Well it beat up on the regular mustang and GTs, heck it even beat the GT 350 ON THE TRACK. We are talking about a little Dodge Omni beating up stangs, vettes, Camaros etc
The Saleen Mustang was unaffordable by most. I don't know why they said it was. The GLHS was rare and torque steered like a mofo. People turned the boost up on them and got good horsepower. Really, there was no way I'd back off racing a GLHS with a Mustang. That's nice that it was a fast econobox, and easy to mod but the Mustang LX was dirt cheap and easy to mod and went better with bolt ons. Take an LX, smash out the cats, advance the timing, throw out the air intake silencer, change the coil to an MSD, underdrive pulleys, short throw shifter, 3:73 gears and powershift your way to low 13s. Enough to smoke a Corvette and take all it's dignity in a straight line. Add slicks and drive it like you stole it. If you like handling H&R springs, Tokico shocks, energy suspension bushings, panhard bar and torque arm and subframe connectors. Remember. People didn't buy a Mustang for what it did, you bought it for what you wanted to make it do. If you wanted it straight line, make it that way. If you wanted it to handle, make it that way. If you want a combination, make it that way. Build it slowly or build it quickly. It was all up to your budget. Choice. Something you don't get with top of the line models as they come the way the manufacturer thought they would be Look up "Mean Mr Mustang" th-cam.com/video/HjW_QW3qfjs/w-d-xo.html&feature=emb_logo
John Shields Jr. I was in high school at the time, my dad had an 86 Shelby Charger turbo that would surprise the hell out of a lot of guys that thought they were big and bad. There were a lot of punks, at the time that drove IROC's and GT's that got there ass handed to them by that little blue car...
I owned a 1970 GTO at the same time as my 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. The GTO was massaged a little - the GLH was stock - the GLH would outrun it anywhere except in a straight line (and that line had to be at least a quarter mile, because until about the quarter, the GLH was ahead - it just ran out of steam over 110 or so) The GTO was cool, but the GLH was way more fun to drive. And I LOVED beating up Trans Ams, Mustangs, Camaros, and other (at that time) 15-20 year old muscle cars... That little beast was POTENT.
I owned a 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. Man oh man. I added a intercooler and intake from a Shelby Z and was the fastest box on weekends. Slayed many a corvette at that time, mustangs, camaros, all street racing. 1987 and 88 were the best time with me and my blue box. Gawd damn I miss that car !!
I had a '85 stock GLH Turbo and I would pack three friends in that car and go Mustang hunting. My friends would yell, "Wanna lose to an Omni?" and then I'd make it happen! Surprised I'm still alive, actually.
Stock Buick 14.5-14.9 @94-98 mph1/4mile, Stock Shelby GLHS 14.6- 14.9 1/4 mile @94 -96 mph. Both cars needed better tires, Buick came with a 235 section tire and the Shelby came with a 205 section tire. Drag race the Buick would win, from a roll on I think the Shelby would take it.
i had a 86 glh-t myself, dropped in a 2.5 from a later model turbo spirit, used the 2 piece shelby intake, dayotna z intercooler, the super 60 kit from mopar performance and upped the boost to 26 psi with extra fuel via vw cold start injectors and hobbs switchs lol crude but kept the pistons intact. wicked fast little car.
I owned a GLHS Omni (#429) back in 86 and it was an 80’s street terror among the cars of the day. It was unique even at the time. Only weakness was a fusible link in the engine electronics. I still miss that car! Thank you for post up this footage and I hope you will do a longer piece on it.
Oh man, memories! My best friend had the glhs Dodge Omni Shelby when we were in high school in the early 90's. It was the quickest car in school during that time period. He was terrible with maintenance and beat that thing into the ground. One year after school, he ran it hot and cracked the head.
I owned an N/A 84' GLH and a 86' GLHS (226) both modded with forward motion parts. The 84' was primarily used as an SCCA car, but used the 86' to streetrace. It was the greatest car I ever hustled the streets with.
Forward Motion! Ah man that's a name I haven't heard in a while. Used to own a 88' Daytona Turbo and a 89' Caravan Turbo. The looks from people was the best.
I think the comments about 1980's cars were wrong, it was the 80's when performance started to come back, the Fox body mustangs, the C4 Corvettes (including the ZR-1) Buick Grand Nationals, F body GM cars, The Turbo Mopars as well as the Imports like the VW GTIs, the Diamond Star Cars (Eclipse and their Mopar variants) BMWs, the Mercedes 190 with the six cylinder, Supra and Nissan 300ZXs making performance affordable and available to common people.
I had a 86 300ZX non turbo back in high school. Even non turbo it would slay Camaros. I had a LOT of fun in that car. A little too much fun. I survived, the car didn't. BUT my buddy took it and used it's parts for his 300ZX. So she lived on in some way for a while.
Basically they say 80s because the early 80s were crap and the late 80s were not muscle car days. That said...... Your right. I'f they said the 70s they would have put in HEMI CUDAS ,CHARGERS, CHALLENGER, ROAD RUNNERS ETS, STAGE 1S CHEVELLES, etc
Dodge GLH turbo helped spark the 4 banger tuner revolution ! I owned one and with some mods you were in the 12 seconds reliably! I miss my baby, ultimate sleeper car!
I had a 1985 non-turbo GLH and autocrossed it often in the Philly-region SCCA Solo II series back in the 1990s. I really loved that car. It wasn't crazy quick in a straight line like the Turbo but with no turbo lag it was amazing on a cone course. I used to left foot brake it as most courses were tight enough to keep it in 2nd gear and it drove so flat that I could get that rear end to slide around with trailbraking alone. Rear-steering with the brake was so much fun. People used to wonder how I was so good with the handbrake but I never used that at all. The GTI owners had all they could handle when I showed up with it. Quick steering and tight gearing made it feel like a four-door go-cart. At one time I though about moving on and test drove a 1985 Porsche 944 with low mileage. That poor thing felt like a 70s Buick Riviera in comparison to my little red rocket. Great memories!
It's nice to see the GLHS get some attention! A couple of corrections, though, they are rod shifted, not cable. Also, Carroll owned 1986 GLHS #001 from day one. My understanding is that he purchased #086 so that he could have an original example in his collection (#001 is far from stock).
