The Dodge Omni 024 is a version of the

Dodge Omni The Dodge Omni is a subcompact, subcompact car that was manufactured by Chrysler, Chrysler Corporation from the 1978 to 1990 model years. Marketed alongside the Plymouth Horizon, the Omni was the first front-wheel drive Chrysler vehicle; the pai ...

made from 1979 to 1982. The car is a lower, sportier three-door hatchback coupé version of the Chrysler/Simca Horizon, using the five-door hatchback's floor pan and chassis as a basis, a similar formula to the

Volkswagen Scirocco The Volkswagen Scirocco is a three-door, front-engine, front-wheel-drive, sport compact hatchback manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen in two generations from 1974 to 1992 and a third generation from 2008 until 2018. Production ended without a ...

. The cars were designed in-house at the prompting of

Lee Iacocca Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive who developed the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then reviv ...

. The Omni 024 used the same chassis and engine options as the Omni but had unique bodywork and front end styling. The base engine was a 1.7 L

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

inline four producing , with a 2.2 L, Chrysler inline four as an option beginning in 1981. By then, the smaller engine only produced . For the first year, the car had a folding back seat and the wheels were painted in the exterior color. The car's looks promised more performance than the engine could deliver, and the car was not as practical as the Omni. Both the Omni and Horizon prefixes were dropped for 1981, making them the "024" and "TC3", respectively.

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

, pp. 320, 434. Dodge Omni 024 rear

The 024 did not sell well and was renamed as the

Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over eight generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. In the United Sta ...

for the 1983

model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...

, a name which had been gradually introduced as part of a special "Charger 2.2" package beginning in 1981. The 024 had also been produced as the Plymouth Horizon TC3. It, too, was renamed in the 1983 model year: to the

Plymouth Turismo Plymouth ( ) is a port city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and southwest of London. It is the most populous city in Dev ...

. The "Turismo" label had already been used on a sport package beginning in 1980. In its last year, the 024 and TC3 served as a base for the

Dodge Rampage The Dodge Rampage was a subcompact unibody coupe utility based on Chrysler's L platform and manufactured and marketed from 1982 to 1984 model years. Plymouth marketed a rebadged variant for model year 1983, as the Scamp. The Rampage combined t ...

and

Plymouth Scamp There have been two small cars from Plymouth called the Scamp: * 1971–1976 RWD 2-door hardtop coupe, based on the Plymouth Valiant * 1983 FWD coupé utility A coupé utility is a vehicle with a passenger compartment at the front and an integ ...

pick-up trucks using the same chassis, powertrain and body parts from the doors forward. In 1980 the Plymouth Horizon TC3 also became available with the Turismo sport package. For the Dodge Omni 024 this was called the

DeTomaso De Tomaso Automobili Ltd. (previously known as De Tomaso Modena SpA) is an Italian car-manufacturing company. It was founded in 1959 by Alejandro de Tomaso in Modena. It originally produced various sports prototypes and auto racing vehicles, incl ...

package, with De Tomaso designed trim and wheels but the standard drivetrain. 1,333 De Tomaso 024's were built in 1980, followed by 619 more in 1981. The 1981 De Tomasos were only available with the new 2.2 litre engine.

, pp. 317, 320. Also in 1980, in cooperation with Chrysler partner

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

, the Chrysler Omni 024 was briefly sold in Japan. It was available for two years at Mitsubishi dealerships and it complied with Japanese Government dimension regulations. It didn't sell well, with only 1491 finding Japanese buyers.

References

External links

Omni 024 Front-wheel-drive vehicles Subcompact cars Hatchbacks 1980s cars {{modern-auto-stub Cars introduced in 1979 Cars discontinued in 1982