Hatch Heaven

The 1979 Plymouth Horizon TC3 was an entirely new sports coupe (hatchback) with real road feel and joined the best selling 5-door Horizon. Car and Driver even rated it as one of the most aerodynamically perfect cars built in North America and one of the shortest stopping cars around. Its sleek design using galvanized steel and aluminum alloys also fought corrosion. Standard equipment including an AM/FM Radio, contour front bucket seats, fold down rear seat, radial tires, positive rack and pinion steering, front wheel drive, front disc brakes, and column mounted controls. You even had optional choices like air conditioning, power steering and power brakes, TorqueFlite automatic transmission and a removable glass sunroof.

The 1980 Plymouth Champ Custom was basically a “Hatchback Package” that included Rallye suspension components that put handling toughness into this economical performer. A nice little simply and clean ride.

1978 front-wheel drive Plymouth Horizon started at $3,706 and came with standard features like front bucket seats, AM radio, whitewall radial tires, rack and pinion steering and front disc brakes. But best of all, it got 27 mpg city and 41 mpg hwy.

1977 Plymouth Arrow GT’s 1.6 liter engine  got 26 mpg city and 39 mpg hwy. The MSRP was $4,017 and had features like a piston operated hatchback, fold-down rear seat, power front disc brakes, tinted glass and a locking fuel door. Exclusive to the GT were extras like styled road wheels, woodgrain instrument panel, and quarter windows that flipped open. The vehicle pictured here had the wheel trim rings and AM/FM radio options, for $171.

An available and quieter 2 liter silent shaft engine cut vibration and noise. Chrysler-Plymouth dealers could enhance your Arrow even further with special suspension package and performance engine parts as intake manifold, headers and special pistons.

The Plymouth Arrow was an extension of the Mitsubishi Lancer/Dodge Colt known as the Mitsubishi Celeste in Japan. It was also known as the Dodge Arrow in Canada and as the Dodge Celeste in Puerto Rico. The Arrow was released in September 1975 as a 1976 model.

A 1.6 L I4 engine was standard with an optional 2.0 L I4. It was produced in various trim levels including the 160, GS and GT. The first year Arrow is easily identified from later years because its quarter-window louvers have two slats in the center, which were changed to three on all later years. The 1976 Arrow also came with a single windshield-wiper fluid nozzle on the hood, which was changed to dual nozzles for 1977 and remained that way for all later year Arrows.