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Theory of Evolution According to Mopar

The only experience i had with one, i wont forget. Four of us riding in a new one belonging to an acquaintance. Dont remember where we were going but it was late at night, after midnight, and cold. I guess the two of us in the back seat were breathing enough to fog up the back window, so the driver turned on those electric wires embedded in the window...

BANG, the window exploded, blew into a thousand pieces, and vanished.
The rest of that ride was Cold!
 
It was just as bad as this one
Dodge_Charger_(1538984607).jpg
 
I worked on those. The Challenger and Plymouth Supporo. Ugly little Mitsubishi. Engines in those.
 
And actually pretty torquey. If you got the 2.6 'hemi' four with a five speed, they kept up with the pathetic V8 Mustang in 1980. The same engines that were used in K-cars and minivans.
 
I have lined up against 2 Challenger Hellcats. With both high 10 sec pump gas build. And low 10 sec high compression E-85 build Duster. Light went amber. And never saw the Hellcats again. Poor little kitties?

Recycler.JPG
 
The 2.2 Shelby Charger Turbo was not too bad. Never rode in one but My buddy had a LaBaron GTS Turbo same engine and that booger was fast for a 4cyl.
 
2.2 turbo was quick as hell.

...but damn they broke a lot.
 
The Mitsu-produced Sapporo/Challenger were really pretty good cars. In Japan, they were sold as Mitsubishi Galant coupes. You can't gauge/compare them to the newer cars. If you were actually alive back then, power and performance were being killed off by government and insurance companies. You take that 2.6L Hemi engine (yes, it was a true Hemi!) and the five-speed trans, you had a very capable runner right off the showroom.

The Charger was, by no means, Mitsubishi! Get that idea out of your brains, people! Those had 2.2L and 2.5L engines in both normally-aspirated form and Turbo. I got to experience the Shelby in both the Charger and Omni GLH-S forms in West Germany. They'd keep right up there with Autobahn traffic in the left lane. They were not slugs.
 
Last edited:
Two different cars.

Sapporo/Challenger- 100% Mitsu

Charger/Horizon/024/TC3- 90% Chrysler
 
YY1 said:
Two different cars.

Sapporo/Challenger- 100% Mitsu

Charger/Horizon/024/TC3- 90% Chrysler
Click to expand...

With the 2.2 or 2.5, they were closer to 99.5% Chrysler. The thing that made early cars ('78 - '80) less Chrysler content was the 1.6L Renault or 1.7L VW engines the earliest cars had. Remember, back then, Simca France was a wholly owned subsidiary of Chrysler. The Talbot Horizon is the basis for the four-door Omni/Horizon cars. Yet, nearly nothing interchanges between the French Horizon and the US Horizon cars. Top: Talbot Bottom: Plymouth
1200px-Talbot_Horizon_Lahti5.jpg
1327?rik=UXNsng2pudHrPg&riu=http%3a%2f%2ffarm5.staticflickr.com%2f4116%2f4788508173_4a8c547ce0_z.jpg


1986_Plymouth_Horizon_(26337117805).jpg
 
Roger63 said:
It was just as bad as this oneView attachment 1114471
Click to expand...
Not a challenger. Oh, as an aside, I had a few Shelby Daytonas, 2 of them I modded, most reliable cars of the many I've had. This next comment is not meant to be insulting, only to exemplify what good cars they were: they would blow the doors off many of the cars here.
 
patrick66 said:
With the 2.2 or 2.5, they were closer to 99.5% Chrysler. The thing that made early cars ('78 - '80) less Chrysler content was the 1.6L Renault or 1.7L VW engines the earliest cars had. Remember, back then, Simca France was a wholly owned subsidiary of Chrysler. The Talbot Horizon is the basis for the four-door Omni/Horizon cars. Yet, nearly nothing interchanges between the French Horizon and the US Horizon cars. Top: Talbot Bottom: Plymouth
View attachment 1114609View attachment 1114610

1986_Plymouth_Horizon_(26337117805).jpg
Click to expand...
the Omni GLH & GLH-S were fast, badass cars. But, those VW rabbit style cars were ugly bastards.
 
I had an '87 Horizon identical to the blue car above, and loved that little car! With the five-speed trans, it was a fun little runner. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Chrysler built them from 1978 - 1988 and sold a ton of them. Ugly or not, they were very dependable and I'd say, pretty good-looking.
 
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