A Far Too Brief History of the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- #acwj
The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon debuted in 1978 and continued, largely unchanged, for 13 model years, while spinning off multiple variants including the Charger, Rampage, and Shelby GLH-S's.
Unheralded, they challenged the famous K Cars for sales, and are directly responsible for Chrysler earning the government backed loans that saved them from bankruptcy.
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I had the privilege of buying a 90 horizon new in January of 90 it was 5 speed new airbag dash and squared outside mirrors , I bought it as my first car at 19 price was what pushed me to it they had a 750 rebate on a 8k car , I owned it for 11 yrs gave me great service until it was hit by a drunk driver running a stop sign the airbag did it's job and I wasn't hurt.
Wow dude. I had an 88' I bought brand new. Base level 5 speed. Didn't even have a radio. I put 680000 km on it in 7 years and was still running strong when it got totaled by a drunk woman in a 79' Buick LeSabre.
Mine was hit by a Chrysler that ran a stopsign. My mother was driving and she liked it so well she bought another she had for years.
What do you do to rack up that mileage?
The only brand new car I ever bought was an '88 Plymouth Horizon. It had a 5 speed manual transmission, power steering, power brakes, pausing wipers front and rear, rear window defroster, very comfortable cloth seat interior. It was amazing how much interior space there was, and the air conditioning would chatter your teeth. It was even fuel injected. If memory serves me, I only paid $7,700 dollars for it. It was a great little car.
I’m sorry lol sorry that it was your only new car. Not a great car to remember as your first/only brand new car.
@@postersm7141 No apology necessary, I loved that car.
I bought a new 1986 Dodge Omni GLH when I was stationed over in Germany. The car was shipped from the factory in Detroit to the port of Bremerhaven where I picked it up. The catalytic converter was in the trunk not hooked up as Germany was still using leaded gas at the time. When I shipped it back to the states, I had 10 days to get it put on or face an EPA fine. I had the non-turbo so it had 110 hp. ALL GLH's only came with a 5 speed manual, you couldn't get an automatic. 1986 was also the first year for the third brake light to be required on cars in the U.S.. I drove it on the Autobahn and it topped out at 110 mph. I still remember what I paid for it. $9300
My mother’s first brand new car she ever bought was a black 1980 Plymouth Horizon TC3.
These cars dont get the credit they deserve. These cars saved Chrysler, but it's the K cars that got all the attention and credits. Thanks for doing a video on these little guys. 😊
In 1985 when I was 17, my parents were looking for a new house in Jacksonville, FL. The real estate lady drove me and my parents around a new subdivision in her brand new metallic gray 85 Dodge Omni. I thought the car was pretty cool as a teenager. 😂😂😂
Dodge is into retro designs, they should bring back the Omni. I owned an 81 model and it was a good little car. Cheap to buy and cheap to operate. I got over 270,000 miles out of it in the decade I owned it.
Had a Horizon in 1980s. Great car. It was so banged up I had no problem adding a few myself. Nobody even noticed. Spacious. It was painted with a house paint.
My first car was a 1980 Plymouth Horizon TC3 that I got in my Junior year of college in 1987. Most of my friends got their first cars in high school so this was special. I got the "snowflake" alloy wheels from an Omni version in a junk yard (cars didn't last as long back then), added a real stereo (automotive wiring isn't that difficult if you come from a family of electrical engineers) and those crazy aluminum louvers to the rear hatch that were popular back then (make sure you get new struts for the added weight otherwise it's going to fall on your head).
But ii made my heart smile to see that the old Plymouth Horizons have not been forgotten in, this video.
I was dating a young woman in 89-90 who had a Horizon, and after we stopped seeing each other, she got into a wreck (don't remember the details, who was at fault, etc.) in which the roof collapsed, crushing her head and causing brain damage. She (her family) sued Chrysler for millions and won.
The 2.2/2.5 engines had forged cranks and rods, and the turbocharged version had forged pistons as well. These cars saved Chrysler. Iacoca and Shelby knew exactly what to do to save Chrysler, they somewhat took a lesson from amc who used the gremlin/hornet platform for everything, Chrysler did that with the L/K/G bodies
The funny thing I remember about the Omni/Horizon was one that appeared by mistake in a 1950's segment of the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" an Oscar winning biopic on country singer Loretta Lynn.
I traveled to Italy in 1985 and couldn't believe my eyes that there were Horizons there. I hadn't heard of Simca at the time.
I bought new, a '78 Omni while in school. I did some contract work installing telephones at the same time. I ran the wheels off that car. Hauling tools, short ladders, wire etc. Never had a single problem with it. Several years later I bought a used '78 Horizon. Used it for work for a couple years and sold it to a friend.
Another story about the horizon. A Dodge/Plymouth dealer in Albuquerque ( Lloyd McGee ) 1990 had a gimmick going. If you brought a full size ram van or pickup they would throw in a Omni for free. The dealership went out of business several years later.
