In the ’80s, the addition of monochrome trim & bumpers, rocker valances, and front and rear spoilers often meant nothing other than someone spent money on a cosmetic “sport” package to gain the appearance of sport. In an era when GT often stood for “Goofy Tape,” a few exceptional cars backed up their sporty looks with real performance. This 1986 Shelby Omni GLH-S resulted after Carroll Shelby took Chrysler corporation’s already spicy Dodge Omni GLH Turbo and turned it into a smoking hot box on wheels. This specimen in Augusta, Kentucky features a combination of well-preserved, updated, and modified mechanicals and cosmetics.
The addition of an intercooler and other tweaks made 175 HP and 175 lb-ft of torque during a year when a base V8 Camaro made 155 and 245, according to NastyZ28. For reference, the plebian Omni made 75HP and the GLH Turbo 145. Even with weight transfer at launch and Front-Wheel-Drive, the GLH-S hit 60 MPH in 6.7 seconds, fast enough to thrash some lofty competition, as detailed in this vintage magazine ad. With all that heat under the hood, it’s good to know that air conditioning has been preserved.
The steering wheel may have come from a K-Mart Blue Light Special, but it’s better than a stock Omni steering wheel, arguably the ugliest ever designed. I’d return the GLH-S wheel myself, but this one is round and has the requisite grips for hands and open spaces through which to view the instruments. A five-speed manual gearbox puts you in position to handle the shifting. Hold onto that wheel when you bury the pedal before torque-steer sends you astray.
The name “Shelby” and the performance modifications that earn the right to slap it on your rear end converts a disposable ’80s people-mover into something dare-we-say collectible. The ’80s were famous for pasting as many words as possible on vehicles with special features like extra tape stripes and spoilers. In this case, “SHELBY TURBO” and “INTERCOOLED” actually mean something!
According to Wikipedia, GLH stood for “Goes Like Hell” and GLH-S meant “Goes Like Hell S’more.” These black aftermarket wheels look great, and the seller includes the original Shelby Centurion wheels as well, 15 inches from a time when 13 was standard.
Carroll Shelby signed the dash on this 1-of-500 GLH-S units. A custom panel beneath the awesome factory stereo head unit includes a boost gauge and toggle switches that may include “Oil Slick” or “Passenger Eject,” but that’s just a guess. Collectors sometimes balk at older cars of excessive length, but this 2400 lb mighty mite could slip in anywhere under a car port or an umbrella or two. Thanks to reader JMB#7 for spotting this evil black box Facebook Marketplace where $15,500 makes it yours. Could you find a home for what might be the ultimate ’80s hot hatch?
Nice car. One of my neighbors had one and he said blowing off the big boys was lots of fun. I bet. As for the K Mart steering wheel, they didn’t ever sell anything that expensive.
What was your neighbor doing?
Stop light dragging.
Wow. That black paint job looks terrific. And we all know how hard it is to keep black nice. If its as nice in person as it looks in the photos, then double Wow. I typically like the original rims on the Omni GLH and GLHS. But I have to admit, these aftermarket rims sure fit in those wheel wells very nicely. I’d definitely put the original steering wheel back in there, but thats just me. And I agree with Bobhess, Kmart didn’t sell stuff that nice lol. I lived these when they came out and I still do.
I realize my views are my own, but I’m sorry, to see this was Shelby sinking to a new low. It was just such an unusual combination, a name associated with axle twisting power, relegated to a mere econobox that never asked for any of this. I heard, these were done as a favor to Iacocca, and let’s face it, Shelby had a swanky lifestyle to uphold. With his “race cars for the street” becoming a liability to the world, he needed something until the hp thing came around again, and this was it. In typical Shelby form, this car wasn’t cheap. At almost $11 grand, it was TWICE the cost of a regular Omni, and I highly doubt were treated with the same respect as a Cobra. Sorry, that mans name was not worth $6 grand to me.
Yes, definitely just your opinion. Shelby made some great, fast, fun little cars during his relationship with Chrysler. The GLH was one. No one was paying 6 grand just for Shelby’s name. They were paying it for a hot car that “Goes Like Hell”. Don’t know why anyone would not like these, but…. as you say…. it’s just YOUR opinion.
Carol Shelby became a corporate sellout, bouncing from one big 3 manufacturer to another to greedingly sell licensing of his name. Today, anything Shelby folks consider gold. Personally I don’t. This horrible insult to his Cobra days namestake is a profit for Shelby and a disaster for the Customer. 175hp within a Shelby vehicle is what it is. Run away and run away fast!
jv smashpalace
Has zero to do with the Cobra. Shelby turned everyday cars into fun rides. Nothing wrong with that. And as far as I know, he only did this for Chrysler, unless you’re including his doing the same thing to the Mustang back in the 60s.
Well said JDC
As for the previous comment, 175HP back then was a big deal.
How much HP were the Camaro and Mustang putting out from their respective V8s? How much more did those weigh?
FWIU Lee Iacocca came to him. Lido had left Ford with a full Rolodex – possibly literally – and his name was on it.
