The 1980 Citation, Chevy's first fwd car, goes on sale

The 1980 Chevrolet Citation, the brand's first front-wheel-drive car, debuts in U.S. showrooms on April 19, 1979, several months after production begins in Willow Run, Mich., ushering in an era of lighter, more spacious and fuel-efficient General Motors cars.

GM engineered and built the first modern American-made fwd cars in 1966 with the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, but they had traditional longitudinally mounted engines.

The company had never designed anything like the Citation and its siblings — the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Omega and Pontiac Phoenix — with transverse-mounted engines and transmissions that powered the front wheels.

Engineering and design started on the X-car program in 1976, in large part in response to the Arab oil embargo and rising gasoline prices, as well as rising foreign imports. GM's fleet in the 1970s was still dominated by body-on-frame, rear-wheel-drive cars with longitudinally mounted engines.

The slope-back Citation, available in three body styles — a two-door coupe/hatchback and four-door hatchback — was a nod to some European cars. It was significantly downsized from the Nova it replaced.

GM invested $2.5 billion in the X-car program, which The Washington Post called "the source of considerable envy in the industry" at the time.

The new cars were 20 inches shorter and 800 pounds lighter than their predecessors and faced off against the Ford Fairmont, Mercury Zephyr, Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen.

The Citation was an early success, selling more than 800,000 units its first year.

But the car's rear brakes locked up, prompting consumer complaints, a NHTSA lawsuit and eventually a series of recalls that undermined GM quality.

It was dropped after the 1985 model year and replaced by the Chevrolet Beretta coupe and Chevrolet Corsica sedan/hatchback, introduced in 1987. Chevrolet produced 1,642,587 Citations.

Perhaps just one model has garnered collector interest, the sporty Citation X-11, which received chassis upgrades, more power and more aggressive styling.