When Volkswagen's Golf hit U.S. showrooms as the Rabbit in the mid-'70s, it caused quite a stir. Coming on the heels of the '73 Oil Crisis, the front wheel drive subcompact seemed ultramodern, especially compared to the domestic competition.
Chevrolet and Ford had the Chevette and Pinto, both rear wheel drive cars powered by old-tech pushrod motors. Mopar didn't even have its own subcompact, selling a re-badged RWD Mitsubishi Lancer as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Arrow.
Chrysler huddled with its European subsidiaries and released a little two-box front wheel drive compact of its own for 1978, beating FoMoCo and GM to the punch. Sold in Europe as the Simca Horizon and in the UK as the Talbot Horizon, it was sold in the USA as the Dodge Omni and the Plymouth Horizon.
The Euro cars used little Simca-sourced motors deemed not potent enough for the US market, so the first Omnis sold here had 1.7L OHC inline fours bought from VW and fitted with Chrysler intake systems.
For the '81 model year, Chrysler's new 2.2L SOHC four cylinder, ubiquitous across the K-car lineup, became an optional motor in the Omni and Horizon. By 1986, the 2.2L in this Crimson Red Omni would have seen its 2bbl carb replaced by throttle body fuel injection, giving it a rated output of 93 SAE net horsepower. With a five-speed manual this would have given zero-to-sixty times around ten seconds flat and a quarter in the mid-seventeens. Not scintillating, but enough to merge in traffic without white knuckles.
Best of all, an '86 Omni started out at a mere $6,209, less than eighteen grand in today's coin, and came with a then-exceptional 5-year/50,000-mile powertrain warranty.
This one was photographed in October of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and an M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.
I didn't think much of these back in the day, but whenever I see one now I am always impressed with how clean the design is. It'd be fun to find one in good nick and use it as the Emergency Backup Car™.
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