Dodge Omni

The Dodge Omni and the similar Plymouth Horizon were front wheel drive cars introduced by the Dodge and Plymouth divisions of the Chrysler Corporation in North America in 1978, and were based on a European Simca-based design of the same name. While they are generally not credited, they were the first of many successful front-wheel drive models, such as the Dodge Aries/Plymouth Reliant and the Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager which helped return Chrysler to profitability.

Dodge Omni and similar Plymouth Horizon were front wheel drive car introduced by Dodge and Plymouth divisions of Chrysler Corporation in North America in 1978. The car left the line at $ 2500. It was a three-or five-door hatchback. Although the car had significant European ancestry (the car was actually developed by Simca, the French branch of Chrysler Europe, before that company was sold to Peugeot, who released the car Talbot Horizon), it was presented as a very large internal development, as it was assembled at Chrysler, which retained North American rights to the car. Both the Omni and Horizon were based on a new platform L Chrysler. The company managed to avoid creating a vehicle for the subcompact market before this time, preferring to use the captive imports such as Dodge Colt, a. Omni and Horizon first front-wheel drive cars Dodge and Plymouth line, the first front-wheel drive transverse engine cars manufactured in North America, and among the first American built front-wheel drive vehicles to sell in large numbers. Previous front-drive American cars, such as cable 810, Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Tornado were low volume luxury car.

Plymouth Horizon 5-door

Horizon and its corporate twin Omni came at a critical moment, when Chrysler desperately seeking government support to survive. In 1978, Chrysler and Ford beat GM to market and domestic production of front-wheel drive vehicle to challenge the Rabbit VW. News reports indicate that these new small cars, which really started to sell well, helped persuade Congress and the White House that Chrysler was worth saving the future. Omni was Motor Trend magazine Car of the Year 1978.

Despite looking almost identical, Omni and Horizon had few interchangeable parts with the European brothers and sisters. Along with the American heavy-looking body panels and bumpers, OHV Simca engines were replaced by 1.7 liter OHC engine is derived from the Volkswagen, while the MacPherson strut front suspension has taken the location of the torsion bar in the European Horizon. A small engine used Volkswagen Chrysler developed an increased cylinder head and intake manifold, and produced 75 hp (56 kW) and 90 lb · ft (120 N · m).

Previously, cars had been shaky since the magazine Consumer Reports tested one and said that he easily got out of control in hard maneuvers. This statement was widely publicized major, including the headline in Time Magazine: The storm over the horizon. Other logs are automatically reported no problems and expressed the opinion that the test is not indicative of real driving conditions. The car has been modified to incorporate a steering damper and lightweight steering wheel, and went on to success.

HVAC controls have been installed on the left of the steering wheel, and not on the center console, as in most cars. This means that only the driver can adjust the internal temperature. It was a feature not only in the Omni and Horizon, although many other Chrysler Corporation products (including the Dodge Charger and Chrysler Cordoba) and vehicles from other manufacturers (including Ford) came up with instrument panels, HVAC controls are placed in this general place in the 1970s.

2.2 L Chrysler K-car engine appeared in 1981 in the prestigious opportunity to drive a small Volkswagen. It produced 84 hp (63 kW) at first, rising to 93 hp (69 kW) and, finally, 96 hp (72 kW) to the end of production. Volkswagen 1,7 was replaced by Simca / Peugeot 1.6-liter I4 production unit in 1983. This engine produced 62 hp (46 kW) and 86 lb · ft (117 N · m), and was available only with manual transmission. 2.2-liter Chrysler was the only engine of 1987.

Omni and Horizon, finally ended production in 1990 and were replaced by Dodge Shadow / Plymouth Sundance, which was introduced in 1987. She survived the European version of a three-year, Peugeot bought Chrysler's European division in 1978 and re-branded Horizon (along with the rest of the British and French Simca Chrysler range), as Talbot, production continued until 1987 [1].

Chrysler has invested in a number of significant changes that have ended up being used only for one year, the car received a large external mirrors (borrowed from the dead body of M sedans), the driver's side airbag and a slightly redesigned instrument panel, complete with control HVAC, finally moved to the center. Since the production was in the process of liquidation of all the tools necessary for the production of cars were sold in the Tata Group in India and the car was made for several years.