What happened was that, at that time (late 70s/early 80s), the American auto companies simply did not take Japanese competition seriously. That was typified by the way that Lee Iacocca did his famous TV ads. He thought he could sell poorly-made cars simply by smooth-talk....and, for a while, did.

I owned a Chevy Citation from that period. I've also had several more recent GM products...including two Saturn S-series cars. Believe me...I know the difference.

 

 

Respectfully, THEY were not the ones who wasted money on junk during that period....I was, although some of the older folks here might have also owned some cars from that period. I learned much of what I say about vehicles today, not just by studying and book cramming, but by actual experience. And, yes, I made some mistakes....some of the new cars I owned were starting to fall apart in as little as one year. By 1984, I had finally had it...it was so long to Detroit until the excellent Saturn S-series came along a decade later, which IMO were actually worth what they cost.

 

...and safety issues. I distinctly remember a report -- maybe 60 Minutes -- where the steering on the Omni/Horizon did not re-center.

No--GM was not alone in trying to compete with the smaller efficient Japanese cars.

 

Oh, THAT.....that was the famous Consumer Reports write-up, in early 1978, about the supposedly unstable handling of the first Omni/Horizon models. CR rated them Not Acceptable because of the way the cars would oscillate back and forth in CR's tests, where they would yank the wheel several times and suddenly let go.....I don't remember the details exactly of how they did the tests. Anyhow, after that test, NHTSA conducted their own tests, and did not find the cars to be particularly unsafe, though they did find some oscillation. Nevertheless, Chrysler made some changes to the steering system, CR repeated their test on the 1979 versions, and did not complain.

At the time, I had to commute a fairly long distance each day in the winter (no complete D.C. subway system yet), and I was looking for a relatively inexpensive FWD car. I liked some things about the Omni/Horizon (including its interior, ride comfort, and space-efficiency for a car that size. I had also had had a good relationship with the local Chrysler/Plymouth dealer from previous ownership (and my dad was a Chrysler fan). So, I ordered one, with both the top-level exterior and interior trim-packages. (listed brand-new for less than 5K). It was a nice-looking little car, but quite unreliable, sputtered during warm-up from the Lean-Burn carburetor, and I made the mistake of ordering the automatic, which was extremely short-geared, unreliable, and made for a lot of RPMs because of a lack of overdrive. But those news reports really stirred some of the people up at my office. I'd get ribs all the time....."Hey Mike, have you killed yourself in that thing yet?"....and "Not Acceptable.....Ha, Ha, Ha".