Some of the answers are kinda confusing. The 11 meter amateur band was reassigned to the new Citizen band in 1959 in the US by the FCC and amateurs had to vacate it. As I recall it was not an internationally allocated band, more like 220 is, and amateurs did not have primary use of it. It was shared with other services, medical etc. It was not a hugely popular band for hams.
The FT-101E series (from about 1975) had 11 meters on the band switch and all that had to be done to enable it to transmit there was cut a wire that was easy to find and access.
What I'm confused about is that I thought the old original 101's had 11 meters because it was still legal in Japan, and they released the rigs before the law changed. Any idea why this rig is this way with it being a later model?
It had nothing to do with that. It was just a feature to be able to receive (and transmit) on CB. Probably a move to capitalize on the growing popularity of CB in the US which was at the time, off the charts! The 101 series whether intentional or not, (probably was) targeted both the amateur community and the CB community very well. I worked in a shop at the time and sold as many 101E series rigs to CBer's as did to hams. Sales were very good.
The earliest FT-101 started showing up on CB right away.
Old boatanchors like the Heathkit DX-100 and Johnson Viking or Ranger were popular on CB from the get-go. They were old enough to have 11 meters on the bandswitch and were designed for AM use.
Other rigs were also popular later on when CB enthusiasts found they could put the right crystal in a 10 meter slot and use the transceiver (or separates) on CB. For example, Drake, Collins, etc.
Swan jumped in too with the 1011 series in the mid seventies but had to rebrand them as Siltronix due to pressure. It was targeting the CB crowd more specifically. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.