..."an" Omni for free.
@@thomaspierce9458 yep, it was advertised in the local paper for a week, but it was short lived. It probably was a gimmick to get buyers suckered by coming into the dealership. The dealership went bankrupt several years later.
Car and Driver drove the Omni GLH "Goes Like Hell" and said "Torque steer pulls so hard to the right, it'll wipe out David Duke's campaign!"
I had an 88 omni 5 speed given to me. It had a hole in the gas tank, so i soldered a penny over it. That little thing run pretty good for what it was
I used a penny and double-stick tape to replace the missing plug for the clutch safety switch in my Nissan Frontier.
These and chevette were everywhere in the 80s and 90s
I bought a 1982 Horizon off a lot when my other car broke down in front of the dealer. I asked for the most reliable car they had, and I bought the Horizon. It had the VW engine and manual four speed.
It was a great little car and I drove it for years. 👍🏻
I remember carpooling to school in a Horizon.
It was an automatic and was green with a green vinyl interior.
The A/C was powerful enough to turn the interior into a meat locker.
The neighbors I rode to school with father worked at the Chrysler Belvidere assembly plant and aways bought whatever the plant was building at the time for his wife to drive.
He drove a Corvette during the spring summer and fall and a Chevy Suburban during the winter or in inclement weather.
Had a used Horizon, can't remember the year but I loved it. Drove it non-stop a number of times between Vancouver BC to Lacombe AB non-stop during the middle of winter and never had an issue, it would motor on through any and all mountain winter roads of questionable conditions. Traction on snow and ice was excellent and it would maintain a steady 60 MPH or better hours after hour.
The only real issue was climbing some of the bigger hills, but dropping her down into 2nd of the autmatic transmission took care of that, though you had to keep an eye on the tempeture during the summer months. Loved that little car as much as I loved my earlier Ford Pinto wagon which I use to drive non-stop from Vancouver to Tumbler Ridge in the North Eastern area of BC to work. (Drove up to the job site, worked two weeks 12/7 then drove down for two weeks off, then repeat.)
Apart from the Vega, which I loathed as the one company car I used for a bit always seemed to break down in the middle of nowhere, those little car of the 70's and 80's were great and deserve to be honoured more than they are.
One thing though, when I owned my Horizon, I often has to park it next to a Volkswagon Rabbit and thought they were basically the same car, and having gone through school with a Dodge Saporo, which was a rebadged Mitsubishi, I thought perhaps Dodge/Plymouth had gone the rebadging route with the Horizon/Omni, this time using the Volkswagon Rabbit.
My parents bought one of the 78s and it was the car they let me use when I got my driver's license a few years later. It was fun to drive. Thanks to the manual transmission, I once tried to race a Camaro. Got to 55 and hadn't shifted into 4th gear yet, but I decided to back down out of fear of getting pulled over. My dad gave up on it when he had to replace the clutch cable for the second time in a short period.
John, thank you, I am a big Chrysler fan and I remember these cars when they were brand new, I also remember them in 1990 and remembering what a solid comfortable car. This was a little spare but very comfortable.
The 2.2L four was the basis for the later 2.5 that was used in the Voyager/Caravan and the Reliant/Aries as well as a base-model Dakota pickup I owned. (The mounting boss for use in transverse applications was still poking through my Dakota's timing cover even though the motor was mounted longitudinally.)
Look at the huge choice of colors that were available including several two tone colors! Today we are stuck with black, white, 4 shades of grey and if lucky maybe a red. Also multiple interior color choices! Now we get black or less black/grey
I took delivery of a 2023 Subaru Crosstrek on Holy Saturday. As I recall, the choices when I ordered (I got the manual) were white, black, three greys, a bright blue that wasn't available, a yellow that looks like oak pollen washing doen the gutter in a stream of dog urine, and I ordered the remaining color available.
When I took a friend out for Easter dinner, there was only one red car (mine) in the crowded parking lot at Golden Corral.
The interior is charcoal and medium grey with orange stitching.
Thinking alike, I see; I like to call it "white, black, grey, shiny grey, and a resale-safe shade of red and blue."
These days, unless you're buying a $#!+box or a sports car, you don't get to choose anything fun in the color department. Yes, I wanted to order a Ford Flex in School Bus Yellow with the black roof cap: the salesman looked at me as if I had grown a second head and third arm.
I owned a 1981 model with the VW engine and a 4 speed manual and years later a 1990 with a 5 speed transmission, the Chrysler 2.2 engine and the upgraded interior which came with MUCH more comfortable seats and the difference was VERY significant.
I ended up owning 6 of them between 2 different countries over a time span of well over 30 years. The last 3 were '90 models. On one I installed GLH suspension and it handled awesomely on the twisties. The last 2 had over 230,000 miles when l parted with them. SUPER reliable except for the outside door handles which I had to replace countless times. Those seemed to be made out of pewter they were so fragile.
Look up Teslas in their weak door handles. History repeats itself. LOL.