They were also rod linkage? I thought they had gone to the cable, but maybe that was the Shelby Shadow CSX. I believe Carroll rolled #001 on the test track. He had put a roll bar in it and that helped save him from injury.
001 was never rolled 001 consisted of a hans herman 16v head prototype motor and sorts made around 400 hp, the one rolled was at a press event if I recall.
Lee Latts Seen that special 16v at Whittier .ca (89) last year of dodge program & couple yrs later at a car show in Newport beach, real scorcher and very rare cyl head.
Great video Dennis and Roger! About 15 years ago, at the local friday night corner races there was a guy who had one these swapped with the larger 2.4 or w/e block, a neon cylinder head or something, a huge snail and one of those front valence things on it. Pretty much nobody knew what it was and he was just cleaning up, taking on all comers and upsetting everyone with his little monster sleeper hatch.... with the 'piece de resistance' being when he easily licked a boosted Viper. Lmao. The craziest part however is even though the car was front wheel drive the thing pulled so hard and the shifting was so violent that after pretty much every launch and shift into 2and and 3rd the front of the car would be up so high and would come droping down so hard the front valence would smash the ground. It was one hell of a sight and sound hearing that blow off valve punctuated with that crunch-scrape nastiness. It didn't take long for everyone to be afraid and refuse to race any black 4 door hatch that so much as resembled whatever that "GLH" "OMNI" mystery machine was. The next year the same guy showed up but this time he had one of those boxy turbo ~85 Dodge Caravans... he had a 5 speed swap in it and the throw on the giant shifter had to be something like 12-18 inches. I think he even extended it for effect. Lmao. That van was uglier than sin but boy was it fast, faster than the omni somehow...and just watching him He-Man throw those shifts like he was rowing some kind of evil boat was an absolute blast. The thing was much more of a sleeper this time though and he was embarrassing corvettes, boosted v8's and big blocks and AWD DSM's, and WRX's left and right. Like literally everything, and then he just drove away into the sunrise and I believe no one ever saw him again. Having mercilessly beaten whatever this world could throw at him, and with nothing left to do, he ceased his existence on this mortal coil and returned to where he originated: Where else but, Hell. I don't think it was just us quiet, unwashed Canadian's who had witnessed such an unhinged ruination dealt ruthlessly to the unworthy... It was at the very least an OMNious prophecy...foretelling what was to come. And as it was just a short year or two later when Dodge released the first of it's Satan-spawn: The SRT4, followed by many more SRT monsters who were obviously only harbinges for the damned feline "HellCat", the malignant "RedEye" (Lol I think? I'm not a Mopar guy) and finally... the doom-slaying, soul-snatching fiend: The Dodge Demon! Could you imagine in the 90's telling someone buying an anaemic 150HP "muscle car" that in 20 years one of the big three would be selling a normal one of their vehicles with aengine and performance package that puts out over 900hp and allows the car the wheel stand down the track? Unbelievable!
I had a 1986 Omni GLH. 1986 was the last year they made them. Mine had the 110 hp non-turbo. 0-60 mph in 8.5 secs with a top speed of 110 mph. (fast back then). The GLH turbo (1) with 145 hp did 0-60 mph in 7.5 secs with a top speed of 120 mph. The GLH-S did 0-60 mph in 6.5 secs with a top speed of 130 mph. If I remember correctly, none of these made it to dealer showrooms. They were all ordered and spoken for right from the factory. Only 500 made. They came out with the Charger GLH-S in 1987 and 1000 of them were made. A little slower off the start because it weighed more, 0-60 mph in 6.7 secs but the top speed was higher because of better aerodynamics so it had a top speed of 137 mph.
they should do a comparison between the Talbot/chrysler Sunbeam Lotus and the GLH Turbo, they're in essence the same car, but tuned by two different companies (chrysler europe and shelby), would be nice to see how the american version compares to the original. P.S. the fact that it's based on an 80's euro model might explain the interior's fragility
I had an '85 Turbo GLH and I drove it to the ground and sold it for a grand more than I bought it for. The only car I actually MADE money on! Man, I miss that car.
Michael Kenis the European version was not the original. My dad and brothers own many Shelby Dodges and turbo Dodges. Hence my 89 CSX in my photo. I also have a 87 Shelby Charger. I’ve had two CSX-T’s. My dad had the first GLHS Off the assembly line. He also has an 89 CSX. We have a Shelby Dakota, A turbo GLH being built for 550hp with the 8 valve 2.5. We’ve owned GLHS Chargers as well. They are secret gems and the amount of knowledge for performance that’s secret is staggering. Along with the amount of ignorance.
Omni was the best handling car of its time, and arguably continues to be today. At the time with a few cheap mods it could out-steer everything on a tight track or in autocross, even Fieros.
I have a an old Plymouth Fury 2 door in nice shape with a 440 and a 86 GLHS. Guess which car gets more attention at car cruises..... My headliner is gone on my Glhs and my seats wiggle about,,but you don't notice when battling torque steer during 19 psi boost,,,,,,,, The Omni GLHS is finally getting the attention it deserves in history.
One of the most fun cars we had in the 80's, was a 78 Plymouth Horizon (basically the same car as the Omni) my dad got from the car lot he was head mechanic for, for 33 years. He knew their worth as a result, despite the heckling he and I both received for collecting a "Grandma car". Dad's boss practically gave him the three we ended up with, but with his knowledge, we made a super fun car out of two that were mostly parts cars.. Not a turbo, but with the better engine, a milled and ported head, four speed manual trans and lowered, that silly hatchback was very impressive. Lowering it made all the difference in the world, with what the increase in power working over the head did for it.. That thing stuck like glue in any turn or curve, enabling it to mop up most of what tried to play with it.. VERY underestimated little cars.. I was blown away when I learned that Shelby toyed around with them, making a turbo powered engine. Some would call that ridiculous, but those of us who know, know what these little cars can do.. ;)
I had a '85 GLH Turbo in Highschool. It roasted everything off the line. I have never seen a GLHS in the flesh. I would probably pay a lot of money to own one, especially the one in this video. I'd get that headliner dealt with, though!
Those Spirit R/T's were fast. Had the 2.2 Intercooled turbo but with 16 valves and dual overhead cams which boosted the power from 176 hp to 224 hp. Saw an article in Car and Driver back in the day on the Spirit R/T. 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds with a top speed of 140 mph.
