mmarshall

^^^^^This was my favorite version of it....with the wood trim








^^^^^^This is exactly what my Mom's second 1982 looked like...two-tone charcoal gray/silver with the cross-type wheel covers and whitewalls.










IN A NUTSHELL: Like GM's X-Bodies, a superb idea/concept, but poorly-assembled and unreliable.



I grew up in a somewhat naive family than it came to auto-loyalties, although we all had our own opinions of what we liked and disliked when it came to he auto-world. My late father (God bless his soul) was a dyed-in-the-wool fan of 1960s-vintage (pre-emission-era) Dodges and Plymouths...though the family occasionally owned competing brands, like a used 1965 Ford Thunderbird and a used 1962 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, he was ALWAYS to have either a Valiant or a Barracuda (which was Valiant-based from 1964-66) with either the Slant Six or small V8 engines as is daily-driver. And, daily-drive he certainly did...after retiring from the Army (see my separate write-up on the Philco-Ford company-cars when he worked for that company), he worked up until the time he got cancer, from years of heavy smoking, and passed away in the late 1980s. Big plush Mercurys/Lincolns or not, my Dad scorned them (even though he worked for the corporation), and was a never-ending fan of the Chrysler torsion-bar/leaf suspension, Torqueflite automatic transmission, and the (admitted) durability of Chrysler's smaller engines, which proved their worth by powering many of the nation's taxicabs that were not the famous Checker Marathons and their Chevy Stovebolt-6 engines. As I grew up in high school and first learned to drive (getting my license in 1969), I learned on both manual and automatic-transmission Valiants, and took my first long trip alone, to Ohio from the D.C area, in one. My dad bought an old, used Barracuda for me as a graduation present from High School....he didn't believe in buying new cars back then because of depreciation, and we were not a particularly wealthy family.

So...what does all of this have to do with the Omni/Horizon? Later, as the Great National Malaise of the 1970s dragged on, OPEC's oil-monopoly grip kept the noose tied on us, and the nation's fuel-supply situation went up and down (with prices mostly up, and climbing), together with ever-tightening fuel-mileage and emission vehicle-standards, it became apparent that Chrysler could not continue to operate the way it had before, without a credible subcompact car. Problem was, like it or not, Detroit simply did not produce credible compact cars in those days....most of their profits were in large vehicles, and there simply was little incentive for it outsize of fuel-economystandards. Quality-control, never particularly good at Chrysler to start with (outside of some of their drivetrains), had also badly-slipped. American-badged subcompact were simply a joke. Ford's Pinto (also marketed as the Mercury Bobcat) was cheaply-designed/neglected, to the point that it left the fuel tank completely unprotected by the frame, and became a fire-bomb in rear-end accidents. Chevy's Vega (also marketed as the Pontiac Astre) was a noisy rust-bucket, particularly in Snow-Belt states, and had a self-destructing aluminum engine whose block would warp and be ruined at the slightest bit of overheating. American Motors' Gremlin not only did not have a small engine for fuel-economy (a 5.0L V8 was actually an option), but looked like a lopped-off compact Hornet that had gone through a rear-end guillotine....and, worse, drove like one. So, when Chrysler was finally forced into doing something about seriously getting a subcompact car in the late 1970s, they didn't have a very high bar to hurdle over their competitors.

Chrysler didn't even have a very high bar to hurtle getting over their own (very limited) previous effort, back in the early 1970s, to market the subcompact Plymouth Cricket...a European-designed Hillman Avenger re-badged as a Plymouth. I remember, back in 1971, I think (maybe late 1970?) looking at a new Cricket in the Plymouth showroom, and I was completely disgusted with the car's cheapness and austerity. When I got home a little later (I was still living at home) my late Mom asked me how my day had gone....I said the usual. She laughed and said "I guess that means out looking at cars?". I also laughed, said yes, and told her what I thought of the Cricket. She blamed it on the UAW...claimed that the auto workers were making so much money and benefits that companies had to compromise on the quality of their vehicles. I didn't quite see it that way....but this is probably not the place to really go into that story.

