As someone who grew up on a steady intake of hot hatches and attended high school at a time when modifying a four-cylinder Honda was considered very much en vogue, there’s a warm spot in my heart for cheap performance cars. Of course, these cars that were popular with high schoolers because they were affordable are no longer as accessible as they once were. A perfect example of this is the 1986 Dodge Omni Shelby GLHS shown here on eBay which has been substantially restored and is offered with an opening bid of $16,000 – and no action yet.
When Carroll Shelby got involved with Mopar, he did what he did best and transformed a cheap and cheerful econobox into a fire-breathing, front-wheel drive circus that still looked like it belonged in the local Hertz parking lot. Ironically, Shelby’s handiwork did extend to a modified Dodge Shadow known as the CSX that was used by Thrifty, but more on that later. The Omni was offered as the GLH around 1985, packing a respectable 146-horsepower powerplant courtesy of the Turbo II engine and giving the econobox a new identity in a quickly changing universe that saw the cheapest cars available become some of the fastest.
Shelby took the spunky GLH and made it into the GLHS, transforming the blacked-out hatchback into a 175 horsepower machine with equal torque to match. Sticky tires, Koni shocks, a lower ride height, and fat sway bars ensured the Omni could handle the added power and make every mountain switchback an opportunity to embarrass much more expensive cars. And that it could do, with ease, thanks to an incredible 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 130 miles per hour. There was very little Carroll Shelby couldn’t do when under the hood of car, and the Omni GLHS reminds us just how extensive his talents were when it came to building performance cars.
The Omni was still reasonable well-equipped inside, too, which was always a bit of a shock considering its humble origins. But we forget that Chrysler positioned the entry-level offering in different ways over the years, and occasionally it would give it the sort of trimmings that made it more luxurious than most other fuel-sippers. As such, it was not unusual to find decent trim inside an Omni, and the GLHS came with supportive bucket seats, a tach, center arm rest, and AM/FM radio. The seller’s car has been significantly refreshed, with recent work including a respray, new seat upholstery, refinished Centurion wheels, and a new headliner. It’s a lot of coin, but if the cosmetic work was done to a decent level, it’s typically smarter to start with a car like this with the hard work done.
I remember in my racing heydays in the late 80’s the strip i went to every friday night had the usual assortment of old school late 60’s early 70’s gang, the new kids had the usual 5.0 Mustangs plus Iroc’s and GN’s probably swipped from their dads and every once on a while the Turbo Chrysler would show up. Suddenly a few GLH’s appeared and deserved respect. Some were really quick right outta the box. Boy i mIss them days
We all miss those days! Vibrant creations not only in cars, but in music, books, movies, TV and just about everything else. Now we have gray everything and bean counters driving the world to a shade of black, and the young kids have no idea. I hope they change that!
I absolutely love this one. Its absolutely terrific. A huge amount of respect for whoever restored this GLHS, they did a nice job. I can’t remember now where it started, bit on one of Michelles write ups the subject of bucket lists of cars to drive came up, and I keep adding to that list.This, is on the absolute very top, not just to drive, but own. I really think its a fair price too, probably cost way more than that to restore. Really nice. I enjoyed your write up very much Jeff. When I was a young guy, these were most certainly on my radar.
I agree. I just read Steven Cole Smith’s article on these in the latest Hagerty magazine and it ignited an interest in these cars again.
Driveinstile, you would love it. The driving experience is like nothing else. I can’t speak from direct experience with a GLHS, but I owned an ’86 GLH-T from new and it was an absolute blast!
Unfortunately, my experience with this car was short lived – I totaled it being a complete idiot, but at least I walked away.
One of these is on my bucket list as well.
PRA4SNW, driving one of these is absolutely on the very top of my list. Closest I came was a buddy bought a brand new ( regular) Omni in Ice Blue in the late 80’s. 2.2 5 speed. I loved it. Even the non turbo 2.2 felt great, and he loved it. I can only imagine how quick these are.
I’ve often said that the ideal car for the city is a small hatchback with a powerful engine. Squirt around in traffic and park anywhere.
There was one at the Keno Hillclimb,in Keno,Oregon.
The owner bought it on Thursday,& raced it on Saturday.
A couple of us were working the finish line,& were
thinking we had some time before it passed us.Imagine our
surprise when it came by – MUCH faster than the other cars
like that.
I heard that there was an ad for that class win,as Dodge
caleed it something like “The first Shelby to win since XXX”.
First GLH appeared in 1984..the GLH Turbo arrived in 1985. I had an ’85….I wish I still had it. Probably the most fun you can have semi-legally on four wheels……
Some of the lower mile examples according the Hagerty have hit high $30s and even into the $40k range. This one will go for high $20s to low $30s with only 51k miles , new paint, restored wheels,u and an interior refresh. Link to project build here https://jakesgeneralstore.com/1986-dodge-omni-glhs-shelby/
a fav of mine (in different guise tho) one of the 1st to B called ‘world cars’ (misnomer as there were world cars ofa sort for 80 yrs). The platform was designed in partnership (was it usa and france?) and built @ 5 companies in 6 nations. Delta integral rally winner by lancia in Italy, a dodge here, simca in france, talbot horizon, etc.
The one I liked was Rampage/Scamp. Lill fwd ‘pick up’. Some no I like the ’60s chero, Brat, veedub pick-up, etc. This fits right in there (in p/u livery that is).
I have an 87 csx Shadow and I love it. Has the same setup as this
Too bad it’s still an Omni.
I remeber them when they were new. Really quick, handled well with minimal torque steer (equal length half shafts were standard on Mopar Turbos). IMHO the closest thing to a motorcycle experience on four wheels.
Mark
My dad worked with a guy that had a new 84′ GLH Omni. He took him out for a ride in it one day and he said it took corners like on rails. He bought a new Omni that year himself. Unfortunately it wasn’t a GLH model to my major disappointment.
Ended with 0 bids.