Who killed the Pontiac Fiero?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 เม.ย. 2016
- Introduced in 1983, the Pontiac Fiero holds the title as the first and only mass-produced mid-engine sports car by a U.S. automaker.
But its short five-year production run, along with its propensity to catch fire, has left the Fiero dangling in automotive folklore.
"Did the Fiero get a bum rap?"Motoring TV host Brad Diamond asked. "And did Pontiac bail out too early?"
And so it was in 1997 that Brad and the Motoring TV team set out to find out who killed the Pontiac Fiero.
(This segment originally appeared on Episode 18 of Motoring 1997.)
**Watch full episodes of Motoring TV at MotoringTV.com** - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
When GM produces a car that people like, they immediately discontinue it. i.e. Fiero, Saturn, Impala, etc.
I owned an 88 and drove the hell out of it...Never failed to start and I never spent $$$ on anything but tires and gas...Only problem was that the front end needed additional weight added for counterbalance...I loved this car. The seats were the best:)
My sister bought an '88 Fiero Formula new. Still has it. 28,000 miles.
Ric Havic: 28,000 miles- that happens when you replace the original tires with milk crates
She got the fiero & you got a computer ?
but he had one hell of a day off:)
imnotsmartbutimtryin bueller.. bueller...
@@4g6_miragecolorado00 that was actually a Ferrari in that movie...
I had a 1987 Fiero GT with the stock 6 cylinder..... Was a great car. I called it the poor man's corvette alternative. Was nimble fast and eye catching for it's time and still is today in 2019. There was an article in the 1990's edition of High Tech Performance Magazine in which a Cadillac NorthStar Engine was shoe horned and added more HP to the rear axle. Another place was Archie's V8 engine swap..... That allowed you the ability to install a small block V8. Holley had upgrades that helped the 84-88 year models.
I would like to get a 1988 Fiero one day in Silver
I have been involved with the Fiero since 1980. I know the history from start to end. Some of what is told here is true but there is so much more to this than just what is presented.
Yes GM did not want the car and it was canceled several times till it was approved. Pontiac hid the program at a company called Entech to hide it till they could present it as a commuter car with full intentions of doing a sports car from the start.
The problem is they had to build the car at a plant that could make 250K cars a year and they had to over build and over sell the car. Lets face it how many 2 seat cars can you really sell and keep it going?
While this was going on GM had the plan to put the FWD F body replacement the GM 80 platform set to move into the plant to eat up excess production. Well Ford had planned to use the Probe as the new Mustang and with good sales on the RWD they chose to keep the Fox body around.
Once that happened the unpopular GM 80 was killed and the 4th Gen F body was put fourth. Once the GM 80 was killed the Fiero was a sitting duck.
Yes the Corvette people were not happy as they were seeing sales drop as the C4 was aging and they need to protect ever sale they could. They wanted the Fiero dead as the 1990 was going to get a DOHC V6. While the Corvette would still have been a faster car the lower price may have taken enough sales to put them in trouble.
Fiero sales even in 1988 were still really high for a two seat car at over 30K units a year. They really should have been selling even lower numbers to support sales as the Miata even sells less than 20K average per year.
As I was told by John Schinella the head of Design on the Fiero Chevy sells more cars and Chevy get more say on what happens. It killed the Fiero due to plant under capacity issues. This lead to UAW issues and bad blood between Pontiac and GM. The culture was toxic and GM did more damage internally than externally.
Power was not an issue as even at 140 HP the Corvette was only 185 HP at the same time and heavier. More power was on the way. The Turbo was not a 2.8 but a 2.9 all aluminum engine. It was not crazy power like today but impressive for the time. Two cars were built with it and called Porsche Eaters. They had to remove the name from the tail lamps in 1985 as the 1988 Suspension though designed by GM was tuned in the front by Porsche Engineering for turn in and feel. Many claimed it was Lotus but that was never true.
The car was killed but the design lived on. The 1990 design was used for the 4th Gen F body. they used the over all shape and cues for the new car when they transformed it to the larger platform with Front engine. Note they did carry over some of the sheet molded panels too.