I had a 86 Omni GLH. 1st 800 miles it was in the shop 7-8x. I test drove the GLH-S with the turbo and the SECOND the turbo kicked in you HAD better have a strong grip on the steering wheel. Fun car overall
I got a new ‘83 Horizon and it was flawless so I got the ‘84 Omni GLH and used it to smoke many GTI’s.
My Dad had a new 1982 Dodge Omni, Red with wood grain trim, it was one of the best cars he ever owned!
I have owned both a Omni and a Rampage. Drove the Rampage in High School in 94. It was a odd little ride for sure back then.
It's an oft-quoted line, and it gets brought up because of the truth of it: These were the right cars at the right time.
As for the comment of "what could have been had they kept developing the Omni/Horizon..." well, they did - that was the intention with the P-body Shadow/Sundance. The plan all along was to end production with the 1987 model year, then introduce it's replacement which they had moved upmarket to improve margins - economy cars make low profits. Instead, they ended only the 2 door cars and kept going with the 4 doors. There was also a new emissions standard for the '88 model year, which necessitated outfitted the surviving 4 doors with EFI (only the turbo cars had EFI previously). Don't know how the decision to keep them and sell in parallel came to be (did dealers want something to compete with the really cheap stuff as you mentioned, or was it top-down from the company, figuring they would lose volume/market share by pricing themselves out of the bargain bin?)
They intended to keep building them into the 90's, perhaps even up to the introduction of the Neon, but the die used to stamp the rear quarter panels broke part way through the 1990 model year. Due to the cost of remaking the tool and the problems with backlog/delivery dates they just canned it and let the Shadow/Sundance carry the bottom end alone. As a result the P-bodies got cost engineered to protect margin (compare an early P-body to a late P-body and you'll see a difference in interior materials, for example) and the base model cars got really austere. I don't have an up-to-date source I can link to now, having read that many years ago from people claiming to be company insiders, but it stands to reason. Why would they go to the trouble/cost of redoing the dashboard for part of one model year? Why did they cheapen the Shadow/Sundance in '91-on? 1990 Omnis are super rare and kind of novel.
I had 3 L-bodies, a 4 door and a couple 2 doors, all with the 2.2. Great cars, super practical and entertaining to drive if not tire-scorchers (just as well, really bad wheel hop). They did also teach me a lot about how to fix my own cars, I will admit it was not all rosy though I preferred them any day to the equivalent Ford and GM stuff.
As a long-time L-body fan, enjoyed the video overall - good level of detail, enjoyed the old commercials. Nicely done!
I was fortunate enough to own 3 1990's. One I lost in a wreck, the other 2 lasted over 230k miles each. The last one l drove it to the junkyard in 2016.
Not a happy day.. loyal and trustworthy friend.
I once - like back in the early 90's - bought a well-used Omni Miser. I think the deal was that it had taller gearing for better mpg's - and also harder on the clutch as the one in that car was on the edge when I bought it. I probably should have gotten the clutch and exhaust leak fixed and kept it longer; it was a surprisingly agreeable little shitbox and as handy a car to live with as I have ever owned. Between the small size, four doors, rather roomy interior, and the rear hatch, it was like a homely but loyal servant.
At the time I did test drive a Omni GLH that was definitely a fun call to drive
Bought a very low mileage 1989 Horizon America in the mid 90's. I drove it for years and it was an awesome car with the fuel injected 2.2 engine and automatic transmission it got great mpg and it was relatively quick for a small econobox. I loved that car and I really hated to sell it as it was very reliable. It also got me through a terrible ice storm that left many people in the ditch or spinning their wheels the little Horizon plugged along and I made it home safely. It was a much nicer car than the Chevette I had in my teen years.
I remember renting one of these for a month in 1984 when my Accord was in the shop. I thought the Horizon wasn’t bad at all. But I wanted my Accord back.
I put 305,000 miles on my 1987 Omni. It was a great car. I had to tinker with it a lot during the last 100K miles, but it kept running. I test drove a Chevette and hated it. Another Chevy dealer’s salesman who also sold Yugos talked me out of buying a Yugo by saying there were many of them in their repair shop right then. Thankfully.
Owned an 84 glh, was a great car.
"The Ho" was a 1980s classic, though it was unloved. When my mother went car shopping around 1981 I nagged her to buy the "cool looking" fastback TC3. She ended up with a Mazda GLC, which was the car I later learned in and drove in undergrad. The GLC looked a lot like the Horizon.
This brings back memories. Wish I could find a nice one today. My first nice car out of high school was an 81 Reliant. When I was ready to buy a new car (1987), I looked at the Omni and the Shadow but settled on a base Daytona for $11k. I know they don't make much money on these base modes but there is a big place for them today. Sad to see the price of new cars today.
Such a shame Chrysler US modified wrong parts of the car - the story that repeats in 1981 with the Escort.
