As you may have noticed, we’ve got the Stellantis Fever real bad here at The Autopian, and the only cure is what you’re seeing now: wild speculation! That, and maybe whatever antibiotics they usually use for a UTI. In looking at the big chart of future Stellantis, one particular draped future-car caught my attention more than the others: the one labeled GLH.
For those of you unaware of what the GLH is, or was, first off I promise I won’t tell anyone what an uncultured swine you are, and secondly, let me explain. The GLH (which was said to stand for Goes Like Hell) was a version of the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon entry-level FWD hatchback that had been breathed upon and erotically massaged by none other than Carrol Shelby himself to create one of the ’80s most celebrated hot hatches.
What made the GLH (and the later, even hotter, GLH-S) special was, at least in part, because the car it was based on was so humble, as is the tradition of all good hot hatches. The original Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon started life as a “world car,” the Chrysler Horizon, developed by Chrysler Europe. A transverse-engined, FWD car, the Horizon was sold as a Chrysler, Talbot, and Simca in Europe, and in America it was sold as either a Plymouth or Dodge, and was the first true FWD/transverse-engined car sold by the Big Three.
Of course, early on Chrysler had to source 1.7-liter engines from Volkswagen’s Westmoreland, Pennsylvania plant, but they soon replaced those with their own 2.2-liter inline-fours.
The Shelby-modified versions made 110 hp, good for 0-60 times of 8.7 seconds, respectable for the time, especially from a little hatchback, then a GLH Turbo was available with 146 hp, and the later GLH-S with made a genuinely impressive 175 hp, enough to embarrass genuine sports cars that cost far more.
So, with some of that history out of the way, what are we to make of whatever is hiding under this sheet in the lower left here, from Stellantis’ bold plans to turn its fortunes around from earlier today?
Here, let’s zoom in. Computer! Zoom and enhance, sector 1, 5!
There it is, in the upper left: a new GLH. So what do we think this re-born hot hatch will actually be?
Here’s all that Stellantis’ head of American brands and North America marketing and retail strategy, Tim Kuniskis, had to say about it earlier today:
The big news though is that we’re going to be adding a true entry level performance vehicle, a gateway into the brotherhood of muscle. Think of it as the next generation of Hornet, but the way we should have done it the first time.”
This is especially interesting because it’s about as close to an admission from Stellantis about how they screwed up the Hornet as we’re ever likely to get. It also helps suggest what this “true entry level performance vehicle” is likely to be: most likely a compact crossover, which I suppose is the closest thing modern carmakers have to a hatchback.
Our own daydreaming designer, The Bishop, has imagined some possible re-born GLHs before, including this hypothetical EV revival:
I love the look of this, but I suspect an actual neo-Hornet-based one wouldn’t be quite so trim and hatchback-like as this.
Still, who knows? It’s free to hope, I suppose.
The last Hornet Dodge made was a re-badged Alfa Romeo Tonale, and was a sort of bloated, unreliable, and generally unloved thing. It’s been out of production since at least the start of this year and if we’re honest, no one has really missed it.
But it seems like Stellantis has realized this harsh reality, and, as Yoda once said, the greatest teacher failure is. I think just the fact that they’re planning on a new GLH is reason to be hopeful!
And, after all, when has Stellantis ever let us down, right?
The really surprising part is that it’s actually going to be a Citroen ELO with 500 hp.
So I take it it should have been called the GLF?
Oh. Like Dodge Fever? I see what you did there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3lfXZgu7Q&pp=ygUXZG9kZ2UgZmV2ZXIgY29tbWVyY2lhbHM%3D
I’ll believe all this Chrysler stuff about a new GLH, a new Airflow, the Copperhead, etc… when I see it. And I won’t be holding my breath till then.
I’m hoping that there will be a regular version of the GLH called the Omni.
Performance is nice. But many of us would rather trade some of the excessive performance a lot of cars have for better efficiency and lower TCO …which includes having a base version that does NOT have oversized tires/wheels, heated seats, glass roof, etc.
Essentially I’d like to see a version that competes against the Prius.
With that legendary Stellantis quality? Doubt it’s going to happen.
One can dream… with the dream being that they make one with ‘decent enough’ quality that I would want to buy it, but with typical Stellantis product depreciation so I can buy it cheaply used.
Think Opel Astra monocoque with a regionally designed interior and exterior for the Dodge brand.
https://www.opel.de/fahrzeuge/astra-modelle/astra/5-tuerer/uebersicht.html
Nice. And REAL buttons on the dash (or so it looks to me)!
Not bad, especially if it comes in that yellow!
The Opel Astra was one of the better offerings at your local Saturn dealership once upon a time, why shouldn’t it be the same for Dodge?
I’ve been hoping they would bring us the current Astra since it came out! Please let this be true!
I just noticed that armrest in the Astra is the same one from the Luce?
Announce new product, line go up, execs sell stock options, retire, new execs come in, cancel all plans, repeat ad nauseum, the MBA/PE playbook
I still want my Dodge Zeo or Chrysler Portal!
A girl I dated, her dad had a Omni GLS when she was a kid. Very tall man. She named the car Mr. Shelby. I hope he gets a new one.