There is a lot more but this is the bones of the story. I got much of this from people in the Fiero program and even the book Inside the Corvette by John Mc Clelland also states the same. He even said the concept of the mid engine V6 was from the GM tech center and offered to the lead Fiero engineer as a way to lower the cowl of the car. Hulki took what they offered and adapted it to his program.
Odds are the Fiero would not have lived much more than 5 years anyways. The life of a 2 seat car that is not a Corvette or Miata is generally 10 years or less. The volumes are low and the return on the dollar is not much. Just look at all the two seat cars that did sell well and how short their lives were. Even cars like the RX7 etc all had limited lives.
Pontiac was failing and not a global brand so they were on their way to death a long time before they died.
I still own my Fiero I bough in 1985. I show it and even have a some prototype parts on it. It was never a perfect car but like a MG or Spitfire it is a fun and affordable car.
The fires did not help and what they said is true. The worst part though is the fire would start and right over the fire was a plast deck lid. Just kindling for the fire. Once they start they kept going. Most fires are due to leaking V covers and if they were sealed with a gasket vs RTV it may never had been an issue. Most were the Iron Dukes as their covers all leaked no matter what car. Just in the front the air flowing though prevented it from igniting.
The Fiero is a good snap shot how how damaged GM culture was back in those days. GM did not fail years later they failed years before and it only took that long to show. Today things are much better and most of the people who were the problem are now gone.
Thank you for this
Steven Swisher
You are incorrect about your hp figures.
In 1984, the Fiero was limited to the 92 hp 2.5L, and the 84 Corvette had 205 hp CFI engine.
In 85, Fiero got the optional 2.8L V6 with 135 hp, Corvette switched to TPI and jumped to 230 hp.
Pontiac's problems didn't start in the 80's, their styling was great then, and so were sales. No, Pontiac's problems started in the mid-late 90's, with tacky exterior styling.
All that gaudy ribbed cladding, that looked like it started life as vinyl house siding, and the Aztec....
From bumper to bumper, that thing was just plain UGLY...
And sales plumeted for the Firebird when they restyled them for 1991. The "Batmobile" nose, and bizarre lower cladding on these cars turned off customers.
The 4th gen Firebird was an improvement in overall styling, except for the long sloping windshield, which forced the cowling halfway over the engine, and those hideous windshield wipers...
The 98 restyle of the Firebird again didn't do it any favors, and sales once again slumped from tacky styling.
It's almost as if Pontiac's exterior styling engineers wanted to harm the very company they worked for.
There were still some overall nicely styled cars from Pontiac in its last years. The Bonneville and G8 looked good, but it wasn't enough to make up for the pitiful styling on most of their other models.
In 1985 the V6 was rated at 140 hp. My 1988 GT is rated at 135 hp. Same engine different way of calculating the hp.
The one thing to remember the 84 fires, the actual number of fires weren't really that high. Your 2006-2011 BMW has a better chance of catching fire than a Fiero!
0.7% Cars had fire issues.
Not sure why they get hounded by that. GM killed PMD in 1978, anything after is just a restyled Chevy.
GM screwed up getting rid of PMD.
I also wondered why they discontinued, but it wasn't for lack of appearance-very sharp car. I thought it's plastic body panels were an ingenious idea.
I HAD TWO FIEROS LOVED EVERY MINUTE I HAD WITH THESE CARS YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU MISSING ,
I owned a brand new 1987 Fiero GT, silver, with no rear deck spoiler, 5 speed manual, V6. Had if for 2 years and enjoyed almost 50k trouble free miles. A real looker, as it was constantly mistaken for an exotic car, and I enjoyed giving many young ladies a 'ride' in it.... At the time, I chose this vehicle over a similarly priced RX7 and MR2 as they were under powered compared to the Fiero, and frankly, were not as exciting to look at or to drive. Nothing but great memories for me regarding my 1987 Fiero GT.
My first sports car was an 87 GT, maroon, same as yours - no spoiler (thankfully). I bought it in 92 with just over 40k and drove the living hell out of it until I sold it with just about 100k, still running well. And the worst thing I had to deal with during that time was replacing a worn out clutch, which was certainly no fault of the car. My next sports car was an 86 Porsche 944 Turbo - which was faster in a straight line run, but I very much preferred the handling of the Fiero over the front-engined, unevenly balanced 944 and although less HP, the overall package allowed for really stretching the GT out on curvy back country roads, which was a life-threatening pursuit in the Porsche (that model, specifically, not the air-cooled serious Porsches of course).