My first new car was a white 1979 Dodge Omni, stripped down, no,options, 4-speed manual, no A/C. I put 107k on the car over 8 years. It had the most efficient use of space of any car I ever owned. And it was fun to drive and got great gas mileage. It was one of my all time favorite cars. Unfortunately, my parents bought a 1979 Plymouth Horizon a month later. That car was not stripped, but ended up being a lemon. I think bad quality control was one of the reasons Crysler almost went out of business in 1980.
I saw a Dodge Omni in a parking lot a few days ago and it looked great. No rust anywhere.
My parents bought a new 1985 Horizon. It was a great little car until I wrapped it around a tree on a gravel road five years later. I still feel bad about that.
I bought a stripper 1979 TC3 when it came out and my roommate had a 78 Corolla hatchback. The 1.7 was not as smooth as the Toyota engine but there was no comparison when it came to utility and comfort. The TC3 had a nicely padded seat, that did not recline, where as the Corolla had a must-adjustable seat that was more closely related to a lawn chair! And the rear wheel drive Corolla only had a fraction of the space of the TC3. Had a lot of fun in that 4 speed that would scream at 65 mph, but then again, the speed limit was only 55 back then!
My buddy takes 2.2/2.5 turbo Chrysler products and makes 12 second drag cars out of them. His current project is a town n country wagon that he does drag n drives with
My uncle worked at the Belvedere Assembly that built them along with its variants in the mid 70s (1976-77) until production was moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin sometime in 1986/1987 to make way for updated K cars that became the Dodge Dynasty and the Chrysler/Imperial New Yorker. My uncle was a serial mopar owner owning everything from a DeSoto, Saratoga, a pair of Satellites, another pair of trusty rusty Dusters to a cream-colored Volare wagon, a long van for a time (during the van craze in the late '70's), a Diplomat wagon (this was an oddly interesting car), a couple pick ups that followed in between and my favorite - a pair of Ramchargers. All with stories as of each vehicle as if it had a personality which I believe they do or did. That always made my dad say ok its good while giving a side eye.
Back to the omni/horizon: He bought his first of two omni/horizon as commuter cars a dark green '80 Omni with an actual Volkswagen engine followed by a blue '87 Horizon with a proper K engine ([m sure it was one of the last to come off the assembly line @ Belvedere). The Omni was mated to a 4 speed VW manual which was ok for commuting and the Horizon had a Chrysler 5-speed. Fact: he said the '80 was a bit underpowered but a good car and the '87 had a bit more power and he in fact used it almost daily and had close to 140k miles when it was sold. The Horizon gave away to the Sundance and a Belvedere-built/plucked-off-the-factory-lot Dodge Neon.
A bit of trival history: he was one of the first groups hired in fall of 1964 to get the plant ready for production. He had a good paying job with automatic electric (GTE) @ two plants/locations prior to this and I asked him why he left AE for Chrysler - he said I was weighing telephone parts day in and out since 1956 - he wasn't going anywhere within the company. He was driving second-hand Chrysler Saratoga. He had a DeSoto for a time, he said he loved mopars so when he heard they were hiring - he drove up to the office in town - filled out an application and met with the guy who became his first supervisor... His name I cannot remember but he's well-respected, loved and revered. His rationale for taking the job at Chrysler: Western Electric where my dad (my dad was a staunch GM owner) worked wasn't hiring so he chose to go over to Chrysler - a decision he has never regretted right to the end when Neon production was cut to one shift post 9/11 thus prompting his retirement. He said it gave him a good job with steady pay that allowed a good quality of life him and his family. I always think of him when I see a mopar come around esp a Horizon or a Satellite or the mighty Ramcharger.
Chrysler has always been that way. They come out with a winner, then rest on their laurels, and don't change anything. Perfect example are the 300 and Charger. The only exceptions are the Town and Country and Grand Caravan, which had numerous changes.
Back in the 90s I purchased a 1980 Horizon for 50 bucks! Fourth gear was missing otherwise it ran OK-ish. It was not a bad car although I did feel these were underpowered, and I was coming out of a citation.
I love when you do these episodes. Especially when you choose a forgotten vehicle or ignored vehicle. They do deserve to be remembered, in reality I think they did more to save Chrysler than the K car did. (had one of those too!)
Thanks for the memories and kind words (wish I could find an old car for $50!)
I really tried to highlight now important the OmniRizon was to Chrysler getting Federal backing to avoid bankruptcy. The K car, and later the minivans were the ones that threw off cash so I think they keep the credit for saving the company, but none of it would have been possible without these little troopers.
@@AllCarswithJon
Precisely!
Yeah, 50 bucks in 1991, had a 2 year old paint job on it too.
It was a total turd, but it wasn’t an eye sore.
Chrysler introduced the K Car Plaform for the 1981 after hiring Lee Iacocca. In 1984, he introduced the minivan. This saved Chrysler from bankruptcy. Lee Iacocca ignored the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon as he was focusing on the K car
I had an 83 Turismo 2.2 and an 84 Omni GLH. Both were thrifty and fun to drive, especially the GLH.