Even if the GLH is super cool or the new Jeep Scrambler is awesome looking, does it change anyone’s opinions on buying a Mopar vehicle?? Having new product is great, but they have yet to address their single biggest weakness – their piss poor quality.
I don’t care how cool the upcoming Rampage is or how great the new Chrysler crossovers might be, if they don’t have some massive improvements in quality they are still an absolutely no-sale in my opinion.
I’m just gonna mention that every legacy corporation that is in the business of producing means of locomotion, inherently attracts some talent. All of the major auto manufacturers have had the ability to produce great things. Prototypes show the ability is there. Mismanagement kills many dreams.
Really depends. The van I have has been rock solid and is approaching 110k. Now, compared to the other main van players, Toyota and Honda, the expectation is 200k without problems, minimum. Could I get that? I sure hope so!
Now that’s a 10 year old design at this point, with the Pentastar, and for the most part that’s a reliable powertrain that most people are pretty high on. The real question is whether the Hurricane, and this new 1.6T hybrid are going to be long term. I’d argue the entire existence of the company hangs on that turbo hybrid powertrain, as I’m sure Stellantis’ plan is to stuff that into every small to medium size car they’re developing.
I would personally wait a few years before getting too excited.
But with Chrysler vehicles, it usually wasn’t just the engine that was the issue. They were known for transmission problems for decades. They also were known for smaller issues, be they electronic stuff, or dumb mechanical stuff that broke.
Oh they’ve done it all for sure lol.
I think this is their last chance to lure in customers with value-minded models in hopes that they have sorted out some of the quality issues that come with… well everything that Stellantis has been up to of late (fucking over suppliers, outsourcing engineering, racing to the bottom to gobble up profits during the *pictured above* tenure).
I do think their dealers should be pretty desperate for some genuinely inexpensive (relative) vehicles. Because the recent tactics of “we only sell high margin and specialty vehicles” isn’t going to work well when you’re simultaneously putting out unreliable garbage. They need to draw in some entry-level buyers at this point if they’re going to rebuild a customer base who would bother with their more expensive products.
Yeah I used to be a HYOOGE Mopar fanboi. First car was a Plymouth Sundance with the same turbo engine as that Omni GLH-S. And my current daily is a Kona N, so I’m exactly the target market for a new GLH. But honestly Stellantis is the LAST brand I’d consider buying at this point.
In the era of abysmal hero worship, it is proper to remember that Carroll Shelby WAS a TRUE American HELL RAISER! If some of the magic can happen again, It might restore some hope to carry on!
Just as the original one was a Chrysler/Simca/Talbot/Plymouth/Dodge. this is most likely just going to be the umpteenth variation of Stellantis’ CMP platform, which is a Peugeot 208, Opel Corsa, Lancia Ypsilon, Fiat 600, Jeep Avenger, Alfa Romeo Junior, etc. Yawn.
It’s probably a FCA Small Wide LWB car, like the Hornet is. The Hornet was booked for a GLH version before it got canned.
I swear to god if STELLANTIS beats VW to the electric hot hatch game, then VW is truly lost.
I’m guessing you mean for the US? They’ve unveiled the production spec ID.Polo GTI for Europe, and there’s been a low volume ID3 GTX on sale there for a little while now.
I’m honestly expecting the R3 to be the first hot hatch EV we get here, unless Rivian doesn’t make it that long…
And I just came across this GLH-T this afternoon https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1538800024267493/?ref=browse_tab
It looks like the Hyundai Ionic 5
That’s not a bad thing. Those are sharp looking cars IMO. Good on Hyundai for putting it into production.
I expect it’ll be a hotted-up version of whatever the Chrysler Arrow is, and since the Arrow Cross is listed as a separate sub-model hopefully it won’t be too top-heavy.
If they aim for 60″ OAH exactly, same as the last Honda Fit and non-Mazda Toyota Yaris, for the base Arrow with an inch or so up for the Cross and an inch or so down for the GLH, all from suspension height, that should hit all the targets.
I’m getting all sorts of weird feelings today.
I…. I think I need to ask my doctor if Stellantis is right for me.
This is pure gold!
Use Stellantis only as directed. Common side effects of using Stellantis products are fatigue, boredom, social isolation, vomiting, hair loss, mouth sores, fever, body aches, sore muscles, blurred vision, reduced testosterone levels and a lower red blood cell count.
Notify your physician immediately if you suffer severe constipation, diarrhea, insomnia, internal bleeding, dry mouth, ringing in your ears, migraines, incontinence, erectile dysfunction, or even more nausea than normal from driving a Chrysler.
Discontinue Stellantis if you develop an abnormal heart rythm, difficulty accelerating, faulty electrical functions, subpar braking or suicidal ideations as a result of using a Stellantis product.
If it’s powered by a Fiat engine, they’ll need to enlarge their service centers.
Production version is scheduled to debut sometime between the Mahershala Ali “Blade” remake’s premiere and the publication of “The Winds of Winter”.
FWIW VW Westmoreland didn’t manufacture powertrains.
Those came from Germany.