When the Chevrolet Citation developed a poor reputation with consumers, one of the solutions was to rename it the Citation II.
Introduced in April of 1979 on an all-new General Motors X-Body platform, the 1980 Citation was Chevrolet’s first transverse-engine, front-wheel drive vehicle. The good news was Chevy sold more than 810,000 Citations in ’80. Indeed, it was the best-selling car in America that year. The bad news was many buyers were less than thrilled with their purchases. Problems included (but were not limited to) a weak steering rack mount, rear brake lockup, poor drivability from the carbureted four and six-cylinder engines, and sketchy build quality overall.
General Motors addressed these troubles in the X-Body package with a whole series of recalls and production changes, and in a few years the result was a fairly decent compact sedan, though at Chevrolet, volume fell dramatically after the record-setting first year. In 1983, sales fell below the 100,000 mark despite the real product improvements. To reset the table with consumers, so to speak, for 1984 Chevrolet rebadged the Citation as the Citation II.
While unusual, rebranding efforts like these are not unheard of in the Motor City. When Maxwell developed a reputation for mechanical failures in the early ’20s, incoming CEO Walter P. Chrysler advertised the new and improved 1922 version as “the good Maxwell,” a candid admission that the previous ones were not so good. In a similar way, when the 1949 Ford became known for an embarrassing number of new-car bugs, the automaker marketed the following year’s model as “50 ways finer for ’50,” enumerating all the needed improvements.
On the outside, the ’84 Citation II was almost indistinguishable from the previous Citation, with only the emblems and a few details to set them apart. But it really was a better product. In 1982 the standard 2.5-liter four was upgraded to single-point digital fuel injection, a definite improvement. And in 1985 the 2.8L carbureted V6 was joined by a multiport fuel injection version with 130 hp, while a hydraulic engine mount quelled noise and vibration.
The rear brake lockup issue was addressed as well, though that involved a lengthy squabble with federal safety regulators. For ’85, the two-door coupe was discontinued; now the lineup was two-door and four-door hatchbacks only. A redesigned instrument panel also appeared in ’85, with the oddball vertical radio replaced by a standard horizontal unit in DIN format.
With hindsight, one can question why Chevrolet saw the need to continue at all with the Citation II. The product line was more than deep enough with seven different models, including two more front-drive cars, the subcompact J-Body Cavalier and the mid-sized A-Body Celebrity. Chevy buyers also failed to see a need for the Citation II, it appears. Sales failed to rally with the 1984 rebranding, and in 1985 the volume fell to fewer than 63,000 cars, a 92 percent decline from the record 1980 season. When the 1986 Chevrolets were introduced, there was no Citation II.
A few weeks ago, at a show in Chambly, Quebec, I saw a one-owner 1980 Oldsmobile Omega that looked as good as the day it came out of the dealership. Well-preserved, never used in bad weather, it won a prize (people’s choice).
I owned a 1981 Citation for 6 years. It went through two engines and a bunch of wheel bearings. I traded it in for an ’88 Beretta. Oddly enough, after more than a few repairs, that car reached 250,000 mile before it threw a rod..on Christmas Eve..at 11:40 PM.
I remember thinking “why?” when the “II” was added to the Citation name.
Always liked the X-11 version for some reason. My folks had an ’81 Phoenix for several years, which if course was the Pontiac version of the Citation. Nice enough car until the back axle fell.off..
My BiL had 1980 Phoenix and it was as lemony as Country Time, he eventually gave up on it and bought a different car and gave the Phoenix away to his friend; it caught fire on that guy
Apart from the awful build quality (common in Detroit then), the brake lockup issue doomed the X-cars. Two friends were nearly killed when a Skylark’s brakes sent them off the road into a farmer’s field, and after a terrifying moment while driving my mother’s Citation, I convinced her to trade it in- she bought a Celebrity, which turned out to be a much better car.
If GM had properly designed and built the X-cars, they would have been great. Instead they were mediocre and people turned to Honda.
Never could understand why Chevy would name the car after a motor vehicle ticket.
To the generation of people who bought it, the name still meant racehorse. Secretariat was still a bit in the future
The Citation was another example of marketing departments and bean counters having too much say in manufacturing. A little more development time, a little more analysis, and ANYONE from a car club sitting inside and looking at that vertical radio out of a late 60’s AMC station wagon and an embarrassing episode in Chevrolet history could have been avoided.
Even as a 11 year old kid who collected car brochures I thought that 2 without changing the location or font of the badge at all was a stunning half measure.