Welcome back! Today, we’re moving away from the cheap, ugly, and broken cars and looking at a couple of unlikely survivors available for only a little more money. They’re not really comparable cars, but when cars get to this age, it’s less about what it is and more about how it makes you feel.
Yesterday was all about getting around cheaply, and honestly, I fully expected that disaster of a Toyota to beat out a battered old Dodge, even with half the miles. But the vote stayed close all day, and in the end, the Dynasty barely won. It’s probably the only race a four-cylinder Dodge Dynasty will ever win.
I guess I don’t need to tell you all which one I would pick. I don’t dislike the Toyota Echo, exactly, but when you’re shopping at this end of the market, simplicity counts for a lot – as does the price of parts, as our pal Stephen showed us yesterday. And in that regard, a Chrysler K engine and Torqueflite transmission is the way to go.
One of my favorite things about our little corner of the car-culture universe is that so many people here, writers and readers alike, share my love of everyday cars. I mean, sure, we love exotics too, but celebrating the ordinary, and finding the extraordinary in it, is kind of becoming our thing. And I love it. Fancy cars are cool, but a working-class hero, as a wise man once said, is something to be.
And judging by the comments on our recent “Autopian Asks” questions, you’re all here for it. Yesterday, Jason posed a question inspired by a discussion in Slack about the humble Chevy Chevette Scooter, and one comment included a link to a surprisingly nice Dodge Omni. I simply had to feature it. To counterbalance the bright blue econobox, I’m also featuring something a little more aspirational – a middle-of-the-road personal luxury coupe. Let’s check them out.
1979 Dodge Omni – $3,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.7 liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Henderson, NC
Odometer reading: 55,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, probably could use some exercise
In 1981, Ford made a lot of noise about their new “World Car,” the Escort. It wasn’t really a world car; the American version only resembled the European version, though it did share a drivetrain. But three years earlier, Chrysler had already tapped their European wing for a subcompact: the Chrysler/Simca/Talbot Horizon, sold here as the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni. Like the Escort, it wasn’t exactly like the European version, but it sure looked like it.
To suit American tastes and roads, the Omni and Horizon featured a larger engine than the European Horizon: a 1.7 liter overhead cam four supplied by Volkswagen. And of course, an automatic transmission was an option from day one. I would also be surprised if the European Horizon had as much fake woodgrain inside it as this one does.
This Omni has been in the same family since it was new. It has only 55,000 miles on its odometer, and has been garaged and carefully maintained its whole life. It may not seem like the sort of car worthy of such attention, but sentimental attachment is a powerful thing; sometimes we love cars not for what they are, but for how they make us feel, and the memories we have of them.
The result of all this care is that we get to enjoy this wonderful time capsule of a forty-five-year-old economy car. And the more you look at it, the more delightful little details jump out: the aforementioned woodgrain, which even makes an appearance on the top of the shift knob; the body-colored steel wheels with chrome hubcaps and beauty rings; the wonderful simplicity of the instrument panel. Not to mention the original AM/FM radio – which I’m going to use as a little age test. If you’re old enough to remember how to set the station preset buttons on one of these, tell the youngsters how it’s done in the comments.
1983 Buick Riviera – $3,500
Engine/drivetrain: 5.0 liter overhead valve V8, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Dallas, TX
Odometer reading: 62,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Bread-and-butter economy cars like the Omni were one thing, but if you wanted to announce that you had “made it,” you traded up to a personal luxury coupe. Maybe not a Cadillac or a Lincoln; you weren’t made of money, after all, but a Buick would do nicely. Comfy and fancy, but still sensible and honest. Not a Regal, though; if you were going to do it, you went straight for the Riviera. That promotion came with a big raise, after all, and you want to flaunt it, just a little. But, you know, in a good respectable blue-collar way.
This is the sixth-generation Riviera, in which Buick’s flagship coupe finally joined the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado in embracing front-wheel-drive. If you checked the option box for a V8 instead of Buick’s standard V6, you got an Oldsmobile engine too, in this case displacing 307 cubic inches. It’s mounted longitudinally, and sends power to the front wheels through a chain-driven Turbo-Hydramatic 325-4L transmission, a descendant of the original Toronado transmission also used in the GMC Motorhome. This one has only 62,000 miles under its belt, and runs well, with a rebuilt carb and a new fuel pump.