Growing up in Salina, I used to cause quite a bit of trouble up at the old airstrip in my Prelude quite regularly in high school... so cool to see a couple of the odder vehicles in the Morrison collection on display here..... for those not up to current speed, Roger’s brother Richard is at top of the board of directors for The Garage, an automotive museum opening up in Salina at some point in the near future. There are a couple videos here on TH-cam documenting the progress
I have an 86 Omni GLH. Took me forever to find this amazing car! It was my daily driver all summer. Gives me such great feels to drive it...gets lots of attention too! ❤️
Chrysler never got the "props" for the Omni they deserved. It, with the KCar saved the company. My family had 3 Omni's. One went over 200k without much maintenance. Granted another Omni was plagued with intake issues. All in all, they were a fun little car.
@LAFOLLETTER yes. I believe the Omni had a Peugot 1.6L when it was first offered & the 2.2L. The K car had the 2.2L and the Mitsubishi 2.6L. The K car had the
@@Snake-ms7sj Actually the Omni/Horizon had a VW/Audi 1.7 L in the beginning in 1978. This was the same block and head (with some machinework changes) that they used in their VW Rabbit Diesel. Then about 1983 I think is when they added the 2.2L as an option. I know in one year they had an Omni Miser edition that had the 1.7L with the gearing of the 2.2L. It also had the AC and radio deleted. My brother bought one and brought home many a speeding ticket, including one for 104 on a highway cloverleaf. Later Chrysler dropped the 1.7. All of Chrysler's front wheel drive cars from 1978 through I think 1990, including the Aries, Reliant, E-Class, 600, LeBaron, etc, had the same basic suspension. believe me, I dropped many a part out of one and into another. Interchangeability was amazing. I had plans that never came together to build a 2.5L DOHC Turbo III. All the parts were available, but Chrysler never actually built one. The closest they got was a Dodge Spirit R/T with a 2.2L DOHC Turbo III turning out around 220hp.
I owned a 1987 Shelby CSX (#223), and it was one of the most fun cars I have ever owned - up there with a race-prepped Mustang Cobra and a 1970 440 Challenger. I raced it in SCCA auto cross and it ATE mustangs, Camaros and M3s for breakfast. Loved that car.
@@brookeshenfield7156 I don't disagree with that. The Shelby CSX may have been a better car than the Omni GLH-S. Unfortunately, it's less known among the most powerful cars of the 1980s. The GLH and the GLH-S are more well known among performance fans.
@@johnnymason2460 Nobody knows what it was. I have been cursed/blessed with an affinity for unusual cars and motorcycles. I once had another Cobra-adjacent car, an AC Aceca with a Bristol Six, a car whose name draws a blank stare from almost all enthusiasts.
@@brookeshenfield7156 I know about the AC Aceca. It's a shame there wasn't a version of the Aceca with the Ford 289ci V8 or the 427ci V8. Those cars would be epic.
That GLHS reminds me of my 90 Honda CRX. Cars like that handled like go carts and were an absolute blast to drive. I had a friend who had a Fox body Mustang at the same time I had my REX. She and I used to spend a lot time driving here and there in those cars.
Had a friend received a 1985 turbo for graduation. At the time I had a 1984 Dodge Colt Turbo w/the stock (lame) rubber. Thus I was a little envious. His stayed stock. Suspension mods, much bigger, stickier tires, and a few under the hood tweaks allowed me to mess w/him!
I got a 1987 ford f-150 bigfoot cruiser only made them like 3 years to me the 80s trucks and cars are pretty cool then ofcourse I got my pride and joy and dream vehicle my squarebody chevy
Carol Shelby loved those turbo cars from the ‘80s Mopar era, but he said the greatest engine and platform that he absolutely loved the most was the 5.4 liter supercharged GT500 Mustang models of the late ‘00s. I wonder how he would compare the 5.2 liter GT350 though, I never heard his thoughts on that but I’m sure it’s documented somewhere ❤
In 1986 I was looking to buy a car and was leaning towards a Mustang for the performance when my Dad told me his friend owned a Dodge dealership and told him he had an 86 GLHS he would sell me at cost. I turned him down due to the four doors but boy do I kick myself now.
I have an 86 stang that originally had an i4 with the crappy 3-speed auto. I installed a fuel-injected 351 with a Borg/Warner T45 and a rearend out of an 83 Thunderbird. I replaced the entire dash with a custom build that has all-digital guages calibrated by my local Ford dealer here in Iowa City, Iowa. No chips, no turbo or supercharger. Just polished heads and valves. She cranks out 427hp. 0-60 roughly 4.8 seconds.
I still get a bit chubbed up from the Omni glhs I wanted one pretty bad. I had a Horizon which I just loved and I had a Shelby Z Daytona which was impressive in its own right but I always wanted to experience that in the smaller Omni. I also had a Rampage which I really wanted to retrofit the Shelby Z parts too. I’m not a big fan of front drive but I’d love to have any of those vehicles again now.
I had a black GLH. My 1st new car. If you blind folded someone before they got in and took it off after they had their seat belt on, they wouldn't be impressed....until you took them for a spin !
Carroll Shelby could have literally let an air molecule from his own breath land on a small Little Tikes car and it would instantly have 100 horsepower more.
Loved my 86 GLH Turbo died way too soon. Wish I could find another. And shout out to the town I was born in, and all my dads family was from, Hi Salina!
I worked for Dodge and drove those. They were surprisingly fast. Had the Spirit RT with a head built by Porsche, V6 Daytona, the Omni by Shelby, twin turbo AWD stealth and even a 360 magnum in a long bed 5 speed regular cab truck. That was the best part of working for Dodge 😂
I knew a guy who had one of those Shelby Daytonas that was rolling around when I was a teenager. The turbo in that thing was quicker than most cars around. It was faster than it looked.
Love the GLH...It spoke of the rebirth of Chrysler in a big way at the time. A company that only six years earlier was near death was willing to let their hair down...
