This turbocharged Dodge Omni GLH is a claimed survivor, showing no apparent modifications other than some period-correct bucket seats and some tint on the windows. The Omni is listed by a seller that acquired the car from a friend and has made some mechanical improvements before deciding to sell. The Omni GLH is listed here on eBay with a clean title and no reserve, and bidding is over $2,500 at the moment.
It’s getting harder to find these cars in anything other than total project form. Few turn up for sale with sellers claiming they are reliable enough to use as a daily driver, as this seller does. The Omni retrains its original wheels and factory badges, even on the side skirts where they often perish. The plastic trim is heavily faded, which isn’t surprising for a vintage car living in Florida.
The heavily bolstered Corbeau seats are the only modification I can see, and I am personally OK with this modification. Most factory buckets in the 1980s were fairly pitiful, even in sportier cars like the GLH, and most all domestic brands didn’t figure out how to make a decent sport seat until recently. Otherwise, the interior looks somewhat tatty, but a good cleaning and some light upholstery work would transform it.
The seller has addressed some basic tune-up needs, adding a new ignition module, coil, plug wires, cap/rotor, spark plugs, and shift rods. While many of these turbo Dodges have had the boost cranked up and numerous other ill-conceived modifications added, this Omni seems to remain largely stock with the boost set at 12 PSI. These are still relatively cheap to buy, and good ones are worth ponying up for.
Goes Like Hell!
Awesome little rocket, but I can’t think of any period where those buckets would be correct.
Interesting seats. Corn-fed types need not apply.
I see these every year or two, but I haven’t seen a GLHS in quite a while.
GLHS Omnis are more rare, because they only made 500 to begin with. I remember back in the day a prominent ampersand car magazine tested one, and rolled it right onto it’s roof.
Back in the ’80s I had a black Rabbit GTI and my buddy had this exact car. There’s a rather snake-like ribbon road on which he and I would play nip & tuck, passing just about anything and everything. Remember the guy once in a new Trans Am who tried, operative word “tried” to keep pace. One time I outran the cops, but not the roadblock, on the same road. Whoosh, license gon-zo for 6 months right there. I want both the car, and my hair back, please.
Back in 1992 I picked up a 83 Rabbit GTI at the local auto auction for $300. After I fixed all of its problems it was a great little runner. In retrospect it may have been one of the first GTIs, as its serial number ended in 000235. It’s original instrument cluster featured the upshift light and 85 mph speedo. It was black with red interior and the paint polished up very nicely. It always ran hot but the heater was great as a result. A highway cruiser it wasn’t. A car built for carving up winding mountain roads it certainly was!
Today they’re selling for $10k – $30k. Guy I know has a sub-30k mile one, as-new condition, and he didn’t even flinch at my suggestion of the high end of that buying range. Still my favorite car I’ve owned (of ~50).
The dealership that I once worked at sold a few of them Go Like Hell omni cars some came back for clutch replacement after a few thousand miles