I bought a 1989 with 32K on it dirt cheap because of hail damage and put over 200,000 miles on it. During that time I rolled it in an ice storm (because I was messing around) and later t-boned a Subaru while in college. Great gas mileage, great on ice & snow. My wife jokes she only married me because of my 89 Dodge Omni. Awesome car
Years ago I rented a Horizon to do some cross country genealogy research. It was a great little car, and was just slightly underpowered in the mountains lol.
My Mama bought one of these in the late 80s. The car broke down constantly. It was a nightmare. She got rid of it and bought a new 1991 Honda Civic DX with 2 options, AC + cassette deck. That civic was so smooth and quiet I always asked my mama why the new car quit running at red lights. She laughed and said the car is still running it's just not shaking and sputtering like the old car 😂.
85 Dodge Omni was the first new car I bought. 4-door hatchback, manual transmission
I had two of these cars, one each Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon. I loved them both. They were both pieces of shit that needed constant attention, but that's only because I got them used and they had been badly abused before I got them. I didn't mind because they were easy to repair and the parts were cheap. It has been too many years to provide and details, like engine or trim, but both had stick shifts. I think one was a 79 and the other was an 80, but don't ask which was which. I taught my wife to drive a stick on one of them. She was a natural and was able to drive it without stalling after just an hour or two. I have very fond memories of both of them. I don't remember what happened to one of them, but I DEFINITELY remember what happened to the other. I was driving in the right lane and some little teen age girl changed lanes right into me, driving me over the curb, totally destroying the entire front suspension and transmission.
I had a 024, the engine was great, never had a problem, I liked the front wheel drive could drive in Ice and Snow and never had a problem, but I could not keep brakes on the damn thing, I was replacing brake pads every two months
I guess if I`m not wrong, these Horizon/Omni where the cars wich supported Mopar during the second oil embargo by the Iranian issue back in 1979, and the credit goes to Hal Sperlich, after being fired by Henry II. My fav car from this L platform was when Iaccoca`s Chairman time debut, the TC3/Omni 024 sports coupe line up, fitted with a VW 1.7 liter engine. Ironic story, a german brand and engine, supporting an american former enemy in trouble car maker. So funny fact. Salute from Bogota., Colombia, and thanks for this impressive history.
Fun fact. PSA planned to replace the Horizon with a new Arizona model.
But due to poor sales, the Talbot name was dropped and the car hurriedly became the Peugeot 309, the only Peugeot ever to contain the '09' numbers in the name.
I won’t ever understand why Chrysler Europe ever tried to re establish the Talbot name when it was a dead brand decades prior. Talbot was split between the UK Talbot Sunbeam which was a division of Rootes and the French Talbot which went bust. After Chrysler bought Rootes, Simca, and Barreiros, they gave so much attention to rationalizing everything to re establish the Talbot brand that it wasted so many resources. Simca (and I also think Barreiros) was the only profitable marque in Chrysler Europe and should’ve been the surviving marque.
@@mrgurulittle7000 Chrysler didn't use the Talbot name. They were branded Chrysler in Europe.
When PSA bought Chrysler Europe, they dug up the long forgotten Talbot name.
@@michaeloreilly657You’re right, it was PSA. I don’t get why they put so much attention to Talbot though.
@@mrgurulittle7000Trend at the time of model sharing between US and Europe. Horizon/Omni, Kadet/Chevette, Escort, Golf/Rabbit, Corolla.
@@michaeloreilly657Awesome. I think the Opel Cadet also was branded an Isuzu Gemini too.
I owned three of these cars over the years. Our daughter rolled one on a gravel road and walked away. Our son took one to college and when both kids were gone I bought a Chrysler 5th Avenue! They were great cars, quick for their day, fuel efficient, roomy and easy to maintain.
These cars were out when americans could afford a new car. Dealers begged for continued production of the neon.
Last Neon was a good car. It was the last Chrysler I was considering buying but couldn't find one with MT.
@@karoltakisobie6638My uncle had a last generation base model Neon with manual transmission and no air conditioning. Probably the only one in dealer inventory in Texas and why he got it so cheap.
They were great cars!
The best car ever in the snow that car would go anywhere
I bought a new Subaru Crosstrek 6-speed in early 2023, haven't had the chance to try it in snow or ice, but...
When we had the "Storm of the Century" in 1993, i had an '85 Omni inherited from my Dad.
I had planned to lay low during the blizzard, but an emergency had me on the road. My brand-new Nissan Hard Body king cab was sealed shut with the ice, and my Mom's '83 Buick regal was completely buried, leaving the Omni as the only viable transportation. There was a howling wind at abot 40 knots from the north and I didn't have the traction to drive into it, but as long as I drove across or downwind, the Omni did just fine.
