That Dodge Shelby Charger was my first car ever!! Looks kind of ridiculous now but in 1990 when I was 16, that was a pretty bad *** looking car.

 

A lot of these comments refer to "hot rod versions of crap cars."

I'm one of those guys that respects it for what it is. That's what I love about my wifes SRT-4. Several well thought out mods and a set of willwood 4 piston brakes and I have pissed off many GT's, Mach 1's and Terminators as well as some other highly respected cars (EVO's, STi's, SS's). The SRT-4 is to today what those cars were 20 years ago. I have a feeling if she still has it in 10 years I will still jump out of that car with a smile on my face.

P.S. I am currently trying to scramble to get some parts together for my 10 GT, I can't have my wife driving around in a Neon that I can't keep up with.

 

I don't think that Shelby Charger was a crap car at all at its time. In the 80's (90-91), it was a pretty rad car. Especially with the turbo version. I remember wishing mine was turbo and got jealous when I found out they had a turbo version of it. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved it and got lots of complements on it. My best friend had an Escort GT...another great car for its time I think.

 

Buddy in high school had a GLH... Goes Like HELL and it did!!

 

What's wrong with a **** stash and a jean jacket?

Seriously, the GLH and GLHS were fast cars. And nobody has said that GN's were slow. Stylish..no.

 

Wow. It really wasn't a good time for performance cars, was it?

 

Its ironic that you bring this car up...back in 1983, when I was a Chevy guy and I was looking at buying an X-11. Then my platoon sergeant drove up in his 1982 Mustang GT...better yet, he let me test drive it…and man, did I fell head over heels for the Mustang. So much so, that a few months later, I was driving a 1984 Mustang GT, the first of 4 Mustangs in my lifetime.

A few guys on this thread did a good job explaining what "performance" was back in the day. All I can add that prior to the early to mid 80s, it was dreadful. My wife had a 75 Camaro while I drove a 76 Chevy Monza. Both cars came with V-8s (Camaro with an anemic 350 while my Monza with an even more anemic 262 cu in V-8 pushing a whopping 110 hp...and no, that is not a typo...110 hp.
So, you can imagine my pleasure when I started driving my new 84 GT pushing 175 hp…WOW! I felt like I won the lottery.

Anyway, that’s my 2 cents to this X-11 thread…Lou

 

Don't knock the X-11!! I desired one when I was in college in 1981 and had no money. The regular Citation was rated at something like 100 or 111 HP or thereabouts, whereas the X-11 had a heady 135 horsepower!!

In an era (late '70's mostly) where factory "performance" meant slapping some decals on an existing model, the X-11, with its power, exhaust and comparatively sexy alloy wheels was a breath of fresh air (keep in mind that alloy wheels, especially for front-drive cars, didn't become ubiquitous until the late '80's/early '90's. Steelies were pretty much all there was and there were few aluminum/allow options for FWD).

Also keep in mind that the base 305 V8 in the then-new-and-exciting 1982 Z-28 Camaro was rated at 145 hp, and the Mustang of that year wasn't much better.

 

My first car was a 1980 Citation hatch: The x-cars had horrible brakes and with its 2.8 liter 2bbl V6 with the 3spd auto it couldn't pull a dry string out of a cats ****

 

The wife and I had a red X-11 and it was a fun car. Sure, there was not a lot of performance there, but it was fun just the same!

Phil

 

My first performance car was a 1987 Shelby Daytona with a 175 HP 2.2L intercolled turbo motor. When the turbo would kick in, this thing would fly and steer oh so bad.....
Loved this car, but no so much my friend with his 1988 Civic Si.

 

How many miles does the SRT have?

My g/f traded her 05 SRT on the Stang, it had over 115000 and would still haul ****.

 

Nice to see some folks appreciating the performance machines from a darker era.

Things may head in this direction again some day. Premium gas is $4.83 a gallon in my home town today (a little bit cheaper in the neighboring towns) but still...I can very easily see this becoming intolerable for many people including myself.

Performance cars like the X-11, Omni GLH/Charger were the direct result of automakers doing the best they could for people wanting to have fun that wouldn't put them in the poor house.

 

I still recall looking over the 1983/84 VW Rabbit GTI in the showroom when it first came out. With its golf ball shift **** and plaid interior, it was the grandaddy of all sporty/hot hatches. It had all of 90 HP and it had young car guys like me entranced.

The GTI was one of CarandDriver's 10 Best in 1984:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...en_gti_page_11

As soon as I graduated from college, I bought my only other new car other than my Mustang: a black 1986 Honda CRX Si for all of $10,500. It had 91 horsepower, an improvement of 15 hp over the base CRX, attributed to the fuel injection it exclusively had.