People who automatically dismiss Fieros don't know squat about the 86, 87, & 88 GTs. And just when Fiero was getting really good, they kill it to keep from upsetting the Corvette club. All I can say is I wish I had kept mine.
I drove the hell out of my 88 and the only repairs were gas, tires, and 1 clutch...Loved it...:)
The RX7 was underpowered? Dude did you even drive one? A series 4 would walk your Pontiac all day long- not even the same ball park.
@@garethcurtis7545 13b or 12a 13b turbo
@@garethcurtis7545 I don't know why you responded to me...I didn't say a damned thing about any RX-7.
I own an 84 SE with 236,000 miles on it. Owned for 24 years.
I've owned several of these and loved this car...
thats also what killed the grand national the gnx was faster than the vette and gm was not happy about it
Christopher Earl
No.
The entire G-body line was reaching the end of its life cycle.
Buick built the GNX, knowing it was going to be a one year only car, and production was deliberately kept low to ensure it had almost immediate collectible status. Only 547 were built.
they most definitely wasn't happy about that. 👍
GM went to a front wheel drive W platform because apparently their personal luxury coupes were losing both the styling and performance war with Ford's aerodynamic T-bird. Better looking exterior and interior, and drivetrains that outperformed GM on both the NASCAR circuit and the street.
GM guy: "the Mister2 from Toyota" HAHA
I'm glad I'm not the only one that caught that hahaha
In Japan, the third generation MR-2 was called the MR-S, definitely not a name that would work in the American market.
Benjamin Barrera I've only known it by that name lol
Bwahahaha! The MR2 was a solid car, at least mine was at 25 years old, with 200k+ miles. A modern cd player from Toyota plugged right in and operated the busted paper subwoofer under the driver's seat which I replaced. The copied hardware store keys the car came with were pretty chewed up. I went to the dealer and got some original style keys cut from a code, and the little plastic doohicky that holds the prop rod bottom. The rest was cleaning. It was 3 quarts shy when I picked it up, (less than 4 quarts when full,) the car was abused and filthy. 1.6l 4 cyl still revved out all the way, would beat my 5.0l Camaro and any GM car or truck I've ever owned. Dr. Jekyll until you opened the T-VIS valve, then it was Mr. Hyde. The engine went on to get a supercharger, later versions had ITBs and 5 valves per cylinder. Fiero GT had the looks and .1 or something in the 1/4 mile.
The Toyota MR2 in Quebec was call MR DEUX.....MRDEUX....
I've got a pontiac fiero right now, and the cars is great it's like a street legal go-cart its fun as hell
I had a GT V6 for years, really liked it.
I got one aa well.. lol
The most comfortable seats ever...I loved my 88. So reliable.
Long ago, a work buddy of mine had a Fiero and he told me that he was frequently turned down by mechanics to fix his car. I even witnessed one of them hanging up on him, right after he told him what car he drives, LOL!
I had 2 of them... And I loved them both. Now... I will be getting one more to restore to keep until I die.
True. Once the Pontiac team threw in a better motor/suspension-that was like throwing dirt in the face of all Corvette owners. As for the styling of the Fiero the GT fastbacks hold their own for many years, but if you add some tweaks to the exterior body with wheels it's back on top and that's 30-yrs later. Granted, GM did the same for the Cadillac XLR (but over priced) but in either case the Fiero and the XLR (although a short production run) still looks better than most cars today.
The XLR never overcame having the north star which was inferior to an LS v8 reliability wise, smooth but not a good performance motor when the company making it makes several sturdier models.
Great video! I always loved the looks of these ever since I first saw them growing up in the 80s/90s. Unfortunately when I was of driving age, I couldn’t afford to buy one plus insurance rates were almost double of other cars at the time. Some day...some day... Thank you for the great content, including the rare factory/assembly line videos!👍👍
With my "engine fire bug" recall, they replaced the entire engine. It cost me just $1. My car lasted 18 1/2 years. It did not die of age.