I'm just about to resurrect my 86 Dodge Lancer Pacifica. Only 500 made in 86 and only available in CA. 2.2 turbo, 5spd, 4dr hatchback, real leather interior, power seats, power windows, ac.
i owned a red "85" omni glh back in 1986 when i was 16, was my first car. the loud whistling noise of turbo was music to my ears lol. good old times back when police officers let you slide when you were street racing on weekend nights at the strip.
I wanted to buy a GLH or GLHS back in 1991-93. Every single one was completely ragged to death. And the cheapness of the Omni interior was sad. I wound up with a SWEET ‘85 Supra - 5spd, leather, AC, power everything, moonroof.
I had an '85 GLH Turbo and that car was a blast! Unfortunately I ended up rolling it over and totalled it. I would love to own one today...especially a GLHS
There was another GLHS that he had, w/ a Hans Herman twin cam cyl head (R&D) , that was a monster. I last see on tv fee years ago. I saw it when I work there I'm 1989.
Loved my stock Plymouth Horizon back in the day. When it was starting to fail my friend has the idea that we should take a hack saw to the roof and make it a convertible. Never did though
HI, even if it was going to the junkyard I'm glad you never did what your friend suggested cause who'l knows maybe someone else would be interested in the car and they saw it the junkyard and probably decided to take it home and fix it up.
@@steveespinola7652 we were in college and dumb. The car had serious rust though, and the transmission was slipping. Still, you're right. Maybe someone did get use out of it
I had a 1986 GLH Turbo that was not intercooled but was modified to make 10 lbs of boost. Super fun and fast car with crazy torque steer. The build quality was very poor and had tons of electrical issues. I've also owned an 1985 Mustang GT, a 1991 Taurus SHO, a 2003 Mach 1, a 2003 Marauder and a 2008 GT500. Ford's quality has always been much better. I'm not biased, I've also owned a 1966. Plymouth Sport Fury, a 1969 and 70 SuperBee as well as a 1972 Duster 340 and 74 Duster 360. So even though the quality of the Dodge is suspect at best I'd still choose it over the Saleen.
I love that GLHS. However, after blowing two head gastkets in an 84 Chrysler Laser Turbo, I'd be very cautious on how hard I'd drive that GLHS if it were mine. Dodge's 4cyl turbos weren't known for their longevity...
Oh come on now you can't tell me a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado with an 8.2 liter engine making about 175HP is *less* detuned than a base model Dodge Aries K with a 2.2 liter making 80HP
![fellow fellow - PROUD feat. INK WARUNTORN [STRING QUARTET]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQrVkMPTdHE/mqdefault.jpg)
Judging from all the comments below I think the GLHS steals the show, no one is talking about the Mustang.
Well it beat up on the regular mustang and GTs, heck it even beat the GT 350 ON THE TRACK.
We are talking about a little Dodge Omni beating up stangs, vettes, Camaros etc
I guess its a "David versus Goliath" complex thing or what? dunno...(I miss my charcoal Gray 4 spd manual 1990 "Tin Can" Omni)
The Saleen Mustang was unaffordable by most. I don't know why they said it was. The GLHS was rare and torque steered like a mofo. People turned the boost up on them and got good horsepower. Really, there was no way I'd back off racing a GLHS with a Mustang. That's nice that it was a fast econobox, and easy to mod but the Mustang LX was dirt cheap and easy to mod and went better with bolt ons.
Take an LX, smash out the cats, advance the timing, throw out the air intake silencer, change the coil to an MSD, underdrive pulleys, short throw shifter, 3:73 gears and powershift your way to low 13s. Enough to smoke a Corvette and take all it's dignity in a straight line. Add slicks and drive it like you stole it.
If you like handling H&R springs, Tokico shocks, energy suspension bushings, panhard bar and torque arm and subframe connectors.
Remember. People didn't buy a Mustang for what it did, you bought it for what you wanted to make it do. If you wanted it straight line, make it that way. If you wanted it to handle, make it that way. If you want a combination, make it that way. Build it slowly or build it quickly. It was all up to your budget. Choice. Something you don't get with top of the line models as they come the way the manufacturer thought they would be
Look up "Mean Mr Mustang"
th-cam.com/video/HjW_QW3qfjs/w-d-xo.html&feature=emb_logo
Should have been a Mustang SVO in this video.
Always liked the Omni glhs
Love those boxy styled Dodge !!!!
Legacy Turbo Goes Like Hell. GLH.. the S for when these Shelby's kick your ass you say Shit
A GLH was the only car that ever beat my 68 GTO.
I don't talk about that day much.
John Shields Jr. I was in high school at the time, my dad had an 86 Shelby Charger turbo that would surprise the hell out of a lot of guys that thought they were big and bad. There were a lot of punks, at the time that drove IROC's and GT's that got there ass handed to them by that little blue car...
Don't be ashamed. It was touched by God. Carroll Shelby could have made a piss fueled go cart that could do ten seconds in the quarter mile.
Goes like hell!
@@ShadowACE1998 Exactly!! He actually got 60's cars to sort of handle and stop. That is amazing in and of itself.
I owned a 1970 GTO at the same time as my 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. The GTO was massaged a little - the GLH was stock - the GLH would outrun it anywhere except in a straight line (and that line had to be at least a quarter mile, because until about the quarter, the GLH was ahead - it just ran out of steam over 110 or so)
The GTO was cool, but the GLH was way more fun to drive. And I LOVED beating up Trans Ams, Mustangs, Camaros, and other (at that time) 15-20 year old muscle cars... That little beast was POTENT.
I owned a 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. Man oh man. I added a intercooler and intake from a Shelby Z and was the fastest box on weekends. Slayed many a corvette at that time, mustangs, camaros, all street racing. 1987 and 88 were the best time with me and my blue box. Gawd damn I miss that car !!
I had a '85 stock GLH Turbo and I would pack three friends in that car and go Mustang hunting. My friends would yell, "Wanna lose to an Omni?" and then I'd make it happen! Surprised I'm still alive, actually.
Great memories "RAD Garage". They don't make them like they used to LOL. Take care out there !
What about Buick Grand Nationals?
