More pics at link
More pics at link
Could have been a great car. As it was, it was pretty innovative for its day in terms of materials and layout. This is what happens when enthusiasts and engineers are overruled by bean counters and marketing.
Fiero was garbage.
The Toyota MR2 outlasted it by a couple of decades.
A guy at work had a Fiero that he really liked. He rear ended his supervisor on the way home from work one day. Oops!!!
I haven’t seen one on the road in years.
The Pontiac Fiero is definitely one of the worst constructed vehicles I ever had to perform work on as an auto mechanic back in the 90s.
Thanks, Joe for posting. My friend, (great baseball coach for young boys) Mike Kelly worked at Pontiac motors...where they built the Fiero. He said HE won the car (from a drawing I think) the last Fiero to come off the assembly line. I think there was a write up in the Oakland Press at the time. I thought I saw him in the grocery store last week. I wasn’t sure if it was him...the old guy had a mask over his face. He looked 100 years old. I didn’t approach him. He would be around 70 years old. I sent the family a text about possibly seeing Mike. Great guy.
Just sayin’
I pity the fool
Called it the Pontiac Fiasco at the time.
I still have my 1992 Firebird 3.1 Coupe (for a 21 yr old - v8 was too expensive on insurance) — my father bought it for me as a college grad present — I just started my Senior year and before I graduated - he passed away from his cancer treatments... Like Kirk and the Enterprise... I’ll see it burn and crash before I give it up... I used to undercover drug deals - speed patrol in it... when I was a trooper... it has 229,000 miles on it and looks new — had the engine flipped at 150,000 -— same interior - same engine - same wheels... I just did a full carpet clean this summer again... it’s all about how one takes care of these... YES, high mileage — but it has gotten me to multiple Army bases - caught bad guys - and served to get me where I needed safely...
Glad to see this little icon survived -— too bad Pontiac dissolved... 1969 Firebird is a great collector — even the 1978/79 models -— HUGE car — Fire Phoenix!
Under-powered but great handling car. It was fun to drive. Never had any real problems with it (both headlamp motors went out at different times and cost as bundle to fix). The stereo speakers in the headrests sound way cool...
They got the styling right, especially on the second generation version. The non-functioning rear side glass in “flying buttress” panels was a clever touch. The Fiero name and concept seems ripe for a modern reboot done right with proper engineering. The only catch might be overlap with the now-mid engined Corvette.
The worst human carnage I have ever seen was a Fiero that rear ended a truck and then got rear ended by another truck. Folded up like a taco. It was only about 15” long in the end. Both occupants were popped like grapes. The first CHP officer on the scene walked up to the wreck, looked in and turned around and puked on the spot.
Fiero and Classic Cars is an OXYMORON, in my humble opinion.
car threads are the best.
Pontiac lost its way in the 70’s. The Firebird was the last great Pontiac. In the 70s and 80s there was very little difference between the GM brands. By the 1990s Pontiac was known for the Grand Am. A throwaway car.
The Fiero was a great idea, but was poorly executed
Does it come with a fire extinguisher?..................
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.