Instead, a guy lost control of his car and ended up smashing into my car while it was merely parked in my apartment outdoor parking lot spot.
The Fiero GT was a great car. I had 2 in the UK, one mildly tuned to about 150bhp with performance headers, cam and Chip. I also had a Renault Alpine GTA V6 Turbo. A very similar car in design, rear engine, full endurflex body. Very light. And super fast. The Alpine was definitely the better car but never sold in America.
Never drove one, or owned one but road in them a few times. They were okay...but I'm over 6 foot tall...and when I got out of the car, I just opened the door, pivoted in my seat, and crawled out onto the ground. Then stood up. Also, due it's height, pickup truck lights hit you right in the eyes.....now that does happen with other vehicles, but it was somehow just worse with this car. But I have meet their owners who do quite simply love them. Even knew a man who was a club member of a Fiero group and just loved it.
I had an 85 v-6, manual 4 speed. it was fast, handled like crazy and looked so cool. so fun to drive. best, most fun car I ever had. It quit running and vandals completely destroyed it. miss that car.
They are very attractive cars and I would love to own one some day.
I am happy with my 86 Trans Am though.
Like the fiero and firebird
I owned the 85 v6 new back in the day. It handled great. It sounded great and it looked great. Never any major mechanical issues. Never a dent! It was even good in the snow. My G35 is the coolest car I own but my rsxs gets my daily driver award.
Love the fiero .... I'm 36 and have had 5 sence I was 16 .... and still have 3 of them .... even today they are head turners
Sadly, as did the Fiero go by the wayside, so did Pontiac Motor Division.
Yep, after they lost the V8, they became nothing more than restyled Chevy..
Yes I like a fucking Pontiac!!
I hope someone buy the defunct Pontiac and revive it to its prime
MrChad97Z exactly
I have always liked the design of the Fiero. I read an article/review of the last model year, the Formula Fiero. The review said that Pontiac had finally got all the flaws sorted out!
So, the marketing guys of GM saw the Fiero outclass the Corvette, they saw Fiero sales go down, and they saw a Toyota MR2 rising, so they decided to throw the towel and quit to avoid having to boost up Corvette power and avoid losing money. Well, I can follow that logic, but still I would have made different choices.
Fiero sales dropped because they stopped advertising it and Chevy wanted it gone...
Ronald de Rooij: As much as I disliked the Fiero once I actually drove one (I almost traded in my 1980 FIAT X1/9) at least they didnt do what Ford with that stupid front drive 2seater from Australia, FWD no less.
I'm in Canada and I remember this..... It was very expensive to insure for some reason. That's what discouraged me from buying a GT model in fact any model.
This is true! The initial engine fires caused the insurance companies to jack the rates up. This is one of the prime factors that killed the car. I found this out from a lady who was an ad exec on the Pontiac account.
Those guys are right anything that threatens the Vette will get crushed at GM. Which is funny to me because in those days Vette owners were bald, fat, and over the hill looking to pick up anything that gets wet. Any one south of 40 years old wasn't interested in a vette. GM could of sold both.
My Dick yep same happened the grand national
Same holds true today!
Gm needs to be shut down this isn't the first time a car was discontinued because it beat sales of that shitty corvette.
I loved my Fiero! I owned 2. One for me and another my wife drove. We never had a problem with the cars!
Auto shop in high school had a Fiero pace car. Have also driven one with a Cadillac Northstar swap. Much more fun to drive.
Great video
Gm has made mistakes. Bad ones since the early 80s. Making crap cars. Trying to fool customers. I dont buy gm anymore. They had me...never going back.
My dad bought a pristine, low milage 2 door fastback, 1968 Pontiac Grande Parisienne (Canada) in 1971 from a friend of his, cheap. Spectacular car. Had it for, oh, 9 years. 327CI, 4 barrel carb, premium wheels and brakes. I learned to drive in this car, took maintenance care of it and paid for my gas $$$$. A premium gas guzzler but, man, this big car could go like hell ! How many Corvettes and 'stangs I humiliated with it ! He finally decided to sell it cause a slipping trans, in need of a major valve job. He bought my dumb bro in law leased late '70s Catalina. What a piece of crap that car was. My younger brother totalled it when the brakes failed in a country road 2 years later. No injuries. Dad was relieved. For my kid bro but also getting rid of that POS Pontiac. I had him test drive & buy his first Accord. He never looked back. Ever. Damn GM's CEO Roger B Smith and his beancounters.
