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In 1980, things were pretty grim for the country in general and automobiles in particular. The prime interest rate in this country reached an all-time high of 21.5% and inflation sat stubbornly at 13.5%. Doomsday predictors were all forecasting that we would run out of oil soon, and, if that weren’t enough, Mount Saint Helens erupted on May 18 of that year. As you can imagine, automobile sales were abysmal. Suffering most of all was the Chrysler Corporation. Teetering on bankruptcy, the company was struggling to offer products that frugal consumers wanted. Their best chance to gain these sales was with cars like this 1980 Plymouth Horizon for sale on Craigslist in Laguna Beach, California. This neat little economy car is in great condition for its age, has received numerous recent repairs, and is in running and driving condition. Would you be willing to pay the $2,700 asking price for a car that can still deliver 35 MPG and take your (small) family to Cars and Coffee on Saturday morning? Thanks to numskal for the fascinating find!
While our current gripes about interest rates, inflation, and the cost of everything have plenty of merit, the late 1970s and early 1980s were quite rough for the average family. In times of high inflation and interest rates, sales come to a standstill for everything but necessities. Cars, for the most part, are not necessities unless yours has been damaged or needs expensive repairs to run. Back then, if times were lean and you needed a car, it was almost always going to be an economy car. Your choices weren’t as broad as they are now. Domestic dealer lots were still filled with cars that occupied their own zip codes. However, each manufacturer had managed to field a few cars for what they disdainfully regarded as the bottom end of the market. Many of those were re-badged imported cars, known as captive imports. Meanwhile, offerings from Japan and Volkswagen’s Rabbit were gaining market share by the day.
In a stroke of luck for a company that had little good fortune in the 1970s, Chrysler Europe started the development of an economy car in 1974 at the behest of Chrysler’s president at the time. This project wound back and forth with contributions from Chrysler’s United States office and divisions of the company in France and Great Britain. The models we came to know as the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon came to fruition in 1978, with European models debuting at the same time. Cars such as this were desperately needed on both sides of the Atlantic, and their sales helped keep the company afloat during these precarious years when Chrysler was bleeding money by the day with no end in sight. These were four-cylinder cars, originally offered in five-door form like the Volkswagen Rabbit that they resembled. The model line came to add a hatchback coupe and a small pickup during their production run. That run ran longer than anyone expected. By the time the line shut down in 1990, the cars were little changed except for the engines offered.
The car you see in the ad is a textbook example of a small car from this era. Looking carefully at the pictures reveals a very well taken care of economy car that still wears its original paint and interior. It also came with a few desirable options such as an AM/FM radio, air conditioning, and an automatic transmission. From there it wears the usual features for an economy car such as manual windows, a vinyl interior, and a dash with a bare minimum of instrumentation.
A look under the hood reveals an engine somewhere under that Indiana Jones-level nest of snakes (wires, hoses, and tubes). Believe it or not, the engines for the first few years of production were supplied by Volkswagen and attached to Chrysler-produced transmissions. The engine was rated for a piddling 68 horsepower and 83 lb. ft of torque. The seller tells us that the car has recently benefitted from a new smog system, tires, brakes, belts, timing belt, struts, and upper motor mounts. The air conditioning is said to blow cold, and the car gets a still very good 35 MPG.
It would be nice to hear a back story on this car, especially if that story detailed how this economy car managed to survive in such good condition when nearly all of the other Omni and Horizons of this period have vanished from the planet. This is the kind of car that is worth saving because it tells the story of survival for Chrysler before the K-Car. Lee Iacocca may have been there at the time, but this car was the product of the abilities of some talented people who managed to stave off disaster with their work. The seller makes this car easy to save with an asking price of only $2,700. Hopefully, someone who respects the car for what it is will come along and scoop it up. People need reminders of tough times in the past to help them cope with such times in the present.
Have you ever owned a Dodge Omni or Plymouth Horizon? Do you think it is important for cars like this to be saved to tell their story? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
