Thankfully, the V8 engine hasn’t met its demise quite yet. But, in the 1980s, automakers were concerned for its future. This led General Motors to chase new opportunities for the Corvette, which almost led to a mid-engine variant decades ago. Now, it seems the Corvette will finally fulfill those mid-engine dreams with the C8 Corvette.
That’s another topic for another story. This story, first reported by Jalopnik, is about some crazy man who has kept a 1985 Chevrolet Citation. But, it’s not any old Citation. This is a Citation X-11 mid-engine Corvette test mule.
That’s right. In 1985, Chevrolet created a Citation with two engines, one in the front and one in the back. Two aluminum 3.1-liter V6 engines were stuffed into the rear and front for a total of 400 hp. In regular driving, the Citation X-11 could use just the front-mounted engine to drive the front wheels. But, the driver could also turn the economy car into a beast with the flip of a switch.
In turn, that would unlock the rear engine, turning the FWD Citation into a 400 hp, all-wheel drive machine.
Hot Rod once described the Citation X-11 as so:
Imagine a GMC Syclone or Typhoon with less weight and nearly twice the power.
We like the sound of that. Have a look at the video of the Citation X-11 right up above.
Comments
back in the day there were mini coopers with 2 engines racing in road races
Cool piece of automotive history right there. I don’t know that I can call it a Corvette test mule with a straight face, but I guess it makes it worth more that way!
It was a car built by the Corvette team to test out the duel engine idea.
Back in the early 80s they were told all V8 engines were going to Die and they were searching for options.
This was one idea. They also looked to going to a supplier for a new V8 and even the Falcon v 12.
This car has been well documented as a Vette mule, not the sexiest but yet an interesting mile all the same.
Since it used a Fiero rear set up one has to wonder if the Vette team would have worked as hard killing the Fiero if the were sharing parts and plant.