The reason it sucked back in those days is because our leadership in Washington is very similar to what we have nowadays. I don't want to get into a deep political debate, but I don't think many "car guys" who remember what it was like during the Carter years can be very optimistic about the Energy-unfriendly administration we currently have. You can't impose an oil-drilling moratorium, kill the coal industry (Obama's stated goal in almost those exact words), drag your feet on nuclear, and expect anything but deep recession. Wind farms (about 2MW per fan in optimum conditions) just won't cut it (my local 2-unit nuclear station puts out over 900 MW per unit and, with its twin station across the state, only provide about 20% of my state's current electricity demand).

Let me put it this way: Back during the dark Jimmy Carter days there WAS No such thing as delivery pizza or delivery ANYTHING. I wish the college know-it-alls would think about what life would be like without THAT nowadays!

 

It's a black 05 and she is the only owner and it has about 43000 on it. Yeah, I love that little car.


225652_10150562393925237_582830236_18095962_401929 8_n by aelia2008, on Flickr

 

From 1975 to 1995, there were not very many performance cars to choose from. We sure have it good now with the Boss 302,5.0, GT500, and Boss 302 LS to choose from just Ford alone. How lucky we are now.

 

people are 'laughing' at the GLH Omni.. Hot rod tested one against a 65 GT350 at Willow springs way back and the GLH whopped the GT350 BAD.. Actually Shelby had one more version that was even faster.. It was the GLH-S and came in the Charger and Omni forms. These cars today are very collectable and quite fast even for today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCwea...eature=related

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_GLHS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBpVH...eature=related

http://www.carmemories.com/cgi-bin/v...erience_id=113

 

X-11

With the performance-enhanced Citation X-11, Chevrolet wanted to remind the car buying public that this front wheel drive newcomer was made by the same people as the Corvette and Camaro. The SCCA classified the X-11 in Showroom Stock B class. Bob McConnell drove a 1981 X-11 to SSB National Championships in 1982 and 1984.
The 1980 Citation X-11 had front and back stabilizer bars, standard 4 speed overdrive manual or the optional 3 speed automatic, sport type suspension, Goodyear P205/70R-13 white lettered tires with rallye rim trim, a rear spoiler, side striping, black grill and body accents, sport steering wheel, body-color dual sport mirrors, Special full Instrumentation with a 6000 rpm tach, standard Pontiac 2.5-liter 4 cyl Iron duke or the optional Chevrolet 2-bbl LE2 2.8-liter V6 engine that produced 115 hp (86 kW).The 1980 Citation X-11 transmissions had special gearing to allow 60 mph (97 km/h) in second and a move up of first to help fill the stretch. The 1980 Citation X-11 was available only on the 2-Door Hatchback Coupe and Club Coupe (Notchback).
The 1981 to 1985 Citation X-11 models had legitimate performance upgrades such as a 2-bbl 2.8 V6 High Output engine, including F41 sport suspension, rear spoiler, special axle ratios, special full instrumentation with a 7000 rpm tach, front and back stabilizer bars, 14" specific alloy wheels with the word "Citation" cast in, Goodyear Eagle GT P215/60 R14 radial tires, functional fiberglass cowl induction hood with "High Output V6" logo and also on the air filter housing on the 81-84 X-11 models, dual sport mirrors, "strobe" style X-11 graphics on the lower side doors and rear spoiler, standard 4-speed overdrive manual or the optional 3-speed automatic, both with special gearing. The 1985 Citation X-11 had a MPFI version of the 2.8 L V6 LB6 and a nonfunctional fiberglass cowl induction with 2.8 F.I. Multiport Logo. The 4-speed manual overdrive was listed available on the 1985 Chevrolet Citation brochure, but it was mentioned that it wasn't available, and the 3-speed automatic was the only transmission available for 1985.
Handling in the 1982 model was improved by relocating the steering rack from the firewall to the engine/front suspension subframe. This prevented subframe movement from affecting steering.
The 2.8 V6 H.O. LH7 engine was more powerful in the 1981 version of the X-11. It produced 135 hp (101 kW) and 165 lb·ft (224 N·m) of torque. The car accelerated from 0-60 MPH in 8.5 seconds. The 1982 through 1984 versions of the 2.8 V6 H.O. LH7 produced 135 hp (101 kW) but the torque was down to 145 lb·ft (197 N·m), due to emission regulations. These cars accelerated to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 9.2 sec. The 1985 Citation X-11 had a multi-port fuel injected 2.8 V6 LB6 engine which produced 130 hp (97 kW) and 155 lb·ft (210 N·m) of torque.


X-11 production

• 1981: 11,631
• 1982: 3,864
• 1983: 1,934
• 1984: 1,458
• 1985: 1,687

 

You still have to explain why it's cool, and that's not cool, the Shelby however is cool and everyone already know it
If I stuffed a 200 hp engine in a civic I would probably own a gt350 too but that what happens with 20-30 years of technology in a lighter car
The omni is cool but it's name and reputation have been soiled unlike a classic muscle car

 

I agree. But there are fans of the GLHS cars and they feel the same as we do about Mustangs.. Trust me they are out there..