Stock Buick 14.5-14.9 @94-98 mph1/4mile, Stock Shelby GLHS 14.6- 14.9 1/4 mile @94 -96 mph. Both cars needed better tires, Buick came with a 235 section tire and the Shelby came with a 205 section tire. Drag race the Buick would win, from a roll on I think the Shelby would take it.
i had a 86 glh-t myself, dropped in a 2.5 from a later model turbo spirit, used the 2 piece shelby intake, dayotna z intercooler, the super 60 kit from mopar performance and upped the boost to 26 psi with extra fuel via vw cold start injectors and hobbs switchs lol crude but kept the pistons intact. wicked fast little car.
I actually love 80s cars. I think they have a lot of charm
Some of them not but some
Yes , I agree with you 👍
I'm so used to seeing Dennis driving slowly and cautiously in classics. It's a blast to see him rip around the autocross course
It was a blast!
I owned a GLHS Omni (#429) back in 86 and it was an 80’s street terror among the cars of the day. It was unique even at the time. Only weakness was a fusible link in the engine electronics. I still miss that car! Thank you for post up this footage and I hope you will do a longer piece on it.
Oh man, memories! My best friend had the glhs Dodge Omni Shelby when we were in high school in the early 90's. It was the quickest car in school during that time period.
He was terrible with maintenance and beat that thing into the ground. One year after school, he ran it hot and cracked the head.
I owned an N/A 84' GLH and a 86' GLHS (226) both modded with forward motion parts. The 84' was primarily used as an SCCA car, but used the 86' to streetrace. It was the greatest car I ever hustled the streets with.
Forward Motion! Ah man that's a name I haven't heard in a while. Used to own a 88' Daytona Turbo and a 89' Caravan Turbo. The looks from people was the best.
I think the comments about 1980's cars were wrong, it was the 80's when performance started to come back, the Fox body mustangs, the C4 Corvettes (including the ZR-1) Buick Grand Nationals, F body GM cars, The Turbo Mopars as well as the Imports like the VW GTIs, the Diamond Star Cars (Eclipse and their Mopar variants) BMWs, the Mercedes 190 with the six cylinder, Supra and Nissan 300ZXs making performance affordable and available to common people.
I had a 86 300ZX non turbo back in high school. Even non turbo it would slay Camaros. I had a LOT of fun in that car. A little too much fun. I survived, the car didn't. BUT my buddy took it and used it's parts for his 300ZX. So she lived on in some way for a while.
Capt. Beak
correcto mundo...
1985 was the year in particular when performance started to come back.
Basically they say 80s because the early 80s were crap and the late 80s were not muscle car days. That said...... Your right.
I'f they said the 70s they would have put in HEMI CUDAS ,CHARGERS, CHALLENGER, ROAD RUNNERS ETS, STAGE 1S CHEVELLES, etc
Glad you mentioned the Buick Grand National. The supercar slayer from the 80's.........
Great to see the GLHS featured!!!
Dodge GLH turbo helped spark the 4 banger tuner revolution ! I owned one and with some mods you were in the 12 seconds reliably! I miss my baby, ultimate sleeper car!
I had a 1985 non-turbo GLH and autocrossed it often in the Philly-region SCCA Solo II series back in the 1990s. I really loved that car. It wasn't crazy quick in a straight line like the Turbo but with no turbo lag it was amazing on a cone course. I used to left foot brake it as most courses were tight enough to keep it in 2nd gear and it drove so flat that I could get that rear end to slide around with trailbraking alone. Rear-steering with the brake was so much fun. People used to wonder how I was so good with the handbrake but I never used that at all. The GTI owners had all they could handle when I showed up with it. Quick steering and tight gearing made it feel like a four-door go-cart. At one time I though about moving on and test drove a 1985 Porsche 944 with low mileage. That poor thing felt like a 70s Buick Riviera in comparison to my little red rocket.
Great memories!
It's nice to see the GLHS get some attention! A couple of corrections, though, they are rod shifted, not cable. Also, Carroll owned 1986 GLHS #001 from day one. My understanding is that he purchased #086 so that he could have an original example in his collection (#001 is far from stock).
They were also rod linkage? I thought they had gone to the cable, but maybe that was the Shelby Shadow CSX. I believe Carroll rolled #001 on the test track. He had put a roll bar in it and that helped save him from injury.
001 was never rolled 001 consisted of a hans herman 16v head prototype motor and sorts made around 400 hp, the one rolled was at a press event if I recall.
Ok, you're probably right. Read that in a magazine way back. They probably had it wrong.
All L bodys (omni/charger) were rod shifted.
A GLHS pilot/prototype was rolled on Shelby Whittier's Skid Pad was not a numbered car.
Lee Latts
Seen that special 16v at Whittier .ca (89) last year of dodge program & couple yrs later at a car show in Newport beach, real scorcher and very rare cyl head.
Great video Dennis and Roger!
About 15 years ago, at the local friday night corner races there was a guy who had one these swapped with the larger 2.4 or w/e block, a neon cylinder head or something, a huge snail and one of those front valence things on it.
Pretty much nobody knew what it was and he was just cleaning up, taking on all comers and upsetting everyone with his little monster sleeper hatch.... with the 'piece de resistance' being when he easily licked a boosted Viper. Lmao.
The craziest part however is even though the car was front wheel drive the thing pulled so hard and the shifting was so violent that after pretty much every launch and shift into 2and and 3rd the front of the car would be up so high and would come droping down so hard the front valence would smash the ground.
It was one hell of a sight and sound hearing that blow off valve punctuated with that crunch-scrape nastiness.
It didn't take long for everyone to be afraid and refuse to race any black 4 door hatch that so much as resembled whatever that "GLH" "OMNI" mystery machine was.
The next year the same guy showed up but this time he had one of those boxy turbo ~85 Dodge Caravans... he had a 5 speed swap in it and the throw on the giant shifter had to be something like 12-18 inches. I think he even extended it for effect. Lmao.
That van was uglier than sin but boy was it fast, faster than the omni somehow...and just watching him He-Man throw those shifts like he was rowing some kind of evil boat was an absolute blast.
The thing was much more of a sleeper this time though and he was embarrassing corvettes, boosted v8's and big blocks and AWD DSM's, and WRX's left and right.
Like literally everything, and then he just drove away into the sunrise and I believe no one ever saw him again.
Having mercilessly beaten whatever this world could throw at him, and with nothing left to do, he ceased his existence on this mortal coil and returned to where he originated:
Where else but,
Hell.
