GTP Cool Wall: 1977-1990 Dodge Omni

  • Thread starter Wiegert
  • 32 comments
  • 2,020 views

1977-1990 Dodge Omni

  • Total voters
    119
  • Poll closed .
Wiegert

Wiegert

Premium
13,376
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
1977-1990 Dodge Omni nominated by @Cowboy

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Body Style: 5-door hatchback
Engines:
1.6 L Simca 6J I4
1.7L Volkswagen I4
2.2L K I4
2.2L Turbo I I4
Power: 93-175 hp
Torque: 122-175 ft-lbs
Weight: 1000-1080 kg
Transmission:
4-speed VW manual
5-speed Chrysler manual
3-speed A404 automatic
3-speed A413 automatic
Drivetrain: Front-engine, front wheel drive​

1990-dodge-omni-11.jpg
CC-12-004-800.jpg
1990-dodge-omni-6.jpg
 
As cool as the GLH/GLHS are, they are a minority and overall this car is seriously uncool. It's the kind of car you'd see the nerdy accountant driving in an 80's movie.
 
Oh my word. The interior in that last picture.

If you own one of these things now, odds are it's a clunker.

Seriously Uncool
 
We had one of these as a work runner at my first job. I hated driving that thing and would take a van whenever humanly possible. It was an even bigger POS than my '82 Omega.
 
I'd rather have one of these than an equivalent Escort or early Cavalier, for certain; and probably before the USDM Golf that it was so hopelessly ripping off aswell, but that's not saying much.

Liquid
Is that a Talbot Horizon with US bumpers?
Click to expand...
It looks like it, and it essentially was designed at the same time by the same people; but they really aren't even as similar to each other as the Chevrolet Cavalier compared to the Vauxhall Cavalier, nevermind the Escort vs the Escort. Chrysler Europe and Chrysler US started with and worked together to make the same starting hard points, then designed separate cars around them.



Think of it more like the Saab 9000/Lancia Thema/Fiat Croma than anything.
 
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Let me tell you a story...

This is my dad back in the late 80s after he got his Buick Grand National. His mother (My grandmother) had an early 80s Omni she drove for a long time. And he always thought it was a slow, terrible car. Except for one day, where his brother offered to drag race him in the Omni against his Buick. My dad agreed, and they went to go drag race.

Long story short, the little 4-pot Omni absolutely demolished the Buick.

For that alone, I give it a cool.
 
It was awful as a Talbot Horizon, i can't imagine it was much better re-engineered for the north American market. Uncool.
 
I learnt to drive in a Talbot Horizon.

They were sheds... well, all except the 2 door (Sunbeam) version with Lotus engine...

01_lotus_sunbeam.jpg
 
Stotty
I learnt to drive in a Talbot Horizon.

They were sheds... well, all except the 2 door (Sunbeam) version with Lotus engine...
Click to expand...

The Sunbeam was a different, smaller car, though the styling was similar.

If we were voting for the GLH (which was fun to hoon around in, in Forza 4) or the Shelby GLH-Turbo, I would vote a high Cool, though 175hp all going to the front wheels back then may have been a little alarming, in such a light car.

However as the whole range is up for polling, it nets off to a Meh from me.
 
Part of me likes the boxy 80's styling and the GLHS performance model.

The other side of me says this is like a hatchback Dodge Aries.

It's not a bad car, but it's no dream car.

Meh.
 
My dad has a blue '85 GLH in the garage. Sadly, it's been sitting due to other car related projects. Maybe we'lol get to it soon..

As cool as the GLH and GLHS are, I'm going to have to go with uncool. Base model is pretty bland, and boring. Uncool.
 
A guilty pleasure of mine, for sure. It's not really a good looking car, and it isn't fast, while being inevitably plagued by notorious Chrysler rust problems. Pile on top of it all some awful reliability and the fact that I've only ever heard horror stories of how awful these cars are, and we'll come to the conclusion that it's a middle-of-the-road cool for me.
 
The roof rack and chrome molding dresses it up, but only enough from a seriously uncool vote. Something a grandma would drive.
 

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