The Plymouth Horizon was a subcompact car made and sold by Chrysler Corporation for the 1978 to 1990 model years. Together with its Dodge twin, the Omni, it was the first front-wheel-drive Chrysler vehicle and the first American car sold with front-wheel drive and a transverse-mounted four-cylinder engine.
Plymouth Horizon at a glance
| Maker | Plymouth (Chrysler Corporation) |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1978–1990 |
| Body | five-door hatchback |
| Platform | Chrysler L platform |
| Sister car | Dodge Omni |
| First for | front-wheel drive with a transverse four in an American car |
| Built at | Belvidere, then Kenosha, then Jefferson Avenue |
| Total production | about 2.5 million Omnis and Horizons |
| Replaced by | Plymouth Sundance, with the Neon following for 1993 |
Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Dodge Omni, which covers the Plymouth Horizon as the same model.
History of the Plymouth Horizon
The Omni and Horizon were the central model lines of the Chrysler L platform, an evolution of the Chrysler Horizon designed by Chrysler Europe and heavily inspired by the Volkswagen Rabbit. The model was sold only as a five-door hatchback, and in the 1980s the same platform also supported three-door coupes and a two-door pickup.
Where it came from
In the early 1970s Chrysler repeatedly announced a domestic small car to take on the Chevrolet Vega, Ford Pinto and AMC Gremlin, a project known as R-429, and repeatedly delayed it. Instead it had bought into Simca and taken over the Rootes Group, selling Simca and Rootes models through a separate division and then, from late 1969, directly through Chrysler-Plymouth dealers, including the Hillman Avenger as the Plymouth Cricket. In 1974 a management team was sent to Chrysler Europe to find a small-car design for the United States; a front-wheel-drive compact codenamed C6 was rejected and became the Chrysler Alpine in Europe, while a shorter-wheelbase design, C2, was approved at the end of 1974. Work on the American version began in 1975: one design team wanted a coupe, but the five-door hatchback was kept in the European style of the Volkswagen Golf. The project was the first in which CAD drawings crossed the Atlantic electronically, by satellite.
Chrysler Europe was sold to PSA Peugeot Citroën in August 1978, and the rebranded Talbot Horizon continued in Europe almost unchanged until 1987, which ended further work on extending the C2 line.
Production and end
From 1977 to 1987 Chrysler built the Omni and Horizon, and the whole L-platform range, at Belvidere, Illinois. Production moved in 1987 to the former AMC plant at Kenosha, Wisconsin, and in 1989 to Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, where the Omni and Horizon were the last model lines built. Overshadowed by the K-cars, the model saw few changes over eleven years; about 2.5 million were made in total, and the Plymouth Horizon is the last Plymouth model to outsell its Dodge counterpart. Chrysler’s advances in front collision requirements ended the line, with the Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance hatchback sedans replacing it in 1987.
Design and features
- Front-wheel drive first: the first American car with front-wheel drive and a transverse four-cylinder engine.
- European roots: developed from the Chrysler Europe Horizon project and modelled on the Volkswagen Golf.
- One body style: a five-door hatchback throughout its life.
- Long production: eleven model years and about 2.5 million cars across both badges.
Plymouth Horizon versions
- Horizon (1978–1990): the Plymouth five-door hatchback.
- Dodge Omni: the same car with Dodge badges.
- L-platform derivatives: three-door coupes and a two-door pickup built on the same architecture in the 1980s.
The Horizon replaced the Cricket as Plymouth’s small car and was replaced by the Sundance, with the Reliant above it. More cars are in the Plymouth collection.
Video: 1989 Plymouth Horizon inside & out
Video by Keane Maher on YouTube.
Sources
- Dodge Omni, English Wikipedia: development, production, Horizon details