But, in the late 1970s, faced with more and more pressure for an up-to-date subcompact, Chrysler decided that, unlike the front-engine/rear-drive rivals from Ford/GM/AMC, they would introduce a transverse-engine/FWD compact...a first for an American company, and essentially a slightly larger, Americanized derivative of the highly popular (at that time) Volkswagen Rabbit. Chrysler did not have the ability to produce in-line four-cylinder engines in the U.S., and VW wanted (and needed) more factory space to build its own American-market vehicles. So, Chrysler worked out a buisness-deal with VW.....VW would supply Chrysler with 300,000 in-line four-cylinder engines and manual-transaxles for the upcoming Omni-Horizon line of compacts (Chrysler used its own new FWD automatic transmission design). In return, Chrysler turned over its New Stanton, PA assembly-plant over to VW for any vehicle(s) that VW wanted to produce here....I've been by the plant and seen it, coming back to D.C. from Ohio, but not inside it. This was before Lee Iacocca came to Chrysler from Ford, so he was not actually involved in the deal.

But, despite the strong similarity in body-design, the Omni/Horizon, introduced in 1978, was not a Rabbit wrapped in an American flag. (My Dad claimed it was at first, but I pointed out the many differences). It used a VW-produced four-cylinder engine and manual-transaxle, but that was about it. Its body, interior, chassis, and hardware were pure Chrysler....and, yes, assembled with the same sloppiness and unreliability as the rest of the Chrysler vehicle-lines. But, although not as insanely popular as the GM X-Body compacts to follow in 1980 (which were also very poorly-assembled/engineered), they were quite popular at first, for several reasons. They promised (and, yes, delivered) on the hope for better winter traction that the typical Slip-O-Matic RWD American vehicles of the era. They promised (and delivered on) good fuel-mileage...especially compared to what AMC's Gremlin was offering with its large in-line six and V8 powerplants. They promised (and delivered on) the good interior space-efficiency of the classic two-box shape....indeed, for a vehicle of that exterior size, headroom, legroom, and cargo space were all outstanding. The interiors, at least with the optional Premium Interior package (which I ordered on mine) were quite attractive, especially compared to the old Hillman/Plymouth Cricket I described earlier. They rode smoothly (better than the Rabbit itself), and were still easy to maneuver and park in tight quarters. And, they were reasonably-priced, though options and packages could push the price up rather quickly. For purposes of this write-up, I'll stick with the basic five-door-hatchback versions, as later 3-door versions were done (Including a version that was Shelby-tweaked), and even an El-Camino-like 2-door Rampage version with a short truck-bed, but I consider them different vehicles, done for different purposes. And the vast majority of the sales, over the years, also seemed to be with the 5-doors, as they were the most practical.

But.....reliable and well-built, they were not. And they had an unusual quirk inside on the dash-controls. Instead of putting the fan/heat/AC controls (I ordered mine without A/C) in the lower-middle of the dash like most cars, Chrysler relocated the controls to the lower-left of the driver, completely out of reach of the front-passenger. It was the first American-badged car I can remember that exchanged the old floor-button for the high-beam lights (you tapped it with your left foot) for the stalk-push method on the steering column...I myself preferred the new stalk-access. The new Chrysler Lean-Burn carburation simply ran too lean (because of emission-regulations) at colder engine temperatures...the electric choke and butterfly-valve would not stay on long enough while the engine was still cold...though its stumbling and carburator-problems were nothing compared to what I put up wth later in the Chevy Citation. Mine was reasonably rattle-free for the first couple of months...and that was about it. After that, it created and squeaked on anything but a glass-smooth surface. The FWD automatic (Chrysler, not VW-designed) seemed to be defective at first...it went through a period of slipping when starting from rest, which the dealership had no idea what was going on (they had never dealt with this ind of transmission before), then seemed to fix itself as time went on. It was to suffer a premature failure, though, which I'll address later, and its non-overdrive three gears made the engine race at highway RPMs.....I clearly should have gotten the five-speed manual, but traffic was notably increasing in the D.C. area at that time, and I didn't want to be constantly rowing my own gears like I did a decade earlier in my Dad's three-on-the tree manual-shift Valiant, which, back then, was fun because the traffic was a lot lighter. The Omni/Horizon was also publicized when Consumer Reports panned the 1978 models with a Not-Acceptable safety-rating for what they claimed was unstable handling/steering in certain types of sharp maneuvers......although I never had a handling-problem with the way I drove mine. I took some ribbing from a couple of my co-workers for that, though some of the junk they were driving hardly inspired confidence either. Unlike the transmission, the engine in my car did not fail prematurely, though, in typical VW-fashion for the period (remember...the engine was VW-built) oil-use increased quite rapidly with age, to a noticeable level in the first couple of years. But its 1.7L of displacement and 75 HP / 90 ft-lbs. of torque was enough for most normal driving (assuming the carburetor would actually give it some gas) due to the relative lightness of the vehicle.

