Lol (in a good way) to the Dodge Omni! My first car was a 87 Shelby CSX:
2.2L turbo - blast to drive! And surprisingly quick for that age car. But you want to talk about crappy interiors. On par, I'm sure, with Neon and Cobalt (with the only difference being the Shelby added touches like the steering wheel). I suspect the Neon and Cobalt are just modern day versions of this car. There's a lot of dislike here for them, but it all depends on what you are looking for, what you are willing to live with, and what your budget is. FWIW, I still have that car. It still runs quite well. And it's 28 years old. So take all the "reliability" stuff on the Neon and Cobalt with a grain of salt. Sure there are problems. But they can be fixed. These are not $40,000 cars, so of course they are "shit."
I am, of course, biased to Subaru's. I really enjoy my DD. Worth it, IMO. People complain about the interiors. I think, certainly on the older Subaru's, yes the interior sucked. On mine (a 2011), I honestly like it. It is as nice as an Audi? Of course not. But then I didn't buy an Audi. Maybe I just have a very low threshold for what a shitty interior is. All I know is this: I sit in my STI and not once do I think "wow, this interior is shit." And then I sit in my fiance's A4, and not once do I think "wow, this interior is nicer than mine." So it's all about what you find important.
Someone mentioned a WRX - this is a great suggestion. If you are really worried about the interior quality, try to get a new-ish one, 2011 or newer. It will cost, of course. And Subaru's retain their value really well. This is not a fluke, or accident. Despite "shitty interiors" etc. they retain their value. You should ask yourself why. There's got to be a reason (and there is). If the WRX is priced too high, try to find a Legacy GT (same engine as WRX) but these will be pricey as well I'm sure. How about an Outback or Forester? I think they would be fun daily's - they don't have the power of course like the WRX or STI, but you would get the AWD (snow & rain) and the reliability. Probably can find them for pretty cheap too.
In the end, I'm sorry to say the old adage is true: fast, reliable, cheap - pick two. Sometimes, though you get lucky. My first car, the Shelby, was fast and cheap, and ended up being reliable too (but then, we took care of it - my dad that originally bought it and then eventually me, when I learned to drive). Personally, I think if the budget is low, the SRT or Cobalt are fine cars - yes they are "shit" but it's all relative. If you have more money to play with, look at Subaru's. I think a WRX/STI is what you are unconsciously thinking about when you describe what you are looking for
Edit: Oh, and back to the Omni, (or Charger, or Daytona, or Z, etc.) - if you can find one they are easy to work on and deceptively fast. This was before cars started getting fat. My CSX weighs in at 2700 lbs. Get over 300hp from the motor (totally do-able) and you have quite the sleeper. However, due to the age, I would *not* recommend these as a daily. Also, they are obviously from the 80's, very boxy design which didn't really age that well. If you want to know more about the Shelby Dodge's, go
here. After Shelby made his version, Dodge ended up mass producing a lot of what he did as just "plain" Dodge's.
