[camerjeff]

1980 Phoenix SJ, 2.8 Liter, 4-speed Manual, 60,000 miles. Very well preserved, A/C (not Working) Pwr Steering & Brakes, pwr locks, Rally Gauges, 13" Snowflake Wheels.

I was curious enough to drive it even though the dealer is asking at least double what I think it was worth without driving it. Well it probably Drives as well as it did the day it was built!!!!! And I REALLY REALLY HATED the way the car drove. I don't know if it was the vague and notchy shifter? The way the 2.8 liter engine sounded or the fact that it didn't make enough power to move the car until 2500 rpm, and seemed to run out of breath by 4500 rpm, the torque steer, or the combination of all the above. I have to admit that the handling and brakes were OK. The car seems to have all the correct options to be the best of its model available at the time.

But it really cleared up why the imports came in and kicked GM's butt!!!! I cant imagine actually buying it new, when decent used cars were available for less $$$$

Just thought I would share, I am sure I will never get the chance to drive anouther one in such condition. Makes me think my 77 Astre Formula in stock form was brillant!!!!! About the only thing the Phoenix was better than was maybe slightly better acceleration.

[keith k]

Wow... I don't think Pontiac sold more than a handful of those back in their day. I don't recall ever seeing more than one or two.

And you've likely hit on why.

[GStage1]

Last desirable performance Pontiac....not even close....you are forgetting about the Turbo Trans Am from 89 with the Grand National engine.

The 2.8L was a dog and never made a name for itself.....walk away from that car......pure example of GM badge engineering and cheap plastics.

[71GP76TA]

My parents bought an '80 Citation X-11 brand new. It was a 2.8 with a 4 speed..... What a POS... They sold it 6 months later and bought a brand new '81 Trans Am..... and what a dog that was.....

[fiedlerh]

Did you leave the e out of Last?
Local junkyard has an 81 Phoenix 4dr, same color. Looks like someone took grandma's fairly clean 70K mile car to the junk yard. Who knows, maybe it was worn out by 70K.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by camerjeff

But it really cleared up why the imports came in and kicked GM's butt!!!! I cant imagine actually buying it new, when decent used cars were available for less $$$$

You got that right.

[camerjeff]

Originally Posted by fiedlerh

Did you leave the e out of Last?
Local junkyard has an 81 Phoenix 4dr, same color. Looks like someone took grandma's fairly clean 70K mile car to the junk yard. Who knows, maybe it was worn out by 70K.

You hit my my typo spot on, and now I look like an idiot, and I cannot seem to edit the title Block.

[Old Blue 66]

Dont completely agree. I owned one of those in the mid to late eighties in high school. Drove it for two years and didnt have any problems. It was 5 or 6 years old at the time and it only had 18K when I got it.

It was an automatic though and felt the car had decent power. Never drove the 5 speed allthough a GM FWD car with a mannuel trans sucked no matter what car it was in.

[Brian Baker]

First I've ever seen of this 2-door "sport" car with Snowflakes and rear deck spoiler.

An old high school buddy drove a Citation similar to this that his parents owned in the mid-80's...that car was a huge POS. By the mid 90's, they gave it to him as a "beater" car, it had but 60K miles on it by then. He brought it to me to change the oil and replace the shifter cable in it that was broken. What a huge POS and pain in the ass to work on.

[GTOnly70]

There is nothing at all desirable about that car.

[Bob Rutledge]

Wow, talk about stealing the look of the Grand Am that year.

[abefromen]

Originally Posted by GTOnly70

There is nothing at all desirable about that car.

And I can only imagine the astronomical price that dealer wants for it.

Hey it's old so it must be valuable right?

[Nickv]

That's a cool car IMHO! If only GM would have allowed Pontiac to use the 3.8 V6 instead. They said no to Pontiac and let Buick use it in their version.

[george kujanski]

Looks like the '85 Celebrity my son had back then as a daily driver. Pretty reliable, didn't give us many probs. Two tone, beige and rust on the exterior, every one in those years had the paint falling off.

He kept it as a winter car, the 2000 WS6 stayed in the garage.

George

[MikeNoun]

Ahhh...the good old days, when Detroit Musclecars had 160 hp V8's, 6-cylinder performance cars had 135 hp, and sporty cars had wild 4-cylinder 110 hp fuel injected engines. People were longing for the glory days of 1980-1981, when 200 hp beasts ruled the streets.

[camerjeff]

Just a few more pic's for those who may Care. If I read the spec's correctly the Mighty 2.8 had 115 HP in 1980 compared to the 90 HP the 2.5 Iron Duke had.

And when driving it, the nearest I can explain the sensation is it was almost like the sup frame accelerated forward with out the rest of the car for a fraction of a second. I don't know if that makes sense or not. But it felt like the engine and Transaxle along with the shifter moved forward before the rest of the car, then as the car caught up to the subframe it veered left requiring 1/4 turn of the steering wheel to the right.

I remember driving a 81 Citation with the 2.5 Automatic, and while this car was felt quicker, the automatic had much less torque steer, and was a lot smoother despite the Iron Duke engine.

I just put it forward as what I see as the low point in the US Auto industry, at least product wise.

Cheers

PS who ever edited my Topic to say Least instead of Last, Thank You!!!!! I do not feel like such an Idiot any More

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by MikeNoun

Ahhh...the good old days, when Detroit Musclecars had 160 hp V8's, 6-cylinder performance cars had 135 hp, and sporty cars had wild 4-cylinder 110 hp fuel injected engines. People were longing for the glory days of 1980-1981, when 200 hp beasts ruled the streets.

"Huge 205/70R13" tires - LOL

[Doug]

I was in a large hotel near Pittsburg for a business conference. Also at that hotel was a big "convention" event where they had a bunch (hundreds) of Chevy dealership people in to introduce them to GM's new car, the Citation. They had a variety of them on display. Being an old GTO guy I wasn't too impressed. I do recall that I had a thought that the original Mustangs should have had a body sized/proportioned about what the Citation was. (I thought most of earlier Mustangs looked "puny".)

[b-man]

Originally Posted by Doug

I was in a large hotel near Pittsburg for a business conference. Also at that hotel was a big "convention" event where they had a bunch (hundreds) of Chevy dealership people in to introduce them to GM's new car, the Citation. They had a variety of them on display. Being an old GTO guy I wasn't too impressed. I do recall that I had a thought that the original Mustangs should have had a body sized/proportioned about what the Citation was. (I thought most of earlier Mustangs looked "puny".)

Do you recall if the majority of the conventioneers that day were crying, or yawning when they first saw the Citation?

[einstein]

Didn't the 1980 models of that body style have some horrendous braking issue that GM managed to keep somewhat of a PR lid on?