A personal luxury coupe is pointless if it’s not as comfortable as a good Barcalounger, and the Riviera does not disappoint. This is a smooth, comfortable car, made to sail down the highways and byways without its driver even being aware of the pavement passing under its radial whitewalls. This one is in really nice condition inside, too, with only one tiny spot of wear on the driver’s seat where the shoulder harness rubs. The seller does say it needs a new headliner, but doesn’t include a photo of what’s wrong with it.
Outside, it’s not perfect, but it is really nice. It could use a good wash and wax, and those plastic filler panels behind the bumpers could use replacing, but that’s true of almost every GM car from this era. I know they’re available for Cadillacs; hopefully the Riviera has enough of a following that someone is reproducing these as well. The pale yellow color is apparently part of a “Yellow Rose of Texas” special edition package. I have to assume the beer can flattened under one tire is part of that package as well. (I kid, I kid…)
The appeal of ordinary cars that have been kept in extraordinary condition is strong, but too often the prices of such cars is wildly inflated. Neither of these is perfect, but they’re not absurdly overpriced either. And either one could be polished up a bit and shown off with pride. So what’ll it be – the grocery-getter Dodge, or the shop manager’s Buick?
(Image credits: Omni – Facebook Marketplace seller; Riviera – Craigslist seller)
I’m surprised that I’m picking the the Riviera, but here we are.
GM made SO MANY Olds 307’s in the 1980s, right up until the very end in 1990 for b-bodies. They were ok motors, and you can wake them up a little bit.
The 325-4L’s weren’t nearly as stout as the original 425 toronado 3 speed autos, but there are enough parts that can make them better from the 200-r4.
Got too love the Horizon, 55,000 miles and selling for what it cost new.
If the parts of the Omni we can’t see are as nice as the parts we can, that thing could be a hilarious restomod
Omni for me. At one point in the early 80s both my dad’s parents owned VW Rabbits. Since this is the same shape and has probably the same engine, I’d try to swap out the front clip and taillights for ones from a VW Rabbit, but maybe leave the Omni side badge just for grins.
I voted for the Omni. If it were one of the later models produced in Kenosha, I may have considered buying it.
Dang, that Omni looks well kept. I’ll take it!
More of a vote against the Riviera. All those vacuum hoses scare me.
Why force myself into a wheezing econobox when I can have a lumbering sofa on wheels? I’ll take the Riviera. I’ll bet it smells like my grandpa’s aftershave, too.
English Leather or Old Spice?
Skin Bracer.
Name checks out.
The aforementioned grandpa sold Buicks.
I have a sentimental attachment to the Omnirizon, as my buddy in high school had one and we double-dated for Homecoming one year and he drove and my date was someone I’m still married to.
But the Buick is magnificent. I drove several Toronados of this vintage and this Riv is really no different. These E-bodies offer room and comfort not found in any other car, period. David Dunbar gets the win.
Oh, you tune in to a station, then pull a preset button OUT and then press it all the way back in. The button is now locked to the selected frequency.
During my tenure at Pep Boys, I got a speeding ticket while test driving a Dodge Omni just like that one. It was one of the most humiliating moments of my life.
Were you driving down a very, very, very steep hill? Like, was the Pep Boys in Truckee and you drove down the I-80 ramp of death all the way to Sacramento?
I figured they would have pulled you over and given you an award, not a ticket!
I totaled my Omni when I broadsided a car that blew through a stop sign on a country road. Cop shows up and asks if I was speeding. I just said it’s an effing Omni, of course I wasn’t speeding.
I can appreciate a time capsule Omni, but the Riviera is the obvious choice for me. My first car was an ’84 Eldorado, which is similar to this Riviera. I loved that Caddy – it was extremely comfortable and roomy. I always slightly preferred the styling of the Riviera, though. I also like that this one has the 5.0 and not the head gasket-eating HT4100 (I think I went through 4 head gaskets between my ’84 and ’85 Eldorados). This Riviera is a bit beat up, but I still want it.
I prefer the Buick, the 1979 E-bodies the last round of GM’s downsizing program that were actually done right, but it just has too many condition issues for me. It isn’t that hard to find a ’79-’85 Riviera in better shape, even in road salt states, so I’m going with the Omni out of this pair.