So....why did I buy this car, despite the fact that I had previously had a Duster with a much more durable Slant-Six powertrain? The Slant-Six was famous for its mechanical durability, but, by the mid-70s, the Slant Six, though still durable, had been emasculated by emission controls and unleaded gas to the point where it wouldn't get out of its own way....acceleration into fast-moving D.C. Beltway traffic could be dicey, as few vehicles observed the 55-MPH limit. I also wanted something with better winter-traction than RWD cars, even with snow-tires, were providing.......I regularly drove in snow. I knew the people at the local Chrysler-Plymouth dealership on a first-name basis from me (and my family's) long association with Chrysler products, though I owned a big Buick and a smaller Buick Skylark in college. But a major reason was simply pressure from my Dad...remember, I said that I grew up in a somewhat naive family, and he was a strong Chrysler fan, even long past when they were building some of their most durable vehicles in the early/mid-60s. On automotive matters, he basically lived in the past, never really outgrew the 60s, and failed to recognize Chrysler's steading-worsening quality after that period. He did not actually tell me to get a Horizon, but had given me so much grief when I had owned older Buicks (he and I simply never agreed on them), that I didn't want our future to be marked by even more friction. If he had his way, though, I would still be driving 60s-era Valiants, though I had a used 1967 Chrysler Newport for a few years in the early 70s that he liked, despite its poor-running two-barrel carburetor. And, let's face it.....I was still somewhat young and inexperienced myself, in my mid-20s, and I myself tended to get enamored with new and untested designs (as my later purchase of a Chevy Citation would show). So, for all these reasons (and more) there I was, in a Horizon.

A high-performance Dodge Omni GLH five-door version (remember....I said I was generally not writing about the Shelby three-door versions) was introduced a little later, and I went to look at and test-drive one, but decided to skip it....I was never really an aggressive driver or seriously into the high-performance world, though I enjoyed a brief drive in some of the 60s-vintage muscle-cars now and then. I also found both the GLI and Shelby a joke compared to what I had remembered in performance-cars from the 60s.....including Chrysler own big-block Road Runners, Super-Bees, Barracuda/Challengers, Chargers, GTXs, and Duster/Demon 340s....and the wild-color paint jobs of 1970-71. Such was the Malaise times of that period I lived in, which themselves were depressing enough, even apart from the junk that many auto companies were offering. And in those days, you had to get a Toyota or Honda (maybe a Mercedes, if you had money), to get any real quality in how they were built...although other Japanese companies shared in some of that quality. I particularly liked the way the Mitsubishi/Dodge/Plymouth Colt was built, and the good materials it used....I did a previous write-up on the late-70s/ early-80s-vintage Colt. I myself, after a series of several lemons, said the heck with Detroit after 1983 (I had FINALLY had enough), and switched to Mazda, which was a notable improvement.

