A Far Too Brief History of the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon

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.

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 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

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.

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. 😊

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

These and chevette were everywhere in the 80s and 90s

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 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.

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 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.

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.