10. Dodge Omni GLH/GLHS
While Europe was embracing the hot hatch class and developing it in the mid-1980s, America seemed quite uninterested. The Golf GTI sold well in the states, but domestic manufacturers weren’t producing any hot hatches. That was, not until the legendary Carroll Shelby teamed up with Dodge to introduce his version of the compact Omni model. Dodge called it the Omni GLH, which means, “Goes Like Hell.”
It was a proper hot hatch. It was also one of the best affordable performance models money could buy. Nobody expected Dodge could produce a hot hatch that could beat the European competitors. But with Shelby’s help, it did just that. Shelby took the 2.2-liter four-cylinder and added a turbocharger.
This gave the Omni GLH a total output of 175 HP and a 0 to 60 mph time of less than seven seconds. Dodge gave the GLH some suspension modifications and other upgrades so it could handle all that power. Interestingly, Shelby and Dodge produced an improved version they called the GLHS for “Goes Like Hell S’More.” Dodge only produced 500 of those models.