"Gm has made mistakes" That is the understatement of the century. I built GM cars for 15 years and I can tell you first hand that they build low quality, cheap cars that can't compete with most of the foreign competition, it's not even a question. I drove GM vehicles exclusively for 20 years, but then I switched to Honda after I left the company and never looked back. I will never own another GM product.
@love is my religion
Except that they are obviously not all the same. All you need to do is look at the annual quality and safety rankings, but this requires a person to accept objective truth, which some people just can't do, since they are 'fanboys' of this brand or that brand and will defend those brands to the death. I'm pretty sure GM doen't have a single model in the top 10 quality or safety rankings this year. I think all but one model in the top 10 is from a Japanese or Korean brand.
I Dad bought a 1983 Chevy diesel V8 4x4 pickup. The paint and primer peeled off, the transmission went out and the diesel engine was nothing but trouble. No help from GM. After this bad experience, he refused to buy anything GM. Since then, he has had a 1988 Dodge Ramcharger, 1990 Honda Prelude si 4ws, Ford Focus and currently owns a 1987 Suzuki Samurai(project), 1999 Ford Expedition, 2012 Ford F350 4x4 4 door dually and a 2016 Ford Taurus. Think of all the money GM would have made if they would have treated him right.
Love is religion ...even sell out the ppl who made them ... That's why Detroit is a slum now
typical GM corporate BS. They could have made so many great cars that people would want to keep around as collectors that were fast and fun and could have competed with other sporty cars but no. nothing could be as fast as or faster than, or even more popular than the fucking corvette.
i'm bashing GM, not the corvette. Corvette is a good car, but the idea that GM wouldn't allow any of their other cars to be great and bring in more money is just fucking retarded. We would have more Buick GN's and GNX's, we would have had a 2.8 V6 Chevette that would be fast, the fiero would have been fast, we'd probably still have a Pontiac Division which was starting to become the RWD division until Obama said no more) Oldsmobile would still be around with the Tornado... just saying the corporation could have done so much more in the 80's and 90's but no, corvette.
Indeed Pontiac actually produced the first official muscle car back in '63 and from then on it was GM's official performance division. They innovated a lot of great designs, some of which the Chevrolet division wound up claiming. Example: There wouldn't be a Camaro without Pontiac, yet everyone thinks the Trans Am was just a derivative of the Camaro. Very sad.
Chevrolet played constant and consistent oneupmanship to Pontiac and the Fiero was the last straw. It's got "CANNED by Chevy!" written all over it.
And you hit the nail on the head. Allowing Chevy too much muscle in the corporation is what sank GM.
Yeah, Fiero got better looking and better handling than Corvettes... and pulled sales from 'Vettes for anyone not concerned with maximum HP... and was much lower priced... Fiero was supposed to be a $6,500 little car to start with using off the shelf parts from other models and a plastic body... but when GM saw how it sold, as usual, they cranked it toward $20,000 as fast as they could...
I mean the zl1 1le is now faster than the vette z06 and they stil didn't come out with the z28 yet. yeah there is still the zr1 to come out but its gonna be close to the z28
Max Jonson I remember a few of the tricks that they used to do to hobble the Camaro so it wouldn't be as powerful as the Corvette. Mainly in the exhaust. I always told my Chevy friends they were being ripped off. The Corvette was lighter than the Camaro you could put the same engine and both and the Corvette still would have been faster. But GM had to let Corvette owners feel like they bought a more powerful car. Same thing GM did with the GTO and the Firebird back in the day. There was the infamous tab on the 4 barrel carburetor of the Firebird that limited how far it could open up so the gto could have more power.
The Custom Trans Am vents in that Fiero look strange flipped..
The Fiero looked like a sawed-off Trans Am or the bastard child of a Trans Am and a Porsche.
Dad bought it for me,Loved it!!!!