So....what happened to my Horizon? Well, I kept it for two years (including some clean and wonderful times in it with a young woman who I was also enthralled with, that I had previously dated in college seven years earlier), and, after that, was one again naive when the new GM X-Bodies came out in 1980, deciding that I was going to go with the new Citation. (Yeah, I simply didn't learn in those days). The result, reliability-wise, was an even worse disaster.....see my Citation write-up. I couldn't believe it when my Mom (with my Dad's approval) said she wanted my old Horizon. I said "Mom, you can't be serious.....I myself don't trust this car, so why should I give it, or sell it, to you, and saddle you with a lemon?". Well, her attitude was basically that I was just too picky an owner, and there was nothing wrong with the car, despite the transmission-slip, increasing oil-use, and disc-brake rotors that constantly warped and wobbled no matter how many times they were replaced under warranty or resurfaced. After the third rotor-replacement in nine months, the Service Manager (he was an old acquaitence of the family) rolled up his sleeves and did the job himself, to no avail...more warping. In fairness, though, that may not have been a factory-defect in design....compartively little was known in those days about over-tightening wheel-lugs and its effect on rotor-warping. So, at her request, I sold the car to my Mom. For her, I insisted on a reduced price for her, for several reasons.....among them, of course, she had brought me into the world, raised me, and had given me so much of what I had already had. I had wanted to give it to her outright, but she insisted on reimbursing me, and Virginia state law is very difficult on giving away used vehicles because of the sales-tax collected by DMV on them. She herself was a Notary-Public from the days she worked as an accountant/bookkeepper/tax-consultant, so she could handle the title-sign-over. And sure enough, just as I had feared, she constantly had to add oil.....I helped her do that when I was visiting there, though by then I had moved out on my own. Poor lady.....she also had to put up with wobbly brakes, a car without A/C in the humid D.C. summer, and the transmission failed when, somehow, at least the way she described it, a front tire picked up a thick piece of wood and it jammed somewhere in the front wheel well and driveshaft. She waited for a new transmission while the dealership ordered one and replaced it....I think, if my memory is right, that they did it at a reduced price, since we were repeat Plymouth customers and the car had only about 25,000 miles or so on it, but still past the only 1-year/12,000-mile warranty in those days.

And, after all that, did my Mother learn, either? Nope....she bought another brand-new Horizon in 1982 (yes, also without A/C), and wound up with another set of Wobbly-Dobbly brake rotors, and the brake-pedal needed so much effort that one simply could not lock the wheels....you could stop, but not really panic-stop. That was normal for the non-power disc/drum brakes in 1982, and Chrysler remedied that in 1983 with a new brake-system. At least, though, on the 1982, version, Chrysler was not using the VW-built engines any more , and the 94-HP Chrysler-built 2.2L four was somewhat more reliable...as was the transmission in her 1982, which, unlike the one in my 1978, was better from Day One and did not fail. The 1982 electronic-feedback carburator was also much better than the Lean-Burn one in 1978...Chrysler had temporarily been granted a reprieve from the EPA, in 1982, from some emission standards, to help the company get back on its feet again after the near-bankucy of 1979-1980, and it showed in a smoother carburetor. I drove the 1982, with her, out to see some friends in the Blue Ridge (Mountains), and it was a lot nicer on the road than the '78, with a less-buzzy drivetrain and much less engine noise....but, like the '78, started developing squeaks/rattles within the first couple thousand miles. Though I remember both the '78 and '82 quite well, I don't remember who she sold either one of them to. Her next car, after that, was a 1988 Mercury Tracer subcompact, which was Mazda-323-based, but with a somewhat different automatic transmission.....and, after that, a new 1994 Toyota Corolla Wagon...which finally gave her the reliability she probably should have had all along.

The 5-door Omni/Horizon reamined in production for a surprisingly long period......over 12 years, up through 1990. It was supplanted in 1981 by the larger K-car Plymouth Reliant/Dodge Aries compacts, but sales remained relatively strong for years, even with the popularity of its larger FWD brothers. The Omni/Horizon, despite its reputation for poor quality, also had a lot of buyers/owners that liked it, were satisfied with it, and kept coming back for more. Just ask my late Mom.

And, as Always, Happy Car-Memories.

MM

mmarshall

I didn't spend time actually writing about them, but I might as well show some of the Omni/Horizon derivatives.



^^^^^Omni GLH



^^^^^ Omni GLHS (Shelby)




^^^^^Plymouth Scamp/Dodge Omni Rampage




^^^^^^^Plymouth Horizon TC3/Dodge Omni 024



^^^^^^Shelby Dodge Omni 024



^^^^^^Dodge Charger 024

Felix

Wow......You sure do come up w/ some writes don't you......I happen to of owned a '78 Horizon, yeah w/ the vw sourced 1.7L, in the early '80's.....It was a two tone red/maroon w/ a 4 spd...Had it for about 9 months or so. The only thing I did was replace the rubber insulator between the carb & manifold w/ a aluminum plate....Really ran great & was in great condition as well. Had it for trans, when I was rebuilding the 383 in a '70 runner as well as pound a front end in it.... Sure'd be fun to have a GLH right now thou.....

mmarshall

On the retro write-ups I do, there are some exceptions, but, in general, I write from memories of vehicles I either owned, my family (mother/father/brother) has owned or used in their work, or those of my friends that I had some experience riding in or driving. In the case of the Corvair, it also included a lot of the ones I serviced and did minor things on at the gas station....and the precepts from Ralph Nader's famous book.