Sharp little car that I bet is a blast to drive. First thing I’d do though is get rid of the aftermarket junk and put a stock steering wheel and rims back on it!
At a time when the 55MPH speed limit was strictly enforced there were not a lot of new cars out there that were reasonably affordable and had some oats. Most performance packages were visible changes only – nothing in the engine bay or suspension. The GLH was different in that it included the full package, in a body form that did not jump out when driving down the highway the way a Corvette might. For Carrol Shelby, I can imagine his thinking that sometimes a shop has to take on jobs you don’t like to keep the lights on.
Shelby was a big fan of turbo technology and regarded these as the future of performance. Naysayers get defensive about the switch to Dodge or 4 cylinders etc. but these were true Shelby’s in the spirit of his performance mantra.
They were faster than most contemporary performance cars of the time and the original Shelby Mustangs. Still they get hate, which to me justifies them even more. Run away and a run away fast? Just don’t do it in an original Shelby Mustang, you’ll be watching this Shelby’s taillights.
Our ’86 Shelby Daytona Turbo Z was good for 146 mph and ate Mustangs on the autocross events.
Goofy Tape, love it Todd. Just my opinion, the aftermarket steering wheel doesn’t look all that different from the original and it at least has a nice fat rim. These were controversial I agree, sullying the Shelby name, even Carroll called them nose heavy lead sleds I remember from a car magazine article of the time. I wouldn’t pay what this guy is asking but for less it would be a lot of fun. One thing I wonder about. What is this JV smash palace I see in some user comments?
Loved ’em then. Love ’em now. These were true performance on the cheap. Shelby applied his magic and helped Chrysler sustain its performance image. Hang on to that wheel. You will need to learn how to drive this.
First autocross with our Z l got to the first 180 turn, set the car up, hit the gas and went straight off the turn. Quickly learned when not to spool up that turbo.
Used to own a GLH Turbo, it was a hoot to own.
As for this being a Shelby, it’s a True Shelby. These were shipped off to the Shelby headquarters, the mod’s were done there and a Shelby number assigned to them.
Far more than a Sticker package, these were properly quick cars for the era and well equipped.
Selling out, hardly. While Shelby loved putting his name on stuff to me this was a forward looking vision. A giant killer that was easy on gas and went like stink on the road/track.
Friend had a one of those Chargers with the 2.2 NA, it was a sharp handling car to be sure and fun to drive.
That said, the 2.2 Turbo made it a proper little rocket. A few mod’s (Direct Connection had a bunch of recipes and whole catalogue of stuff to support the mod’ing these engines) and you were really ripping along.
These and the Shelby Daytona were both hot performers back in the late 80s.A neighbor had a blue 86 Shelby Daytona back in the day.Good performance for the money.Neat to see the a/c working on this one still.I have a stash of R12 freon for vehicles that old..’
Johnnymopar, it’s not a widely known fact, but in ’67 & ’68 Shelby and his designer, John Chun, were playing around with Paxton Superchargers, of which a few GT350’s were actually sold with them – so, you may want to be selective about which “old Shelby” you’d want to run this GLH-S alongside?!!
I had a GLH in the late 80s. It had 17” factory installed aluminum wheels ran strong !! The seats were incredibly comfortable.
I’m far from a Mopar expert but I thought that the S in GLH-S stood for “Squared” as in a mathematical sense…
Goes Like Hell – Some more!
In 1985 my wife was pregnant with our first child and a car seat wasn’t going to work in her 81 Corvette. We didn’t want to get rid of the Corvette, so that limited what we could spend for her daily driver.
We drove an 85 GLH and it was quick and fun to drive, but it’s econobox roots were obvious, it felt cheap and tinny. If I was buying it as a toy it would have been okay, but stepping out of a Corvette it’s rough edges and flaws were hard to ignore. We ended up ordering an 85 Cavalier Z24. It wasn’t as fast as the GLH, but it handled well and the build quality, the fit and finish and the overall look and feel of the car both inside and out was much better than the GLH.
I left a quote from Carroll Shelby on here that you deleted. I could have written, “… dead cat’s butt”, but that’s not what he said. I even misspelled it. Car & Driver and others printed it in the Eighties when things were much more prudish than they are now. Besides, how many children are on here shopping for their next ride? Methinks thou art entirely too sensitive.
When the GLH-S came out, Carroll Shelby said that the current Camaro and Mustang “couldn’t pull a greased string out of a dead cat’s a$$”
The only thing missing to make it the ultimate sleeper back in the day would’ve been a “black paint delete, substitute any standard Omni color” option.
I still own a GLH that has a stage 2 block torquey cam and is intercooled, dynos at 201hp at the wheels is still an eater of many performance cars. I love the sleeper part and it is a low 5.2 second car to 60. It handles very well, has a gated oil sump because it needs that at autocross. Back then in the late 80’s and 90’s Camaro’s and Mustangs from the factory were toast, up against this car and even after market built cars had a hard time taking it. I still have fun in it when I take it out, but usually only once every few years. Also rare and it has been very reliable.
sold.