What killed the Fiero was GM banking on the SUV market going into the 90s. Chrysler's success with their minivans was a clear market indicator that customers wanted practicality and utility over sport. This also killed the large Sedans by the mid 90s, GM's bread and butter since the 50s. Even today practical vehicles outsell sport coupes by silly numbers. Sure they are desirable to rich Europeans but that's it. Terrible market
Right, way back when I was a young Pontiac Tech these cars were well known for fires, oil leaks, and blown engines but here no one seems to know this.
Never had one, but I remember the first time I saw a new one and it was parked in a grocery store parking lot. Few cars ever impressed me like that. It looked so different, exotic, gorgeous. It was a great success in my book.
The '88 GT actually looked good...
I remember someone made a tube frame Pro Street one and dumped a blown BBC in one..must have been a wild ride..
Especially the '88, it's a cool looking car. I liked the look since i first saw one in '84.
Wonder where can you post pictures them
I had an 86 and loved it. Plastic panels, no corrosion in Miami area.
That whole corvette and mustang B.S. really stifled the performance of several cars and even prevented some from being put into production. Kinda sad when you think about it. Lol you ever wondered why they couldn't just make the corvette's and mustang's faster and better so they didn't have to worry about little Fiero's or Taurus S.H.O's outperforming their flagship counterparts? Owell can't change the past, but people sure remember when they get dusted by a Fiero or a $800 Taurus SHO 🤤😲😊
I bought a brand new Fiero in 1984 Red , it was a good looking car, till I started commuting 65 mile a day to work, and back. The back tires Goodyear Eagles, wore out too soon. The clutch cable came off while I was going to JR collage, after work. Spun out twice in rain and snow. It was all over the road. Going down the interstate the engine would sometime, make a loud noise like it was about to jump out of the motor mounts. I took a big lost and sold it.. Dad had said never buy a new unproven car. He was right. RIP. Dad.
Car was Brilliant. I bought a new one the first year they came out. I was in a hard side impact accident and it was fine while the car that hit me was packed up to the windshield. I had a V6 automatic later, and should have never sold it. Great CAR!
My first car was a 1976 Pontiac Acadian. Loved that little 2door.
Love my 1988 Fiero GT w/t-top
I remember back in the 80s my sister wanted one, salesman had a hammer and swung at a panel showing its resilience. Always remember that.
I remember working on several early examples of this car, and they were crap. Suspension trouble, massive oil leaks, and coolant tubes that leaked were just some of the downfalls.. not to mention sub par Delco electronics... When we saw the 88s, we were impressed by how far they had evolved. And we were equally stunned to find out that GM had canceled the program. I had a neighbor that had a 2M6 with a 4 speed, an early 86. It was fun to drive to be sure. My boss of the time had an 84 with the 2.5 and 4 speed. The joke at our shop was calling it the mini Vette or half Vette. Still, even that was fun to drive.
The Mera (Ferrari Fiero) was built for almost 2 years after Fiero production ended. GM had quite a few dealers nationwide order end of production Fieros for their transformation into the Meras by Corporate Concepts in Capac Michigan. Bob, owner told me GM had to keep the Fiero plant open longer than planned to fulfill the last minute spike in orders. The last Fieros were good cars in the end & a prominate car magazine in europe rated it as the number one sportscar in the world for it's class. All because Corvette was worried about their own volume of sales. The same thing happened to the Buick Reatta. Sales were good & promising the last year of production for the Reatta but Cadillac pulled the plug because of concern that it would be taking away & hurt Cadillac Allante sales. What a joke. The Cadillac Allante production was halted one year after the Reatta was killed. GM had a habit back in the day of shooting themselves in the foot.
Not me, I started to bring my 88 Formula back to life yesterday!! Fun little street gocart...Worst thing about it is it's so dang small inside you have to get out to take off a jacket or change your mind!
my middle brother Sam rented a red Fiero in 85.he had such a blast in it. you could hear the car from 4 blocks away. sam shrieking with laughter. parts started falling off rather soon. i helped him return it to San Jose
In Western Canada, there were very few, perhaps no, 1988 versions being sold. I worked for a couple of Pontiac dealerships and drove several versions of the car. My favourite all-around was a black 1986 GT, with V-6 & an auto transmission. The '87 black ones had lower silver mouldings which detracted, rather than enhanced, it's looks.
