The Dodge Omni GLH is one of the most notable hot hatches that America has produced, and of course, none other than Carroll Shelby himself was integral in its development. It’s a shame, then, that the GLH isn’t more of a collector’s item given its street cred and its still-respectable performance. Sadly, many of these cars suffer from being ridden hard and put away wet, which makes survivors rare and expensive. This particular Omni GLH has more than a few cosmetic needs but someone has swapped in the later and more powerful Turbo II engine. Find it here on Facebook Marketplace for $3,500.
The Omni was the perfect candidate for converting into a street-tough turbocharged punk. It was a homely vehicle in its bone-stock condition, meant for cautious grandma and angry commuters to use as their daily transport. It wasn’t meant to inspire joy unless you’re someone who truly celebrates filling up once every other week with low-grade fuel. The Omni was a decent car for commuting purposes, but I’m not sure the bar was ever raised much higher than that. The GLH worked to overcome this image in much the same way the VW GTI took the Golf from humble to hero with the addition of a more powerful engine, snappy wheels, and a gussied-up interior.
When Shelby got involved with Mopar, he tackled the company’s performance problems in phases, with the first run of turbocharged sport compacts using the “Turbo 1” engine. This was a fine motor and certainly a shot across the bow as it related to making sure the Germans and Japanese didn’t sleep on the front-wheel drive econoboxes from Chrysler. From proving themselves on the street to the local autocross course, Carroll’s involvement was a Godsend for anyone who wanted a performance car on a budget and couldn’t stomach the idea of owning a VW. The Turbo II engine that this GLH has is technically from the GLHS, which jolted output to a ridiculous 175 horsepower.
The Turbo II engine utilized an air-to-air intercooler and updated intake manifold to bump power prodigiously from the Turbo 1’s 146 b.h.p. The seller doesn’t mention if other upgrades were noticed when he was prepping this car for sale, but it appears to be more or less stock based on visuals alone. The seller says it will need some TLC and it looks like the missing grill is stowed inside the car. The floor pans and spare tire well are said to be rust-free, which is a good start for the next owner since the Omni could be vulnerable to corrosion. The asking price seems fair, especially given the engine upgrade it comes with.
That would be a nice project car. I had an Omni 024 so much fun to drive. Mine had the little VW 1.6 engine and I had a guy who did our state inspections drop a 2.2 in. Easy conversion. I loved that car and this Omni is even better
Too bad that the pictures are terrible. Drove one of the these as a stock showroom test and the torque-steer was damn scary.
I agree. I drove a friends Charger GLHS and was stopped, making a left turn so had the wheel turned left, and when I hit the gas the steering wheel literally ripped out of my hands! FWD can be like that but I currently drive a 2019 Civic Type R and pretty much zero torque steer with my driving.
I had a pair of the Shelby Chargers, both turbos’ and boy howdy were they fun to drive. The Turbo I motor was a lot of fun, sure like to tuck in behind a Turbo II and see what memories that might bring back! Fair price for am ’80s hot hatch!!! Check those production number folks….not a heck of a lot of them!!
Rick, my thoughts exactly! I had an ’86 GLH-T and, when finished, this will give a major batch of thrills to anyone who takes this project on.
Meant to add a picture form back in the day.
PRA4SNW, thats a VERY nice GLH you had. I always wanted one.
Driveinstile: thanks! I wish that I had it longer, but being young and aggressive behind the wheel of one of these, it’s the only car that I ever totaled that was my fault.
That’s part of the reason why I wouldn’t mind having another – I feel like I didn’t have enough time behind the wheel on mine.
I still have a key and a lot of the original paperwork of the one I owned, including a copy of the sticker, and an ’86 Omni dealer’s brochure.
I really miss these little pocket rocket hatchbacks! They were so much fun to drive. Nothing even close on the market today. Try taking a corner fast and hard in a compact SUV and see where you end up.
There’s several cool pocket rockets out there. Toyota Corolla GR, Honda Civic Type R, Mini Cooper, etc…
Don’t know about that. Just bought a Mazda CX-5, with better tires I think its going to corner pretty good for a suv
I’ll take any SUV on in an autocross with an Omni…. and not even a GLH. And what fun is driving with an automatic transmission?
I had an ’84 Prospector Rampage Mini Pickup it was fun and pretty useful and handled really well but would have been a blast with a turbo.
I had a 1985 Chrysler Laser Turbo that car was like a carnival thrill ride every time i drove it. The torque steer was crazy until you remembered to hold onto that steering wheel real tight every time you stepped on the gas hard.
I test drove a GLH years ago,& was asked if it was a turbo.
I wasn’t aware (at the time) that these came in Turbo & non-Turbo-
versions.
Yup, the Shelby Charger for its first two years ’83-84 and the Omni GLH for its first year ’84 only had a non-turbo, “high output” (cammed and higher compression) version of the 2.2L.
Then for ’85 the new Shelby-engineered Turbo engine appeared (later retroactively dubbed Turbo I), becoming standard for the Shelby Charger but optional in the Omni GLH (badged as GLH-T if so equipped).
The earlier n/a HO 2.2L remained the standard engine in the GLH, and became an available option in regular Chargers/Turismos with the “Charger 2.2” and “Turismo 2.2” packages.
The torque steer was crazy on the Saab 99? Front drive. Yeah don’t come off a corner from a stop and nail it hang on 🤣 lmfao
I had a co-worker who loved these little hatchbacks, and I had a couple myself., an ’85 and ’87. Both were trouble-free and would get you there and back whenever you wanted as long as you weren’t in a hurry. I also owned an Omni O24, the sportier version of the same car. It was an ’80 with a VW engine. Back in the day you couldn’t go a day without seeing an Omni-Rizon, now you never see them at all…Oh, according to Shelby, the GLH stood for Goes Like Hell.He was probably talking about the Turbo.
The second Shelby was GLHS “Go’s Like Hell- Some more” with 175 H.P.
Years back we had a Turbo Lancer, same basic set-up in a slightly larger package. Torque steer, like the previous posts stated was “crazy”, plus this engine ate head gaskets like nobody’s business. After the third gasket blowing out, I sold that car for little more than scrap and never looked back.
My dad bought a brand new Omni in 84′. Was really hoping he’d get the GLH since he worked with a guy that had one. Said it took corners like on rails when he had a ride in it. Being a NJ car I’d definitely check the car in person, rust wise, but if it checked out it seems like a decent little project to have some fun with.
These are interesting cars for the enthusiast maybe. Plus point? 175 bhp, negatives? it’s a Dodge Omni. I can’t imagine VW or other “hot hatch” builders ever lost much sleep over the Omni GLH ….total production of Omni GLH over two years just over 10,000 – VW sold around 90,000 Golf GTi models per year in that same time period?
My regular Omni 4 Dr 2.2 5spd easily beat a Rabbit GTi stoplight racing shortly after I bought it in Phoenix and then again several years later in California. Cost a couple grand less than the VW and embarrassed a couple of them. Quality? Not so much.
These were all over the western north Carolina mountains 30 years ago.
They looked beat to death but still could zip along like the driver was transformed into a Finnish rally driver.
Slow cars (no turbo version) driven fast rule.
I had a 84 Dodge Omni 1.6 4spd it was the first new car my wife and I bought and we loved that car we put 120000 miles on it and it still ran great. Unfortunately the NY salt ate it up. It still had the original clutch in it when we got rid of it.