Where it didn't do fine was in any aspect of build quality. It had electrical faults, door locks that locked themselves when the doors closed, even when I didn't push the button, exterior locks that jammed so that the only access was through the hatchback, air conditioner compressors that had to be replaced more frequently than yearly.
A shame, really, the car was surprisingly comfortable abd the cargp bay was wider abd deeper than the Grand Canyon.
I had an uncle that purchased a 1983 Omni hatchback with the 2.2L/auto, replacing his ‘74 Valiant. He owned and loved it for about 5 years. It was my uncle’s first FWD car and thought it was unstoppable in the snow. However the Omni turned out to be the last American car he bought, as he was unimpressed with the Shadow/Sundance/Tempo/Corsica as potential replacements. He wound up owning 3 Toyota Corollas from 1988 until his passing a few years ago.
A friends’ Mom had one of these when I was a kid, although I don’t remember whether it was a Dodge or Plymouth. I remember the car having quite a lot of room, rode well and seemed to be ahead of its time. I also remember she didn’t keep it for too long (I don’t know why), and then she bought a Pacer or a Corolla to replace it.
I bought a 87 Plymouth Horizon, my first new car, paid off the loan and put 170,000 miles on it, and sold it to someone. Thanks for the video.
Right on!
My family had an Omni and an 024. The Omni's build quality was so bad that the rear door seals didn't even touch everywhere around the door, and riding in the back seat I could watch the pavement go by through the gap around the door. But the 024, with metalic paint and aftermarket louvers on the rear glass, looked very sharp for it's time. Chrysler really knew how to put lipstick on a pig!
OMG I had a GLH and it was a fantastic and fun car. Beat many a Mustang and Camaro !
Indeed the Horizon/Omni was a critical part of saving Chrysler, buying time until the K-Cars and minivan came out. They had the disastrous Aspen and Volare along with old larger models. It was the beginning of shift to FWD in cars for Chrysler and other carmakers. They had put off, except with 'captive' imports creating a true small car.The Horizon/Omni were far from perfect but had good engines (especially the 2.2 L), good automatic transmissions, were not 'rust buckets', priced right and superior to the old style Chevy Chevette and 1st Generation Ford Focus. I had a 1981 Plymouth TC3 I bought used in 1982 and had until summer of 1986. It handled good, decent performance for my needs, looked decent, good fuel mileage for the time but it also had issues including the brakes and the a/c failing on me in its last year with me.
My first brand new car was a red '88 Omni, which I totaled the next year but walked away uninjured. Replaced it with a red '89 Horizon, essentially the same car. I thought it was a great entry level car. More power and room than you would expect. Easy to park in an urban environment. Not a target for thieves. Comments from friends were almost uniformly negative. Oh well.
In '80 one of my friends Dads bought a new Horizon and another friend's Dad bought a Rabbit - I often rode in both of those cars. I was struck by how poorly the Rabbit was finished: behind the rear seat there WAS NO interior and the exterior painted sheet metal, body caulking and wiring was entirely exposed. The roof pillars and door sills were also just painted metal, the floors were plastic, the mirrors were not adjustable from inside the car. The whole cheap, flimsy car seemed designed to punish owners for being poor. Conversely, there were no unfinished areas inside the Horizon and no exposed painted metal - every surface was covered and finished nicely. The doors were heavy and thick. The Horizon was MUCH quieter on the road and rode much better. The Horizon's seats were huge, overstuffed recliners, much MUCH nicer than the flat, hard seats in the Rabbit. I thought: "The Horizon is the first economy car that is finished like a "normal" family car and doesn't punish occupants for seeking good economy." You could NOT sit in a Rabbit without knowing you were in a economy-first" car; you could easilly sit in a Horizon and - if you ignored its narrowness - think you were sitting in a Fury.
Back when Chrysler - still its own company - flirted with bankruptcy, Iacocca made advertisements telling the public not just about the new cars they were introducing but changes they were making to fix the company and keep it strong. I am sure I remember in one of them seeing where Iacocca said that the company would no longer build any cars for which they did not have an order. Fast forward to today and look at the supply of 'Stellantis' Jeep Chrysler Dodge and RAM vehicles with supply inventory levels of 400 or 600 days' worth!
Talk is cheap and action speaks louder than words... I joined. Keep on keeping on
Auctions also speak louder than words.
The 1979 1.7 was quick (not fast) off the line. And when compared to the RWD bomber that everyone was use to drive, they had an almost sporty handling. The 2 doors developed the typical rust behind rear wheels (as did almost everything made during the 80's). The 4 door seemed to have less of an issue. But then again, there wasn't much behind the rear wheels on the 4 door. Cheap, fun, and reliable. They were everywhere, like ticks on a dog. I miss them!
I'd like a later Omni. I have two L-body Rampage trucks. Very simple and you could keep them going forever if they didn't rust
My mom had an Omni. My brother thought it was a little race car. We beat on that 2.2 liter. Great car 🚗
my parents had two horizons fro this video and my memories i think my mom had the 78 one based on the dash and my dad the 84 one. it's been bugging me for years trying to remember the name of the car and other small hatch matched the looks i remembered.
