Buck Fleming, from Tennessee, is selling a Shelby Omni GLH-S that he claims was number 230 out of 500 units produced by Carroll Shelby’s company with the Dodge Omni as the starting point. The catch is, the car had stood abandoned for a decade and a half.
There is no asking price. Before we take a closer look at the barn find, a bit of history first. Shelby bought the final 500 Dodge Omni hatchbacks produced for the model year 1986 and worked its tuning magic on them (watch the video for details). The stock 2.2-liter turbo engine ended up with a new turbocharger, manifolds and cooling, raising the output to 175 PS (173 hp / 129 kW) and 237 Nm (175 lb-ft) of torque. The stock car had 146 PS (144 hp / 107 kW). Thanks to the upgrade, the Omni sprinted 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 6.5 seconds.
Elsewhere, Shelby upgraded the suspension with Koni parts and put the car into a purpose-designed body kit adorned with stickers and 15-inch aftermarket wheels.
This example suffered a transmission breakdown and was left to stay motionless for 15 years, gathering dust, rust and dirt. The owner said he had intended to repair it, but never quite found the time.
The true mileage is unknown, but could be close to 200,000 km (125,000 miles). The car has become much worse for the wear over the past year – the trim on the seats is threadbare, the exterior is blanketed with dust and the plastic parts inside lost their color from age. The listing doesn’t specify whether the engine has been started at all since the breakdown. Carscoops believes that the vehicle is authentic, though, and could fetch a nice price if restored.
