The Dodge Omni 024 was a modified version of the popular Dodge Omni made from 1979 to 1982. Analogous to the

VW 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 2017. Production ended without a ...

, this car was 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. 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 best known for the development of the Ford Mustang, Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, an ...

. It 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 (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

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: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, 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 seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...

for the 1983 model year, 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 South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. 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 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, based on the Plymouth Horizon; see Dodge Rampage The Dodge Rampage was a subcompact, ...

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 by the Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso (1928–2003) in Modena in 1959. It originally produced various prototypes a ...

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 historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

, 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