I have massive respect for this car because it’s one of the few proper American competitors to the imports and Chrysler’s only “world car”. I believe Chrysler could’ve done wonders with Chrysler Europe had they sold Rootes Group for a £1 to PSA and kept Simca and Barreiros or at least sold them for a proper price. Simca was profitable the entire time but Rootes was a money pit for Chrysler Europe. Barreiros had massive operations with a truck division and all so I think Chrysler should’ve kept them too. One thing about Iacocca that I don’t agree with is the fact he didn’t reconsider Chrysler Europe when restructuring Chrysler Corp. Chrysler Europe had potential with their strong Simca and Barreiros brands but instead they sold off the entire operations to PSA for £1.
About the car, i totally respect it and its engineering. Too bad Chrysler didn’t do much to it in terms of improvements, but at least the performance variants were cool. And the Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance that followed are also some of my favorite Mopars of the 80s.
I've read that $1 price a couple of times, but when I looked it up (ended up removing the reference from the video) I found articles saying Chrysler Europe was sold for (I think it was...) $100 million. Perhaps you know better, but I think it was $1 sales price but PSA taking on $100m in debts from Chrysler? Ultimately decided it wasn't relevant to the story! :)
And I agree with you. When Chrysler/Iacocca were flush with cash and started their buying spree, how they didn't push back into Europe is beyond me. And I too love the Shadow/Sundance.
@@AllCarswithJonOh yeah, that’s right. PSA took over Chrysler Europe’s debt so technically it wasn’t such a good deal. Still think Simca was worth more than whatever debt Rootes had though.🤔But yeah, it’s pretty irrelevant to the Omni/Horizon story.😅
It was Simca that was the problem not Rootes. Chrysler had given the design of the Chrysler 160/180/2 litre to the French to. finish off and they made a huge mess of it As a result the FWD Alpine and and Horizon designs were handed to the UK design team under Roy Axe but still using French mechanicals. Initially the Alpine was a huge success but the French power train wasn't up to the job and Chryslers cut back on rust prevention showed through. The British Arrow and Avenger designs were in licence production for local markets for decades after UK production stopped
@@andrewwmacfadyen6958I was speaking financially that Rootes was the money pit of the operation. They may have designed better cars, but they should’ve paid more attention to their financial side. Simca was profitable all along. They knew how to run as a company.
Funny you mention the Rootes Group. The video mentions the Simca/Talbot version of the Horizon, but there was also a Sunbeam version (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Sunbeam). I don't know about the Simca/Talbot Horizon (I was driving a Talbot 1100, ex-Simca 1100, at the time, and it gave me good service during my military period in Germany), but my mother bought a Talbot Sunbeam around 1980. I'm Belgian, by the way.
It was a completely different car with more or less the same looks, but 3 doors only (the trunk "door" was in fact the back window) and with Hillman Avenger underpinnings: a rear wheel driving (!) 1598 cc front engine, solid rear axle, about 100 bhp. Rather fun to drive, but easily the most unreliable car the family ever owned. I once thought the direction was feeling strange and went to the dealership, who told me the steering colomn was split and if it had broken I would have lost all control. At about 65000 km (no, this doesn't lack a zero), the engine started constantly - and extremely - overheating. The dealership where it was regularily maintained told us there was no cure for this. My mother then bought a Peugeot 205 and the Sunbeam was scrapped.
When you look it up, there are as good as no survivors from this model, except for the Lotus version. Yes, they made a version for rallying with a Lotus 2.2 litre engine of this car. It was even rather successful!
The Talbot-Sunbeam was made at the infamous (Just look it up! See Hillman Imp, sold in Belgium as a Sunbeam...) Linwood factory, wich explains the reliability issues. Telling that the problem was Simca, not the Rootes group, is simply untrue in my experience. At least from the engineering/production point of view. Simca/Talbot still had best-sellers when it was canceled by PSA because these models overlapped with Peugeot and/or Citroën models. The only reason the Sunbeam was bought was the fact that it was dirt cheap compared to other cars with similar engines.
Excellent work sir!
Thank you kindly!
I recall seeing an article of a European model, a 2 door hatchback. It looked similar to European model Omni, but called a Chrysler Sunbeam and was rear wheel drive as well.
Gr8 car history I enjoyed this a ton!
Glad you enjoyed it!
My first almost new car (dealer demo) was 1985 Charger 2.2 with a 5sp. It was a rather unique model. In 85 the Shelby Charger went turbo and the previous high output 110hp engine exclusive to Shelby in 84 was now std in the Charger 2.2 with a 5sp. The Automatics all had the std 93hp engine. Great engine that hated low speed driving but loved high revs and high speed.
Thirty years ago they were everywhere along with the 2.2 which Chrysler put in everything is what saved them.