I don't think it was just us quiet, unwashed Canadian's who had witnessed such an unhinged ruination dealt ruthlessly to the unworthy...
It was at the very least an OMNious prophecy...foretelling what was to come.
And as it was just a short year or two later when Dodge released the first of it's Satan-spawn: The SRT4, followed by many more SRT monsters who were obviously only harbinges for the damned feline "HellCat", the malignant "RedEye" (Lol I think? I'm not a Mopar guy) and finally...
the doom-slaying, soul-snatching fiend: The Dodge Demon!
Could you imagine in the 90's telling someone buying an anaemic 150HP "muscle car" that in 20 years one of the big three would be selling a normal one of their vehicles with aengine and performance package that puts out over 900hp and allows the car the wheel stand down the track? Unbelievable!
I had a 1986 Omni GLH. 1986 was the last year they made them. Mine had the 110 hp non-turbo. 0-60 mph in 8.5 secs with a top speed of 110 mph. (fast back then). The GLH turbo (1) with 145 hp did 0-60 mph in 7.5 secs with a top speed of 120 mph. The GLH-S did 0-60 mph in 6.5 secs with a top speed of 130 mph. If I remember correctly, none of these made it to dealer showrooms. They were all ordered and spoken for right from the factory. Only 500 made. They came out with the Charger GLH-S in 1987 and 1000 of them were made. A little slower off the start because it weighed more, 0-60 mph in 6.7 secs but the top speed was higher because of better aerodynamics so it had a top speed of 137 mph.
they should do a comparison between the Talbot/chrysler Sunbeam Lotus and the GLH Turbo, they're in essence the same car, but tuned by two different companies (chrysler europe and shelby), would be nice to see how the american version compares to the original.
P.S. the fact that it's based on an 80's euro model might explain the interior's fragility
I thought it was called the ROOTS Sunbeam At least in the UK.
I had an '85 Turbo GLH and I drove it to the ground and sold it for a grand more than I bought it for. The only car I actually MADE money on! Man, I miss that car.
Michael Kenis the European version was not the original. My dad and brothers own many Shelby Dodges and turbo Dodges. Hence my 89 CSX in my photo. I also have a 87 Shelby Charger. I’ve had two CSX-T’s. My dad had the first GLHS Off the assembly line. He also has an 89 CSX. We have a Shelby Dakota, A turbo GLH being built for 550hp with the 8 valve 2.5. We’ve owned GLHS Chargers as well. They are secret gems and the amount of knowledge for performance that’s secret is staggering. Along with the amount of ignorance.
Lotus would kill the shelby shit
Omni was the best handling car of its time, and arguably continues to be today. At the time with a few cheap mods it could out-steer everything on a tight track or in autocross, even Fieros.
Not that outsteering a fiero is an achievement...
@@isaakwelch3451 Truth. You just have to wait for the Fiero to catch on fire and drive around it.
@@isaakwelch3451 The 88 Fiero Formula with 2.8 and a 5 speed was a Beast on an autocross course. True Story
@@douglaswaite9574 the one that they only made for one year with the suspension that didnt suck?
isuzu imark rs with lotus suspension and the high rev twin cam was another beast in autocross
Actually, the GLHS raced the GT350 at Willow Springs raceway & won !!
I have a an old Plymouth Fury 2 door in nice shape with a 440 and a 86 GLHS. Guess which car gets more attention at car cruises.....
My headliner is gone on my Glhs and my seats wiggle about,,but you don't notice when battling torque steer during 19 psi boost,,,,,,,,
The Omni GLHS is finally getting the attention it deserves in history.
I've also known about this Omni since I found I love automobiles.
I don't know. I'd be checking out the fury.
I remember the GLH . It was a hot hatch that people didn't want to mess with
I recently got #113 of the GLH-S it’s awesome and it’s still a very respectable car when it comes to fast.
One of the most fun cars we had in the 80's, was a 78 Plymouth Horizon (basically the same car as the Omni) my dad got from the car lot he was head mechanic for, for 33 years. He knew their worth as a result, despite the heckling he and I both received for collecting a "Grandma car". Dad's boss practically gave him the three we ended up with, but with his knowledge, we made a super fun car out of two that were mostly parts cars.. Not a turbo, but with the better engine, a milled and ported head, four speed manual trans and lowered, that silly hatchback was very impressive. Lowering it made all the difference in the world, with what the increase in power working over the head did for it.. That thing stuck like glue in any turn or curve, enabling it to mop up most of what tried to play with it.. VERY underestimated little cars.. I was blown away when I learned that Shelby toyed around with them, making a turbo powered engine. Some would call that ridiculous, but those of us who know, know what these little cars can do.. ;)
I had a '85 GLH Turbo in Highschool. It roasted everything off the line. I have never seen a GLHS in the flesh. I would probably pay a lot of money to own one, especially the one in this video. I'd get that headliner dealt with, though!
RAD Garage me too.. Had the GLH... also Had a Spirit RT and roasted everything with my Mopar sleeper
Those Spirit R/T's were fast. Had the 2.2 Intercooled turbo but with 16 valves and dual overhead cams which boosted the power from 176 hp to 224 hp. Saw an article in Car and Driver back in the day on the Spirit R/T. 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds with a top speed of 140 mph.
FWD cars are slow off the line...
There is one on eBay for $24,900
@@clarkgriswold5903
There two in Chicago for sale in Hemmings.
1 for $17,999 and the 2nd for $23,000
Growing up in Salina, I used to cause quite a bit of trouble up at the old airstrip in my Prelude quite regularly in high school... so cool to see a couple of the odder vehicles in the Morrison collection on display here..... for those not up to current speed, Roger’s brother Richard is at top of the board of directors for The Garage, an automotive museum opening up in Salina at some point in the near future. There are a couple videos here on TH-cam documenting the progress
Man I miss my 2.2 Omni. So many good memories
Over the years I have owned: 85 GLH turbo, 86 GLHS Omni #151, 85 GLH na, and an 86 T2 GLHT that ran a best of 12.93 @111mph back in 2004.
Awesome. I owned an 80s Mustang and an 80s Omni. Both were fast as heck. Best times of my life.
