Dodge Omni GLH
While Europe was embracing the hot hatch class and developing it further in the mid-80’s, America seemed uninterested. The Golf GTI sold well in the states, but domestic manufacturers didn’t produce any models that qualified as a hot hatch. That was until the legendary Carroll Shelby teamed up with Dodge to introduce his version of a compact Omni model.
They called it the Omni GLH. It was a proper hot hatch and one of the best affordable performance models money could buy in those days. Shelby took the 2.2-liter four-cylinder and added a turbocharger. This produced a total output of 175 HP, propelling it from 0 to 60 mph in under seven seconds. That was an impressive performance and highly competitive for the day. They gave the Omni GLH some suspension modifications and other improvements, so it could handle all that power.
The best thing about this car is the name GLH that meant, “Goes like Hell.” Shelby and Dodge produced an improved version called GLHS that stood for “Goes Like Hell S’more.” They only produced 500 of those models.