I do like that pale yellow color GM used in that era, you could get a very similar shade on Cadillacs, too. Was kind of a 1950s bleeding over into the 1980s thing
I had a pale yellow ’85 Eldorado – that color looked great on these vehicles. I think this Riviera is supposed to be the same color? I can’t tell if it is lighting conditions or if it the paint has faded over the years.
Yep, my family had an ’84 Cimarron in this color when I was in high school. And I agree, it’s a nice color.
The Omni is one of those cars I unreasonably hate (from the other day), It’s everything I loathe about the era wrapped in malaise and boring nonsense. It was garbage then, it’s garbage now.
Yeah, I had a lot of experience driving these and riding in these. No guts and the handling sucked. I would drive a girlfriend’s and then drive my late 70’s Honda Civic after and it felt like a damn F1 car.
Holy shitballz. I expected the Omni to run away with it, this is the Autopian after all. We love our shit-boxes. This is way closer than I thought it had any right to be.
That Omni is in amazing condition but i still voted Riviera. You can probably still get most mechanical parts for it, it has AC, and it will keep up with freeway traffic. Better than the Omni, at least.
Omni. Omni Omni Omni Omni. I hate them and they’re terrible but they’re important not only to automotive history for being the first small FWD “world” cars to achieve success in the U.S. (sorry J-bodies), but also the thing that created a manufacturing and engineering shift in the U.S. that saved Chrysler and forced GM to start using their European divisions’ engineering.
I was actually thinking about an Omnirizon for yesterday’s crap car question. My mother had an ’84 in a similar blue/blue. She went in expecting to get an L-body Charger but it was tricky to see out of. She still raves about that Omni and how well the heat and A/C worked. Sentimental attachment and all like you say.
This one isn’t too far from me either, though it’s more than I would want to spend on an L-body without being a variant with an open bed or worked on by Shelby. And the whole, no place to stash it thing.
I’m glad to see this amazing Omni getting this much attention. It was first shared to the TriangleRAD group on Facebook last week and several people have expressed interest. If I had a place to put it I might have already pulled the trigger.
Omni. Like others have said, it’s a shame that it is an automatic, but that is the wrong generation of Riviera for me.
V8 all the way. I was into the Omni until I read all the way through. I would love to commute in that Riv.
Omni, no contest (despite the automatic, which is a little bit of a letdown). First, I unironically love the Omni, though I’m not sure why. Second, just look at it! It’s in amazing shape and it’s just plain fun to look at. The Riviera is the exact sort of GM malaise I want absolutely nothing to do with, and I’m usually a fan of the personal luxury coupe. Barf at that cream color as well.
Omni wins. On paper, it should be the Riviera – but I had both of these (at different times) and while the Omni is buzzy and slow, it’s at least fun and reliable. The Riv (which I had new – later than this one, but same generation I think) had problems from day 1 with terrible build quality (the Turn Signal stalk broke off on day1) and electrical problems (the brake lights would lock on and drain the battery – the only cure was to disconnect the battery and then reconnect, resetting the clock and all the radio stuff), other weird electrical problems like the A/C only working on days it felt like it, etc. Dealer couldn’t fix the problems. Meanwhile, the Omni just ran.
The Omni is so clean. Bugger about the automatic tho.
Thanks to the commentors for the info on the old school presets! I recently acquired the family 82 Toyota pickup and was curious about how to set the presets. If I can get it to actually pick up any radio stations, this will be handy to know.
I had a great time explaining the tape deck and 6 CD changer in my new-to-me BMW e36.
Tune the radio to the station you want, then pull one of the preset buttons OUT to set, then push in. Subsequent button presses tune to the selected station.
Gotta go comfy Buick on this one.
Omni for me (boo automatic, but whatever). Set the radio? Manually tune to your desired station, pull the preset button out, then press all the way in. Next time you press it, it’ll mechanically tune the radio to your station.
Yeah, I didn’t think it would take long. But I am curious how many folks didn’t know how to do it.
Good question as electrically tuned radios were already out there and rapidly overtaking manual radios by then. I’d guess not many people born after 1970 or so ever had to learn that “skill.”
My first car, a hand me down ’79 Civic, had those and only an AM radio. I ended up putting in the Alpine from my brother’s old car (probably stolen). Are there radio stations that play music on AM anymore?
If you’re partial to Christian rock. Seriously, there are some, especially on HD AM, but the format is dominated by sports, talk, news and Christian broadcasting and a lot of rural country stations.