being especially surefooted in the snow, and easy to see out of.
If you recall spending time with any X-Car, please tell us about it. The place to leave comments is down below.
1980 Chevrolet Citation Review
Badge-Engineering Madness! 10 Classic X-Car Ads
Specs
5 Cheapest American Cars of 1980, Inflation Adjusted
Model-Year Madness! 10 Classic Ads From 1980
Prices
Review Flashback! 1980 Toyota Cressida Wagon
Diesel Doldrums: The 7 Slowest Cars of 1980*
Good Afternoon. I purchased a 1980 five door hatchback from Capitol Motors in Hartford, Ct. I ordered the car for future delivery since due to the gas crisis, these cars were in huge demand. I waited over six months for the delivery and regularly walked by Capitol Motors showroom and one day, I found the Citation in body type and color I had ordered. I asked the Sales Manager about this and he confirmed that this was the Citation I ordered. He said he could not deliver it because apparently Capitol Motors has some financial problem with General Motors. I had a big deposit on the vehicle and was anxiously waiting delivery and it was a car that I liked and hall the design and nice looks of a vehicle of it’s day. Finally, Capitol Motors agreed to deliver the 1980 Citation to me. One reason for the delay in delivery was that General Motors had an contract to deliver thousands of the popular Pontiac Iron Duke four cylinder engines to American Motors. This was reputed to be a great efficient and reliable engine. My color was a green comparable to the famous “Brewster Green” of Buick fame. I found the Citation to be a well designed vehicle with MAJOR flaws in turning the engineering drawings into a useful and reliable car. On the pleasant side, the Citation delivered the stated gas mileage and it handled and rode very well and we loved the Hatchback for storing things. It handled well and was a beautiful looking car. And we wanted to support General Motors vs. the Toyotas and Hondas which were now being sold. However, we found the Citation would just stall for no reason on the road which was eventually diagnosed as an insufficient gasoline filter inside the GM carburetor. Almost immediately we noted that the parking brake would not hold on an incline since we had a standard transmission. The Citation would roll backwards or forward on an incline and almost killed my wife one day when she tried to stop it. Very dangerous vehicle unless you had an automatic transmission with a Park setting. We did use our Citation despite its fatal flaws once we understood them for a few years but wowed to never buy a poorly made GM car and haven’t done that except for another poorly constructed Pontiac Montana minivan which is a similar story of a well engineered vehicle with serious manufacturing or design flaws. I have in recent years (and I’m in my 80’s now) only purchased Toyota vehicles because of their good engineering which is converted into real world quality in their vehicles. I have had almost zero problems with my Toyotas. That’s why GM sells very few passenger cars these days including minivans with the same poor attention to build quality. Very sad, but that is my experience with General Motors which outside of trucks is in decline. And I’m sure GM will have the same poor engineering and mechanical problems with their hybrid and electric vehicles. Shame on GM and Ford is not far behind in their down hill slide. Stellantis is widely known for poor quality as well. Just read the reports.
My father had a Citation. It was a company car, mercifully. It had the iron duke (iron butt?) and was grossly under powered. He used to say you couldn’t get it up the highway speed, and if you somehow did, you couldn’t get it stopped. Yes, the brakes were week and faulty. I learned to drive in that car, so with nothing to compare it too, I don’t have an option about how it drove. I do remember miles of shinny cheap plastic interior and the pedal on the floor when on an interstate on ramp. My first car was a basic but beloved Dodge Dart. It was slow and had skinny tires also. I named it, “The Blazing Bat of Death,” because it was so none of those words. I still have the tag my brother had made for me. The new Citation stayed in shop all the time and the company gave up on at 30k and gave my father a new car. If memory serves, there were 11 major recalls on the car. “Major,” is vague government speak for things that will get you killed. I remember seeing a film where the car was being tested. The rear axle broke (one of the recalls) and the two tires headed off on their own way. In addition my brothers Chevrolet company (thank the Lord0 again) truck blew it’s motor at 60k. A friend’s new Cavalier fried it’s electrical system on the first day he had it and spent the next six weeks in the shop. Another friend recounts having an 80s Cadillac that wouldn’t climb a hill. It wasn’t just GM. America built the best cars in the world in the 50s and 60s and followed it up with trying to build the worst starting in the 70s and possibly succeeding in the 80s. Even as things improved I would tell fellow car guys, “I wouldn’t buy an American car because if I did have problems, I could only say, I knew better.” I had two used Toyotas in my youth. They had body rust and dull paint which made them cheap to purchase. However, being a car guy, I knew they had a heart of gold. I got 50k and 75k largely hassel free miles out of them. I purchased one for $750. By the third time around others had caught on and the old Japanese cars were no longer cheap. So improvising, I bought a Chey Nova. No not that one, the one that Chevrolet built in a joint venture plant with Toyota. It was a Corolla in everything but sheet metal. The Americans can’t mess up a Toyota. Right? They can and did. Worse yet, before mine decided it like living in the shop more than my driveway, I bought my girlfriend a clean low mileage one. The transmission tore up the first day. Fast forward two decades and the Great Recession has flipped me upside down and is bouncing me on my head. I sold my new, beautiful and rock solid Mazda to get rid of the now insufferable payments. I bought my parents Mercury. It had been all most trouble free for 135k, and I did my research. It left me stranded 14 times. Some times for a few minutes and some times for weeks. That’s not all that went wrong with it. Some of it could be expected of an older car some of it was totally unexceptable. I’ve since talked to strangers and friends about their Mercs and Ford equivalents. No one has had the number of problems I had. I’m back to a Mazda again. My dad has been driving Mazda Miatas since they were introduced in 1989. The lastest is a 2003 model. It’s never been to the shop except for oil, tires, and batteries. He bought my mom a new Mazda5 (yes, no space is correct) after the Mercury. It’s a brilliant, but unloved in America, mini minivan. It gets 25mpg and you can haul a piece of furniture. It shares it’s chassis with a Volvo, so it drives like a very spirited car. After seven years a check engine light came on. It was nothing. It’s 14 years old now and hasn’t been back to the shop. Admittedly, they are retired and the cars are garaged. I like some new American cars, like, I like some of all cars. I don’t want to be a hater. I don’t want to take a chance again either. My driving life began with a Citation. That’s brings a knowing smile to my face