When buying cheap cars under 1000 dollars the choices are limitless. However some stand out more than others; these “All-Stars” stand out for a number of reasons. Some are fair spacious cars and others lets say are objective dumb wintry or fun to occupy, so I wanted to launch showing some cherish to the greatest of the large beaters out there.
Profile: Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon
Ok so this one has some bias with me, because I owned one. It was dirt cheap, served my purposes well, and assign up with all the listless abuse that only a 16 year outmoded kid can dish out. From 1978-1990 During the “K” car years Chrysler built these shoe-boxes to be cheap and economical as an respond to the VW rabbit and Golf models. The Omni/Horizons even fraction most of the characteristics of the VW competition with a 5-door hatch build, rear beam axle, and a 4 cylinder motor that in the putrid models provided “adequate” horsepower enough to at least be faster than a bicycle. However one reason these cars are special is that for petite production Carrol Shelby (don’t deem I need to interpret who he is) partnered with Chrysler to effect two models the GLH and the GLH-S, which stands for “goes like hell”. These models received brake and suspension upgrades as well as turbocharged engines. The rarest of the rare GLH-S models produced a factory rated 175hp enough to embarrass a few mustangs and camaros.
Now that we have some history lets review a few of the finer points of Omni ownership. First of all they’re cheap. I mean really cheap examples exceeding $1000-$1500 are only the cleanest of the smart or the rarest of the rare turbo models. Perfectly honorable examples of rotten models as well as some turbos can be had all day long for a few hundred bucks (although the modern examine for gas savers may drive prices up) . These itsy-bitsy shoe boxes obtain around 40mpg and the parts are fair as cheap as the cars. One gigantic thing about the “K” cars is that they made so many off of virtually the same platform so parts from everything from a Lebaron to a Caravan can fit in these cars. My experience from owning one was that it was simply tough as nails, surprisingly comfortable (these might be one of the few 80′s American cars that had an interior that wont completely plunge apart) and it was fun to drive. These cars fraction the same idea as other fun to drive hot hatches like the GTI and Civic and most of the best performance parts are available from where else but Mopar. So if your looking for a nice cheap beater that’s friendly on gas and fun to drive the crap out of an Omni is a somewhat forgotten, but very available choice.