3rd fastest car bulit in the us in the 80s just behind the Buick gnx and the corvette the omni was truly a great car
I have an 86 Omni GLH. Took me forever to find this amazing car! It was my daily driver all summer. Gives me such great feels to drive it...gets lots of attention too! ❤️
Chrysler never got the "props" for the Omni they deserved. It, with the KCar saved the company. My family had 3 Omni's. One went over 200k without much maintenance. Granted another Omni was plagued with intake issues. All in all, they were a fun little car.
It was the K-car that saved the company after the government bailout. Saved as in it made Chrysler a profit.
The Omni is not a K car.
Nope. Different chassis. The Omni came out in 1978, the K car came out in 1984.
@LAFOLLETTER yes. I believe the Omni had a Peugot 1.6L when it was first offered & the 2.2L. The K car had the 2.2L and the Mitsubishi 2.6L.
The K car had the
@@Snake-ms7sj Actually the Omni/Horizon had a VW/Audi 1.7 L in the beginning in 1978. This was the same block and head (with some machinework changes) that they used in their VW Rabbit Diesel. Then about 1983 I think is when they added the 2.2L as an option. I know in one year they had an Omni Miser edition that had the 1.7L with the gearing of the 2.2L. It also had the AC and radio deleted. My brother bought one and brought home many a speeding ticket, including one for 104 on a highway cloverleaf. Later Chrysler dropped the 1.7. All of Chrysler's front wheel drive cars from 1978 through I think 1990, including the Aries, Reliant, E-Class, 600, LeBaron, etc, had the same basic suspension. believe me, I dropped many a part out of one and into another. Interchangeability was amazing. I had plans that never came together to build a 2.5L DOHC Turbo III. All the parts were available, but Chrysler never actually built one. The closest they got was a Dodge Spirit R/T with a 2.2L DOHC Turbo III turning out around 220hp.
I owned a 1987 Shelby CSX (#223), and it was one of the most fun cars I have ever owned - up there with a race-prepped Mustang Cobra and a 1970 440 Challenger.
I raced it in SCCA auto cross and it ATE mustangs, Camaros and M3s for breakfast.
Loved that car.
That car actually had the same engine as the GLHS. Heavier body, though.
@@johnnymason2460 The wider track and improved Shelby suspension work made for a better handling car, though…
@@brookeshenfield7156 I don't disagree with that. The Shelby CSX may have been a better car than the Omni GLH-S. Unfortunately, it's less known among the most powerful cars of the 1980s. The GLH and the GLH-S are more well known among performance fans.
@@johnnymason2460 Nobody knows what it was. I have been cursed/blessed with an affinity for unusual cars and motorcycles. I once had another Cobra-adjacent car, an AC Aceca with a Bristol Six, a car whose name draws a blank stare from almost all enthusiasts.
@@brookeshenfield7156 I know about the AC Aceca. It's a shame there wasn't a version of the Aceca with the Ford 289ci V8 or the 427ci V8. Those cars would be epic.
I agree. The 80's performance vehicles are being overlooked. Not as much today. Go Dennis!
1986 GLH Shelby Omni trumps the 1987 Saleen Mustang....
i have ALWAYS loved the fox body stang 💙💙💙 beautiful
I'm glad this video came up in the suggested videos. I use to watch My Classic Car all the time.
That GLHS has been one of my Grail cars I love them.
On Omni! If I only had six months to live I spend it in an Omni so it would seem like 10 years.
lol
I had a GLH. Not very reliable but a lot of fun to drive. What a treat to watch this video : )
This guest has an amazing voice.
Great videos on these cars . They were a foundation of what is now!
That GLHS reminds me of my 90 Honda CRX. Cars like that handled like go carts and were an absolute blast to drive. I had a friend who had a Fox body Mustang at the same time I had my REX. She and I used to spend a lot time driving here and there in those cars.
Had a friend received a 1985 turbo for graduation. At the time I had a 1984 Dodge Colt Turbo w/the stock (lame) rubber. Thus I was a little envious.
His stayed stock. Suspension mods, much bigger, stickier tires, and a few under the hood tweaks allowed me to mess w/him!
I got a 1987 ford f-150 bigfoot cruiser only made them like 3 years to me the 80s trucks and cars are pretty cool then ofcourse I got my pride and joy and dream vehicle my squarebody chevy
Thanks for showing us these cool rides!
Miss my 3 wheel turns in my old glh. It had original suspension (minus struts) and it handled like a go cart
Carol Shelby loved those turbo cars from the ‘80s Mopar era, but he said the greatest engine and platform that he absolutely loved the most was the 5.4 liter supercharged GT500 Mustang models of the late ‘00s. I wonder how he would compare the 5.2 liter GT350 though, I never heard his thoughts on that but I’m sure it’s documented somewhere ❤
In 1986 I was looking to buy a car and was leaning towards a Mustang for the performance when my Dad told me his friend owned a Dodge dealership and told him he had an 86 GLHS he would sell me at cost. I turned him down due to the four doors but boy do I kick myself now.
They’re pretty amazing little cars!
Two young lads playing. Great segment. Cheers
did not know, Shelby Dodge Club. I have an 86 Shelby Charger, same color package w only 14K original miles!😎
National meet this year is in Detroit if you're around - SDAC.org
This is such a clean and cool video. I dig it. Also love the lack of music, it fits the ecstatic.
I have an 86 stang that originally had an i4 with the crappy 3-speed auto. I installed a fuel-injected 351 with a Borg/Warner T45 and a rearend out of an 83 Thunderbird. I replaced the entire dash with a custom build that has all-digital guages calibrated by my local Ford dealer here in Iowa City, Iowa. No chips, no turbo or supercharger. Just polished heads and valves. She cranks out 427hp. 0-60 roughly 4.8 seconds.
I still get a bit chubbed up from the Omni glhs I wanted one pretty bad. I had a Horizon which I just loved and I had a Shelby Z Daytona which was impressive in its own right but I always wanted to experience that in the smaller Omni. I also had a Rampage which I really wanted to retrofit the Shelby Z parts too. I’m not a big fan of front drive but I’d love to have any of those vehicles again now.
My first car was a 1984 Plymouth Horizon. I lusted for a GLH-S when they came out. They were one of the original hot hatches.
I remember the day that girl in the glhs smoked my 84 gt at that light in Manville NJ...I was impressed
I had a black GLH. My 1st new car.
