"Revenge of the Nerd"

 In 1993 Collectible Automobiles magazine suggested the '84 - '86 Omni GLH as a future classic to watch out for.

 This article is from FstGLHS' mirror site, original source is no longer online

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Wikipedia - Shelby GLHS

1984-86 Dodge Omni GLH: Revenge of the Nerd

 Collectable Automobile October 1993

For nearly (gulp) 10 years now this column has suggested alternative wheels - interesting newer cars that are cheap to buy and run-for budget-minded enthusiasts who wouldn't be caught dead in a modern "econobox." So here we are with what looks for all the world like a modern econobox. Have we gone back on our word, lost our minds, or even (horrors!) run out of ideas?

Hardly for this set of Cheap Wheels is no made-in-the-millions transport hack. It's the Dodge Omni GLH, a semi-limited-edition with admittedly humble origins but also high aspirations and performance to match. The Brits would call it a "Q-ship," an unassuming little thing that can blow the doors off many pretentious and pricey machines. Car & Driver aptly termed it "a Road Runner for the Eighties"; Road & Track called it "a wolf in cheap clothing." We think of it as the 98-pound nerd in the old Charles Atlas ads who muscled-up to take revenge on that sand-kicking beach bully

The GLH idea is as old as hot rodding: a little' car with a big heart. As you probably know, the spark for this one was none other than Carroll Shelby legendary builder of Sixties Cobras and Mustang GTs. In 1982, the wily Texan had answered the call of Lee Iacocca, his old friend from Ford days who'd taken over as chairman of Chrysler Corporation in 1978. Iacocca wanted Shelby to work some of his proven performance magic on selected new-wave Dodges to reestablish that division as Chrysler's "excitement" in outfit. Carroll was happy to help, and Iacocca happily obliged his efforts by setting up the new Chrysler Shelby Performance Center in Santa Fe Springs, California, near Los Angeles.

There was hatched the first result of the renewed Shelby/Iacocca relationship: the 1983 Dodge Shelby Charger (CA, August 1986), a heated-up rendition of the little front-drive L-body hatchback coupe that had first appeared as the Omni 024 back in 1979, a year behind the original five-door Omni sedan. It was crude-but effective - fun with its Shelby-massaged version of the 2.2-liter "Trans-4" engine from Chrysler's two-year-old K-car com-pacts, plus mandatory five'-speed trans-axle, very heavy-duty suspension, stouter wheel/tire package, and various "boy racer" body add-ins, all in a distinctive wrapper with silver paint (later black and red) and Shelby's traditional broad, over-the-top racing stripes

But the ever-mischievous Shelby wanted more of a "sleeper,"' or, as he termed it, a "rabbit-eater." That referred to Volkswagen's Rabbit GTI, then the definitive "hot hatch," the very model of nerdy econocar-gone-ballistic. The solution almost suggested itself: a similar "Shelbyization" of the boxy Omni-easy as both the 024 and Omni used the same basic chassis.

The deed was done quicker than you can say "bolt-on," and the Omni GLH bowed in the spring of 1984 to no surfeit of grins. Naming it had been a minor problem. Engineer and one-time rally ace Scott Harvey, who then headed the Shelby "skunkworks," favored "Coyote," but Carroll nixed that because fellow Texan A.J. Foyt had already used it on racing cars. Chrysler blandly suggested "ES 200" (hear that, Lexus?) which made Shelby groan. "Finally," as Carroll told AutoWeek magazine, "I said the only thing you can name it is GLH, because it Goes Like Hell. They said, 'You can't do that. All the Baptists will raise hell.' I said, who's gonna know what it stands for?"

People found out soon enough. Like the Shelby Charger the GLH packed 110 horsepower rather than the paltry 84 of ordinary 1.6-liter Omni's, plus 129 pounds/ feet torque instead of 87. A five-speed manual was again the sole transmission choice, but intermediate cogs were rejuggled to make for an even closer-ratio box. Chassis specs were also per Shelby Charger, which meant standard quick-ratio power steering, plus power brakes with larger, newly vented front discs. You also got the distinctive "Swiss-cheese" alloy wheels and meaty P195/50HR15 Eagle GT tires from Carroll's coupe, which filled the Omni's wheel wells like the workaday 13-inch rolling stock never could. Otherwise, there was little outside to give the game away save standard front fog lamps and subtle GLH decals.

The same was true inside. No flashy two-tone upholstery with big "CS" logos here just the Omni's orthodox, rather basic trim with all vinyl or cloth-and-vinyl seats and a relatively huge dished steering wheel with a definite and awkward bus-like rake. But the front seats were wide, fairly soft buckets, and the GLH sported a very legible set of analog gauges (optional in lesser '84 Omni's) tachometer dials neatly shoehorned instrument cluster. Typical of Shelby, brake and throttle pedals to permit easier heel-and-toe shifting.

Even so, cog-swapping difficult was as notchy-difficult as on any period front-drive MoPar, and the more muscular engine simply overwhelmed the stock unequal-length front halfshafts, making for awful torquesteer. In fact, a COSUMER GUIDE colleague, after testing the GLH when new, said the gas pedal "a lane-change switch." Like the Shelby Charger, ride comfort were conspicuous by their absence. Car & Driver said the GLH "pounds over bumps like a speedboat in a chop," and the exhaust at most anything above idle was loud enough to make you wished you'd packed earplugs.

