I always wonder what the back story is on a car that sells and is for sale again a year and a half later. Such is the case of this 1981 Dodge 024 DeTomaso that’s listed yet again on eBay. This red devil has an unmet opening bid price of $2,850 and it’s located in Arlington, Virginia, where it was listed the last time that we noticed that it was for sale.
Our own Josh showed this same car back in September of 2016 but I’m not sure what it eventually sold for, or if it sold. It appears to be for sale again maybe by the same seller. Then again, maybe not, Arlington, VA and the Washington DC area has a population of over six-million people so maybe it has just stayed in that area.
Most of us know that this is a rear-engined, V8-powered.. No, wait, that’s the other DeTomaso, I keep getting the Omni 024 mixed up with the Pantera. Italy themes were hotter than Lido Iaccoca at Chrysler in 1980 as the Plymouth Horizon TC3 got a new Turismo edition and Dodge Omni 024s got the DeTomaso. The name sounds both super impressive and cool yet somehow at the same time it sort of sounds like when AMC gave us Pierre Cardin interiors on the Javelin. Remember that? I thought so.
I’m assuming that it’s the same seller, they say that since they “bought the car from the original owners family in 2011, I have installed new shift bushings, motor mounts, wiper bushings, tires (205/60/14), front brake pads and rotors, and spark plugs. I have also had the alloy wheels refinished and had a new front air dam fabricated using the original as a mold”. The interior looks fantastico but the “headliner is intact but starting to sag, and the hatch struts need to be replaced” Yes, that’s a CB radio! “Breaker breaker, 1-9, this is the one-I-‘talian-Stallion, come back?”
The same looking engine is still in the car, in front where the car Gods meant engines to be (just kidding, all you rear and/or mid-engine lovers). It’s still Dodge’s 2.2L transverse-mounted inline-four with around 84 hp. I say, with 84 hp. 3.5 of these would come close the power of a DeTomaso Pantera engine and who wouldn’t rather have 3.5 four-cylinders in a car rather than one V8? Come on, who’s with me?! Seriously, though, this looks like a pretty nice car and with so few of them built you’d probably have the only one at any car show. If you’re like me you’ve spent much more than $2,850 on a lot of dumb things over the years, why not redeem yourself with this 024 DeTomaso?
The gold chains are stored in the console and you can warm up your leftover strombolis on the intake. Save some lira for a new “Members Only” track suit. I’ll assume the new owner has a baseball bat. Ciao, baby!
One has to assume its having trouble selling because at the end of the day its a Dodge Omni. A really really nice one, but still.
The vinyl/aluminum C-pillar roof and trim looks very much Mitsubishi influenced. Plymouth Sapporo/Dodge Challengers were early competitors on the same dealer lot as the new K-series in 1981. Interesting to be sure.
Too many body adornments for my taste…but a nice little cruiser. If it was sporting the 2.2 turbo, the price might have more appeal.
Should have turned the radio vertical.
Dodge/ Chrysler have always had a knack for underwhelming on these special editions. Take for example the TC coupe or “Dodgeratti” as I’ve always called them.
What’s going on with the interior? It looks he seller wasted a lot of $$$$ into audio crap?
Only thing resembling Pantera is what’s in the auto-reverse cassette.
I loved everything Carol Shelby stood for but when the Dodge Shelby’s of the 80’s started showing up it was a disappointment. I never remembered DeTomaso doing the same thing. But, remember how many times Dodge brought back the Charger moniker that was such a farce?
I’m assuming that the chicks didn’t react in the same way that he thought they would.
I don’t think the 2.2 was available in 1981. I believe this car may have started life with the potent (hahaha) VW 1.7 liter
There is an image of the window sticker on the ebay listing and although the base engine was the 1.7, it looks like this one has the optional 2.2. What is more astounding though is that the DeTomaso Package was $1700, which in today’s dollars is well over $4000 for what seems to be an appearance package!! No wonder these are rare…
Smoking deal here, That is quite a lot of car for a little money. At cars and coffee event should garner plenty of interest as there won’t be another. Cool find