Posted on 10/09/2020 3:36:19 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
The Pontiac Fiero is just one of those cars that gets a bad rap. It was never quite as good as it seemed on paper, but its poor standing among mid-engine sports cars is more a result of its often shoddy transformation into European exotics. It may seem like all Fieros have met this fate, but alas, that isn't so. In fact, the final Fiero that rolled off the line has been preserved for history. Its interior is still festooned with the pre-delivery plastic, the entire exterior of the car is immaculate, and to say it hasn't been used much would be an understatement; it has just 582 miles on the odometer.
Since it's the last Fiero GT built, it's also the most well-sorted. It has the best suspension and the most powerful, 2.8-liter V6 engine, but unfortunately, it packs an automatic transmission. That being said, it's red, absolutely spotless, and going up for sale at auction in November.
The GT was the top of the heap in terms of luxury and performance, which should help this Fiero fetch a higher price on the auction block. Its 2.8-liter V6 made 140 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque when new and although this isn't a ton of power, the V6 Fiero GT weighed just south of 2,800 pounds, which helped it reach 60 miles per hour in a reasonable 7.5 seconds.
It's also a desirable car because it got the non-parts-bin-special suspension that the Fiero engineering team always wanted for the vehicle. This setup was only available for the 1988 model year. Also, there are other desirable options like air conditioning and cruise control should you ever, y'know, actually drive it.
The one-owner Pontiac is being auctioned off by GAA Classic Cars in Greensboro, North Carolina. And as to how the owner got it, it was one of the two final cars raffled off to employees when production was ending. The owner has kept it ever since he won it back on Aug. 16, 1988. I'm assuming he's driven the admittedly few miles with all of the plastic still covering the interior, which sounds like fun. Maybe you can do that too if you buy it.
A friend of mine owned one, in between several Corvettes. I don’t know what year it was I’ll have to ask him. But he said he liked it well enough.
My stepbrother also owned one at the time, I recall him telling me that the bad reputation was undeserved. Again I don’t know what year his was.
Somebody fact check me on this, I thought they made some of them with four cylinder engines. And for some reason I’m thinking that was part of the bad reputation because GM did not build good four cylinders.
I think John DeLorean was involved with the Fiero design before he left Pontiac and GM. I believe his original intent was to have interchangeable fiberglass body parts so owners could change the color of their car whenever they wanted.
My Senior Drill Instructor on Parris Island in 1989 had a red Fiero.
Your climate in Florida is kinder on vehicles than the winters and road salt are on the cars here in Michigan....
My brother owned one of these at one point, an absolute piece of turd car..
Fieros were fiberglass body panels on a steel skeleton. Florida Sun is not kind to fiberglass...................
Satch Carlson, the great op-ed writer for Autoweek back in the day, owned an Esprit. He wrote a piece once describing the time he decided he was tired of the Esprit leaving small puddles of oil on the floor of his garage, so he “borrowed” one of his wife’s cookie sheets, and put it under the nominal leak. Within a couple of days the leak had somehow shifted to the other side of the car. He chased the leak back and forth for a couple of days with that small baking sheet before going nuclear and buying a huge commercial baking sheet that fit the entire width of the car, whereupon the leak migrated to the steering rack. He gave up and took the baking sheet out, and the leak moved back to the original location.
More generally, I owned an ‘84 Fiero GT with the rather fun 5-speed manual for a while. It was a hoot of a car, especially for the time.
My experience of these things are absolute pieces of crap...
Never owned one personally, but you brother did.. you couldn’t pay me enough to take one of these...
One trend that I’m happy to think has DIED is the “Pop-Up” headlamps, a more useless stylism I have never seen! Even when they design them to default to open for safety reasons, they were idiotic. Heaven forfend the driver wanting to do a warning headlamp flash, by the time he got them out ... SMILE!
Same here.
I think it depends on the car. IMHO they are an essential part of the styling on the Ferrari 512 BB and the original Acura NSX. I don't think those two cars would have looked right without them.
i liked them on my old Supra
I'd prefer the 1975 Tii
I see your point and maybe I should have added the fact that with the end of 'sealed beam' type headlights making that style unnecessary. Nowadays, when you can integrate LEDs almost anywhere, it truly is a designer's dream world.
Okay, so that’s the reason. Battery is to heavy for a pure sports car. I figured it had to be something, because otherwise it makes too much sense.
I knew a guy who loved his. He wrecked it and bought another fiero
A friend test drove one on a damp road. The cars spun into a 360, he drove it back and walked away. We both were driving Scirroco's at the time. I think he moved on to the Audi Quattro.
More on heavy batteries being the dealbreaker from small electric sports cars:
I have a red Fiero and have been called a D.I.
Just because I told someone”your other left...”
My first car was a 75 Scirocco.
Great ride.
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