Would any car company PLEASE bring back these Mini Pick-up/ Ure platforms again!!!!!? I Miss My little S10 and Vw Rabbit Platform!
Bare bones and did what i wanted reliably
an update version of the Horizon could be the Peugeot 205 ( another eco box that save Peugeot who also got a sporty version) . . . imagine a Shelby version a T16
My very first car that I bought and owned was a Plymouth Horizon America back in 1994(and yes it was used) drove it for 2 years until I traded it for a brand new '97 Dodge Neon ( I still off-and-on regret doing that).
1:25 - You may be surprised to learn the C6 was, um, "borrowed" by the Soviets to create the AZLK 2141Aleko.
My dad bought one at a Police auction for my sis going off to college. I believe it was an 84' model. Great mileage but I think it was one of those bare minimum ones (AM/FM no cassette, no cruise control which was the biggest knock we had with it) but was overall a good car. Kept it all through college and first year of marriage until a drunk driver totaled it while parked in front of their house. If in pristine shape, I wouldn't be afraid of one (provided it had cruise control or could be added).
My first car was an '81 Omni Miser in 1990, Red with beige interior, 4 speed manual. Before that the first car I ever drove on public roads was my mom's 2.2/auto '86 Horizon.
One of the cars I learned to drive a manual transmission
I drove many cars of that era including Nissans, Hondas, Toyotas, Mitsubishis, GM X body cars, the Ford Escort (which greatly outsold the twins due to Ford's very aggressive marketing) and in my experience the Omni-Horizon was superior in MANY aspects including, handling, reliability, seat comfort and POWER from the Chrysler 2.2 engine.
VERY underrated.
They were good looking even when compared to the Rabbit
We had a 79 bought new. It was a decent handling car and was amazing in the snow in Ottawa Ontario. But Dad had enough after 3 years when it needed another valve job and traded it on a Chevette for a reliable commuter car.
Just found your channel - great video with lots of rare footage and a good pace (some are just far too slow in their script or make too many mistakes).
Thanks for the kind words! I always try to improve, and I hope you enjoy some of my older ones as well, but they're not as good. :)
Hi Jon. This video really brought back some fond memories for me. My first car in 1986, at the age of 17, was a 1979 Doge Omni with the 1.7L VW engine and 3 speed automatic transmission. It had the 2 tone paint(bronze/brown) with tan interior. I bought it with my older sister at a local used car lot. It was a low mileage example with approximately 69000 kilometers(43000 miles) but, rust had taken hold of the body being a Quebec car where extensive road salt is used in the winters. The interior was very ergonomic and spacious for a sub-compact. It was fun to drive even though it had no power steering and no power brakes! My sister and I shared that car for 2 years using it to get to part time jobs and weekend road trips until rust got the better of it and it was no longer safe to drive. It was a great first car! I currently own a 2001 Volvo s60 T5. Do you still have your 2002 V70 wagon?
Glad to help you have some fond memories today! :) Thanks for sharing them with us.
No, I got rid of the V70 a couple of weeks ago.
When you looked up “💩 box” in the dictionary, you got a picture of the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon. These made the Pinto and Vega look refined.
Nothing was worse than the Pinto or Vega. Until the Hugo.
The Pinto and Vega were AWESOME cars...once you dropped a 302 or 350 under the hood.
My first new car an 84 Horizon with 2.2 engine in garnet red. It was a good little car I had for 5 years. Also, had 5 accidents, 2 while the car was parked! All body panels were replaced, at least once, one axle too. The roof and hatch were original. I sold it to a relocating friend. To think "Hot Hatches" are new now, LOL.
I had the Dodge Colt in high school, stick shift. My first car.
My wife and I were expecting our first child in early 1980. I needed a second job and found a pretty good paying newspaper motor delivery route. Bye bye to my 71 Monte Carlo. Hello Plymouth Horizen TC3! The front wheel drive was my first and I never missed a daily delivery in the 3 years we did it. Quite a feat up here in New Hampshire. Only problems I remember having were trying to put an alternator on it in later years! And a weird problem. I had to adjust the rear brakes at one time. The floor in the old garage where my daytime job was had a really rough floor. A creeper was useless. I put the car in park, manhandled the jack under it, raised it and adjusted the brakes. When I was done I got in to start it, nothing happened. A dealership down the road picked it up and repaired it. Evidently, the floor being SO rough, neither the car or the jack could move and bent the rod that ran from the wheel mounted key, down the steering shaft where contact was supposed to be made. Next time, I left it in neutral!
wow... weird result on that. thanks for sharing
I had an 024 , TC3 Turismo, and a Dodge Rampage.
Once again we see a simple reliable and efficient design that working people could afford to drive, but the manufacturers dropped the ball. Sometimes you just need a car that works day in& day out nothing fancy just reliable transportation.
The new Dodge Omni dose it all.
Plymouth Horizon TC3 goes beyond.
Take the Mitsubishi bridge to your Dodge dealer.
That last jingle was a real ass wiggler…. 😃