AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY – DECEMBER 5, 1977 – The first FWD car from Chrysler Corporation.
Chrysler introduces the 1978 Plymouth Horizon, the first front-wheel-drive subcompact car built in the U.S., on Dec. 5, 1977.
The Horizon, coming amid a spike in U.S. gasoline prices after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, was approved in 1975 and development was compressed from the normal 48 months to just 30 months.
The fwd layout created more interior room and better handling than rear-wheel-drive subcompacts such as the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Chevette.
The car featured a transverse, front-mounted 1.7-liter four-cylinder Volkswagen engine with an electronic lean burn system.
Chrysler made some modifications to the engine but basically saved a year of development time by sourcing it from VW.
Customers had a choice of a standard four-speed manual or optional three-speed automatic transmission.
The Horizon and its Dodge variant, the Omni, also had an independent front suspension with anti-sway bar and front disc brakes.
It was no coincidence that the boxy hatchbacks look strikingly similar to the VW Rabbit at the time.
While the cars were mostly praised by the automotive press, Consumer Reports branded the Horizon and Omni “unacceptable” based on two road tests in which the magazine, in its July 1978 issue, said they exhibited “unpredictable and dangerous handling during some abrupt maneuvers.”
Chrysler, claiming the magazine’s tests “had no relationship to highway driving” was exonerated over time by other media and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Sales of the two models totaled nearly 272,000 in 1979, making them one of Chrysler’s few successes during a turbulent period.
Chrysler produced the Horizon and Omni at its plant in Belvidere, Ill., which had been converted for fwd drive production in 1977, from 1978-87.
In its January 1978 issue, Popular Mechanics said servicing a Horizon was a “dream job for the do-it-yourselfer,” noting that Chrysler included a do-it-yourself manual in each glove box.
The subcompact, named Motor Trend’s car of the year in 1978, lived on until 1990.
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