Why production ended? Imo, poor sales. In 1984, Pontiac did a decent job of promoting it, however, when they'd worked out most of the negatives in 1986, they weren't doing a very good job of promoting it - in '86 to '88 - and were competing with the ever more popular Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans.
There was nothing in the way of cargo space, as compared to the others and the public were disenchanted with the quality of cars that "the big 3" were turning out.
When I think of the prospect of a 300 horse version... wow! Great driving cars, felt like a go cart that someone had "plushed out". I had always wanted to get my hands on one as a collector vehicle, but, never got around to it.
Sad to see it go.
on the bottom of a cliff in Palos Verdes california there is the remains of a Fiero that was drove off the cliff onto the beach 30 years ago. can still see the v6 eng in it. neat to look at.
the problem was that cooling system...
I have an 86, never caught fire.
I had a 87 pontiac Fiero GT v6 it was Blue and Siver with Sunroof rear wing bought it New never had any problems with it luv the car. Then i sold it to a friend. Im not sure if he still has it. Wish they bring it back. Would luv to get one again and put in a turbo motor in maybe a grand national v6.
I’m currently working on fixing up a ‘84 with the 4 cylinder iron duke engine. Call me crazy but I prefer the original model over the GT, it just looks so much better
Last few comments were right. Ppl we're buying the fiero more than the Corvette at the time CEO of GM and CEO of the Corvette was nervous that the Corvette would died. They killed their new baby Fiero.
If someone cant fix a Fiero they are a lousy mechanic and i wouldn’t let them work on any of my cars. It’s pretty simple.
I always wanted one back then but never got one
I remember a magazine article that detailed how to fit the 305,v8 into it.
I had an ‘85 and it was fun, but as a mid engine car it was tricky at times.
Why GM fails... "don't make the Corvette better, just axe the car that's cutting into it."
Where did Motoring TV go
Who killed the Fiero - the executives who decided to put that clunker of a low performance engine in a promising car.
Man, I am sick of hearing about Fieros and fire. The only ones that caught fire were 4 cylinder, manual transmission cars that had oil leaks and had not had the oil diversion kits installed AND suffered a catastrophic engine failure at high RPM due to abuse by the owner. When you tally those up next to the production numbers, 0.07% of Fieros caught on fire. That's less production vehicles catching on fire than pretty much any car ever made. Unless you owned a very specific version of the car and neglected maintenance AND abused your car, you have virtually no chance of your Fiero catching on fire. If your Fiero catches on fire, buy a lottery ticket because ridiculous odds favor you.
Fiero's were never $25,000. Mine was just over $16k for the GT.
"..once it stopped catching fire and they put a V6 in it, it was actually a nice car." lol
I love the look of the Fiero, the Fiat X1/9 and Toyota MR2
corvete also killed the gn early too.there was a 1988 montecarlo. on rwd platform but no grannational.
I bought a 1986 SE in 1990. I paid 5 grand for it, IIRC. 36,000 miles on the clock when I bought it. The clutch took a sh*t in less than a year lol! I swapped the clutch three times before giving up and taking it to the Pontiac dealer to have it replaced. Six hundred bucks later it was good to go. Never had another problem and wish I hadn’t sold it. You could not give those cars away in the early 90s and nice ones go for six grand and up now.
“Balanced and blueprinted...” it’s a 90 degree V6. It’s never going to be balanced.
On that Indy, the seat belt guide is upside down. Looks like someone incorrectly put the passenger side on the driver side and has it turned upside down.
Pontiac had a way of doing that. As soon as the Fiero got sorted out and was finally a pretty nice little car, they killed it. Like they did with the later GTO, the G8, and even the Solstice.
I bought a new 1987 base model Fiero (2.5 manual) and kept it for 7 years. Not a single problem. I loved it. My situation changed and I had to sell it. I had 115,000 miles on it. Wish they still made them. It was ROGER B. SMITH that killed the Fiero. May he rot in hell.
SMH, He inspired the movie Roger & Me!
