We were the first on the block with an econobox. The year was 1978, and that was about the earliest any of the auto companies could respond to the severe gas shortages of 1973. And the Omni/Horizon still used many European parts, including a Volkswagen 1.7L engine fresh out of a Rabbit. But it was the first real competition to the imports and won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award.
My dad was eager to get a car that got good gas mileage, after years of big V8s that drank gas with a fire hose straw. Our Horizon was a sort of medium blue, and about as square and utilitarian as a clothes dryer, and with the same sex appeal. It had an AM radio for entertainment, and was our first car that ran on unleaded gas.
I remember this car very well, because it is the car we had when I learned to drive. It was actually peppy compared to the GM X-cars we had at driver's ed.
But my greatest memory of this car will always be the time I raced my friend Mike Kollenberg south on Coolidge avenue between 13 and 12 mile roads. It was at night, and he was driving a big creamy-yellow V8 Chevy Impala wagon. My little Horizon kept right up with him, and ended up passing him late in the race for a win. I was very impressed, my perception of the little blue box improved considerably that night. I drove my winner with pride after that.
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I had one of these. Bought it after my Oldsmobile caught fire, but that's another story. I bought it from Varsity Ford in A2. They had prepped it before I picked it up all the way down to buckets of Armorall to make the tires shiny. Well, it started to rain on the way home from the dealer. It's amazing how much traction you lose with thick layers of shiny stuff on your tires. I realized just how much as I was doing doughnuts in the middle of I-94 as long haulers whizzed by me.
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