Yeah, though they generally had a bad reputation quality-wise, some people had good luck with them......the 4MT, like you had, was probably a better bet for reliability than the 3AT.

Though the enthusiasts, of course, gravitated to the GLH and Shelby versions, I thought one of the most interesting versions was the Rampage, which allowed El-Camino-like ability to carry things in the rear bed, but in a smaller, more economical package.


Ah, you had a Road Runner. Congratulations. Though I couldn't afford one at the time, I loved the 68-70 versions. Did you see the write-up I did on them from last April?

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...ad-runner.html

Felix

Thank you....

SW17LS

Great examples of a type of past vehicle that we're lucky remains in the past lol

mmarshall

I partially, but don't totally agree. Although I agree that quality and engineering stunk on many American vehicles of that era, don't be too quick to pan the Omni/Horizon's good features. The softish suspension and nice high-profile tires allowed a quite-smooth ride compared to most small cars of the time, and the classic two-box body design offered lots of interior headroom, excellent visibility, and a large cargo area. The optional trim-packages really spruced up both the interior and exterior looks as well. If they could be had with electronic fuel injection, a more durable and flexible drivetrain, better resistance to squeaks/rattles, and brake rotors that would stay round and smooth more than two days LOL, I wouldn't mind having one today.

Jezza819

Yeah again going back to my Dodge days in the 80's, these little cars weren't that bad. This was the only car my mom would drive. We sold a ton of them. Once the Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance came out in 1987, Chrysler lowered the price and de-contented the Omni/Horizon and called them the Omni/Horizon America to finish out their final 2 or 3 years. Once again we had a lot of people buying them as a second car to drive to work or for their kids. I took my driver's license test in a red over silver Omni.

The one big issue they had was shared by other Chrysler 2.2 carburetor motors where in the summer time they would vapor lock. Something to do with the fuel foaming I think. Chrysler developed a fix where we had to go in and retro fit some sort electric fuel pump and injection system. Proper fuel injection fixed that a few years later.

SW17LS

These were terrible cars. Ugly, poorly built...goes on and on. The worst cars today are far, far superior. There are cars from that era that are worthy of nostalgia, this isn't one of them IMO

jer

I had an Omni 2 door, believe it was a 1980. Lasted a year, then I got a 1981 Camaro, which had its own issues. Started carpooling and needed a bigger car. Since I didn't have a large budget we bought an Omni 4 door, actually 2 of them, both 1984's . long story short, the black Omni was having all kinds of issues and as we pulled into the dealership the engine caught on fire. Believe it or not it actually ran better once they fixed whatever the issues were. We also had a silver Omni, which constantly had leaks around the doors and where the back high light was- would get the 'trunk' soaked. And in Florida that is not a good thing, but at least it kept running. Around 1988 got rid of both & went with a Mazda & a Honda. Never went back to any of the big 3.

RNM GS3

I remember being in one of those small Horizon cars when i was little and thinking this is a real pos. All these years later and American cars are still so inferior to the competition.

Who could have predicted that Tesla would be the leading American car company.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

I have a new Shelby steering wheel for any of the Shelby modified Dodge cars. There were a few left over when I worked at Shelby 1997-1999 before Carroll moved production to Las Vegas Speedway area..

LH1

I consider these cars to be the absolute low point in American cars. These were worse than the Corvair that Ralph Nader wrote about.

Mike, just want to say I really enjoy these retro reviews.

SW17LS

Same here!

mmarshall

One reason why It held a special place in my memory (in spite of the several annoying defects/problems) was that it was the first regular passenger car I ever owned that could be depended to get through winter storms with little prospect of getting stuck. I never trusted the rear-engined Corvair (see my earlier write-up) or the poorly-built FWD VW products of the time, and the FWD Olds Toronados and Cadillac Eldorados, brand-new, were simply out of my price-range at the time...and they chewed up the front tires of that era like it was going out of style. Plus, my family had a 15-year history of new Chrysler products....it was more or less a tradition. In retrospect, looking back, we probably held onto that tradition too long, in spite of the used Buicks I had in college.