Only the first year 84 fiero caught fire.
I just saw the indy version in beverly hills, california today i just had to get more info on it :)
Owned the 87 GT and had 180K on it, and if the ex wife didn't get it I'd still be driving it.
I used to love GM vehicles, for this reason I went to European cars with better style.
GM seems to always kill off the the wrong cars.
some iron duke fires were caused by poorly cast connecting rods supplied by Chevrolet. the damn things broke at an alarming rate puncturing the block.
I had a friend who had one and he loved it.
He told me it was the insurance companies who make it impossible to get affordable insurance.
Who killed it? GM did. They raised the price while the press was full of recalls. GM is famous for starting a new car and fixing the bugs over the years and than cancelling production when the kinks are all fixed. GM is a joke.
Chevrolet killed it.... Too much of a threat to the Corvette. At least it's potetnial was...
I have an 84 Indy fiery and no it hasn’t burned. That’s an overblown wives tale
I witnessed one catch fire on start up in 91 Vancouver BC Canada
2:48 straight up Waffen S.S. symbols on that car hahaha
Hunter Hunter lol wtf
That is NOT the way to compete with Volkswagen. Must've been the "88" model. When you're a racist asshole, but stylish as fuck.
bought one of the very first ones in Louisiana. Within a month, the alternator went haywire, caused the battery to expand and literally burst, bathed the engine compartment in battery acid.............dealer had to pull the engine, sat in the shop for weeks
I just saw one tonight and thought to myself what ever happened to it.
Only the first few in 1984 caught fire and by time they got it right in 1988 they killed them.
The head of Chevrolet. He was worried the FIERO sales would outsell the Corvette.
LS swap seems to fix all.
;-D
Decades later, GM V6s would have the SAME PROBLEM with fires. How hard is it to seal a valve cover properly so your cars don't catch fire? Anyway, I always loved the look of the Fiero and I always loved the mid, transverse engine configuration, especially in the MR2.
Personally i'm not a fan of the Fierro. But on an interesting note, when I was a kid, my uncle had one, and because of a tire rotation he was doing, we learned that the car with one wheel off, will balance out on the three remaining wheels. It doesn't matter which.
just a few months ago I saw that exact same pace car at an u pull u pay in Indianapolis.. rip
I asked my Pontiac field rep why my Fiero GT didn't have a turbo available as an option and I was told that because that would make it a Corvette killer GM quashed the idea.
they finally got it right there last year they changed from the corvette front end.
I read that also in the summer of '85 Pontiac tested a one-off V8 in the Fiero. When word got back to the Corvette people, Chevrolet lobbied heavily to kill the car. And since Chevrolet has always been the sales volume division within GM, they usually got their way.
Ed Dobbins: TOTALLY TRUE!! Corvette engineers started whining, the head of Pontiac at the time, received a memo from the VP of GM stating that in no way will Pontiac ever be allowed to build such a car. That fiero was running on Pontiacs' proving grounds in late 86. It was a 86 GT Fastback with a 5.0V8 out of a Trans Am. They where testing the suspention and brakes that would be released in 88. It outperformed the vette in every category. The big insult was that it was able to outperform a vette with a smaller motor!! The vette was running a 5.7.
Ed Dobbins the Fiero was originally designed with a v8 the Iron Duke motor was a last minute decision in 83 right before production began
Anyone ever seen an iron duke Camaro ?
I remember that too...didn't they have problems keeping the nose down too at high speeds?
@@mrski4945
I doubt you will believe this. However it is true. The 5.0 based on its short stroke will outperform a long stroke 5.7L on a sports car based on road course conditions. They rev faster and higher. Yet lack the torque of a 5.7. Although torque isnt needed on a road course. That and the 5.0 by nature is a lighter engine. Combine that in a light weight car. As you mentioned, then yes, you are correct.
Now on a drag strip, and modified?
The 350 will outperform it.
The worst thing was the bracket and bolt for the alternator tensioner 2M4 version you could never torque it tight enough.
GM killed the Fiero before even releasing it by rushing it to market too soon. Using off the shelf engine and suspension parts was a bad idea, because they didn't have any good engine/suspension parts at the time