But Carroll didn't give a hoot about such criticisms. Like his later Shelby Lancer (CA, February 1993), he'd conceived the GLH not for cushy cruising or thrifty commuting but for load of rip-fun - and for surprising Camaros, Corvettes, and Mustangs in stoplight drag races. That it could do. CD clocked just 8.7 seconds 0-60, a full tick faster than the Rabbit GTI, which ceded 20 horses and 29 lbs./ft to the GLH. Motor Trend managed only 9.28 seconds with its GLH, but both magazines recorded excellent cornering power of 0.83g - enough to threaten many 'Vettes even today.

With all this at a starting price of just $7350, a full grand below the GTI, the GLH was Cheap Wheels even when new and a bona fide performance bargain. To no one's surprise, it proved a quick sellout, through Chrysler held model-year production to some 3285 units. Mustn't dilute demand, you.

GLH excitement took a wild new turn for 1985 with the "No more Mr. Nice Guy" GLH Turbo. Its big attraction, of course, was pressurized power: the 146-bhp "Turbo I" 2.2 from Dodge's jazzy Daytona Z sports coupe. With horses up nearly 33 percent and torque swelling similarly to 168 lbs./ft, the blown GLH was even more hellish than the original-in more ways than one. Car & Driver shaved 1.2 seconds off the unblown car's 0-60 time, yet actually recorded improved fuel economy: a reasonable 20 mpg versus its previous 18 (EPA city/highway ratings were 19/29). You paid $872 to achieve both gains, as the non-turbo model was still available, though at an elevated base sticker of $7620.

There were few other changes for '85 save the addition of discreet rocker-panel flares, and the turbo mill's extra muscle only worsened torque-steer from awful to atrocious. As CD warned: "If you apply lull throttle in first or second gear with the front wheels cocked a bit to port or starboard, the GLH Turbo is going to go where it's pointed-into that ditch, up that snowbank, or around that tree. We're not kidding."

The '86 GLH was described by Dodge as "'a well-behaved savage," but otherwise little changed save for the addition of a high-mounted center brake light. Output had increased to 6513 units for 1985, but after 3629 '86's production ceased. That's because Carroll Shelby had turned up the wick once again with a 175-horse 2.2 for his 1986 CLH-S, which he said stood for "Goes like Hell-Somemore." Put this ultimate Omni was properly a Shelby produced in Shelby's California facilities, not a Dodge, so we'll save it for another time.

Speaking of savings, though, don't over-look a regular GLH, Turbo or "un," if one comes your way. Values have depreciated down to dirt-cheap back-of-the-lot used-car levels, yet parts and service plentiful, affordable, and as close as your nearest MoPar store. The cars themselves are sufficiently plentiful - 13,427 in all for the three model years - that finding a goodie shouldn't be too difficult, but observe the usual performance-car cautions and avoid obviously abused examples. Shop carefully, however, and you'll nab one of the best hot-car bargains of modern times. Then all you'll need is a pocket-protector and some horn-rimmed glasses to complete the effect when your nerdy-looking "family hatchback" shuts down some puffed-up macho machine - a totally ,excellent adventure, man!

From the Back Seat

Carroll Shelby said he built cars like the Omni GLH for young enthusiasts who didn't have much to spend on a car. The GLH was on target to appeal to that crowd in every area except the one over which Shelby had no control-styling. There will always be a small number who derive perverse pleasure from plain-looking cars like the GLH that can blow the doors off fancy-pants cars that cost thousands more. However, there are many more who would prefer that their low-bucks hot rod look more like a sports car than a mailbox. That's why I'd put my money into one of the Shelbyized Dodge Chargers. You won't have to keep explaining to your friends that it's really faster than it looks.

Fast but crude - you really have to work hard in order to use and control all of the available power of the GLH Turbo. These weren't very durable, cars either, so buy as many NOS parts as you can fit in your garage if you plan on keeping it for any length of time. The GLH is one of those cars that is so unremarkable to look at that it may never be very collectible.

The Omni GLH is spiritual kin to some infernal machine Wile E. Coyote might have cobbled together to enhance his pursuit of the Road Runner - you know like a pair of jet-propelled roller skates or a wheelbarrow that'll do Mach I The base Omni was plain and boxy. Drop in the GLH 110 - or 146- bhp engine, and the Omni became fast, plain and boxy. Well, maybe not so plain, because the GLH was even less docile the aforementioned jet skates. In my cartoon imagination I stand on the GLH's accelerator and feel the steering wheel wrench itself from my grasp. The tipsy landscape blurs past as I jump the curb and head for a tree and certain doom. Meanwhile, the Road Runner just stands there, grinning.

If ever there was a wolf in sheep's clothing. A GLH Turbo is it. Slap on some humdrum wheelcovers and you could fool your folks, your spouse-even the local constabulary-into thinking you've finally decided to travel the pragmatic path of efficiency and practicality. Of course, you'll know better. Sure, it rides like it's running on four flats. Sure, it rattles like a two-year-olds toy. But it also surely provides as much bang for your used-car buck as anything that ever carried an EPA sticker. Nurse it along and it's a little less economical than a plain-Jane econobox. Unfortunately, few GLH owners have been able to exercise such restraint, so most examples redefine the term "used." But if you find one in decent shape - and keep it that way - this is one car that could go collectible, a point in your favor it its true identity is ever revealed.