If you blind folded someone before they got in and took it off after they had their seat belt on, they wouldn't
be impressed....until you took them for a spin !
Carroll Shelby could have literally let an air molecule from his own breath land on a small Little Tikes car and it would instantly have 100 horsepower more.
Loved my 86 GLH Turbo died way too soon. Wish I could find another.
And shout out to the town I was born in, and all my dads family was from, Hi Salina!
If you really want one, the Shelby Dodge Auto Club members seem to always have a few for sale
I always love stopping in Salina Kansas! It means lunch at Cozy Inn with those delicious little burgers.
I used to watch this show on PBS i love i can still see it today
MrMrsharpe It's on Velocity Channel every Saturday morning.
I worked for Dodge and drove those. They were surprisingly fast. Had the Spirit RT with a head built by Porsche, V6 Daytona, the Omni by Shelby, twin turbo AWD stealth and even a 360 magnum in a long bed 5 speed regular cab truck. That was the best part of working for Dodge 😂
What a line up!
I bought a 1984 GLH in 84 and surprised alot of people at red lights, it was fun to say the least!
These cars were so light even the stock na 2.2 was quick
I knew a guy who had one of those Shelby Daytonas that was rolling around when I was a teenager. The turbo in that thing was quicker than most cars around. It was faster than it looked.
They shudda raced them at the drag strip !!
It’s the American GTI… they really are cool. I’d love to own Omni GLHS
Funny, every Omni I've owned has had a headliner just like that one. It's like driving around in a tent.
I owned an 85 charger. Turbo charger. Fun little car. Got a lot or stories about that
Roger has a golden voice, doesn't he? He's gotta be in broadcasting.
Love the GLH...It spoke of the rebirth of Chrysler in a big way at the time. A company that only six years earlier was near death was willing to let their hair down...
That’s “racecraft” suspension!
Richard Holdener brought me here...again. GLHS for the win!
Cone slayer Dennis did very well with the Saleen and the GLHS on the course and Roger has two very cool cars there.
I'm just about to resurrect my 86 Dodge Lancer Pacifica. Only 500 made in 86 and only available in CA. 2.2 turbo, 5spd, 4dr hatchback, real leather interior, power seats, power windows, ac.
i owned a red "85" omni glh back in 1986 when i was 16, was my first car.
the loud whistling noise of turbo was music to my ears lol.
good old times back when police officers let you slide when you were street racing on weekend nights at the strip.
If that's Salina KS then holy cow who woulda thought there was cool car people out there.
I wanted to buy a GLH or GLHS back in 1991-93. Every single one was completely ragged to death. And the cheapness of the Omni interior was sad. I wound up with a SWEET ‘85 Supra - 5spd, leather, AC, power everything, moonroof.
Great little car, I certainly loved mine..
Lord I wish I had never sold my glhs. With the super 60 package it screamed. Only 500 ever built and only in 1986
I had an '85 GLH Turbo and that car was a blast! Unfortunately I ended up rolling it over and totalled it. I would love to own one today...especially a GLHS
I want to live in an alternate reality where domestic manufacturers are all still making a GTI hot hatch competitor today. 😞
I like the white chalk line at 4:40 to keep autocrossers from getting lost...
There was another GLHS that he had, w/ a Hans Herman twin cam cyl head (R&D) , that was a monster. I last see on tv fee years ago. I saw it when I work there I'm 1989.
It was the motor they put in the car from the movie the wraith. The wraith car with 4cyl turbo hit almost 200
The glh is my favorite car from the 80's
13:35 love to see these inner rear wheels off the ground
I prepped a few of those Omni GLHs when they were new... Fun little crap box....
I want one of those Omnis.
What is a RaceMark suspension?
Loved my stock Plymouth Horizon back in the day. When it was starting to fail my friend has the idea that we should take a hack saw to the roof and make it a convertible. Never did though
Good thing you never did that, cause that would've been REALLY dumb.
@@steveespinola7652 the idea was to try it the weekend before it was going the junkyard anyway. But yeah, waay too dumb for the amount of effort
HI, even if it was going to the junkyard I'm glad you never did what your friend suggested cause who'l knows maybe someone else would be interested in the car and they saw it the junkyard and probably decided to take it home and fix it up.
@@steveespinola7652 we were in college and dumb. The car had serious rust though, and the transmission was slipping. Still, you're right. Maybe someone did get use out of it
GLH: Goes Like Hell
I had a 1986 GLH Turbo that was not intercooled but was modified to make 10 lbs of boost. Super fun and fast car with crazy torque steer. The build quality was very poor and had tons of electrical issues. I've also owned an 1985 Mustang GT, a 1991 Taurus SHO, a 2003 Mach 1, a 2003 Marauder and a 2008 GT500. Ford's quality has always been much better. I'm not biased, I've also owned a 1966. Plymouth Sport Fury, a 1969 and 70 SuperBee as well as a 1972 Duster 340 and 74 Duster 360. So even though the quality of the Dodge is suspect at best I'd still choose it over the Saleen.
I love that GLHS. However, after blowing two head gastkets in an 84 Chrysler Laser Turbo, I'd be very cautious on how hard I'd drive that GLHS if it were mine. Dodge's 4cyl turbos weren't known for their longevity...
Roll brand made better head gaskets to solve that problem! Those that raced them would also O ring them for a better head to block seal.
I remember the Saleen having 16" wheels in this model year.
The right front wheel movement of the Saleen at 6:38 looks like there's some worn bushings...
Love this car, but to truly make it show-able, please replace the headliner.
Not sure they're trying to make it a show car, considering he's letting a TV host run it around the cones.
@@mrb2917 yeah, but the sagging headliner is still kinda sad on what's otherwise a really clean car
Roger sounds like the narrator on Charlotte's Web. (1973) Great video.
what does jay leno think of the dodge. bet he loves it
I come home never talks about the Dodge Colt turbo those are some wicked fast cars
Fox body Mustang looks a lot like the car from the old Robocop movies cool
GLHS was much more composed and buttoned down in the corners and looked much faster than the Saleen.
Oh come on now you can't tell me a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado with an 8.2 liter engine making about 175HP is *less* detuned than a base model Dodge Aries K with a 2.2 liter making 80HP