(hat tip to Kevin Li) Depreciation is a bitch; the minute you drive off the lot, your new car is worth a whole lot less. Even more so if you stash it for thirty years without ever driving it and pay for the heated storage. This 1984 Fiero cost about $8500 new, or $19,000 in today’s dollars. This “brand new” one with 200 km on the odometer is being offered in Vancouver, B.C. for $11,600 CDN. If the owner was hoping it would appreciate over the years of storing it, here’s proof to the contrary. But for some Fiero lover out there, this might just be a fabulous bargain.
The seller says: “This vehicle was purchased new in Edmonton Alberta and never driven! Stored in a heated secure warehouse since purchased from dealer. One owner, and in new condition inside and out.”
It does like showroom fresh.
1984 vintage Eagle GTs, looking very unused.
It certainly hasn’t had an engine fire yet, something these Fieros were rather notorious for. So here’s your chance to buy a show fresh GM Deadly Sin. What are you waiting for?
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Sweet looking car. It’s a shame that the Fiero was discontinued when it was. It might as well be allowing the Toyota MR2 to win.
Except that the cheap sports coupe market imploded in the ’90s — which Pontiac’s market research people had predicted and which was a major factor in the decision to drop the Fiero — and second-gen MR2 sales dropped off so quickly that the car was pulled from the U.S. about four years before the end of the model run. Kind of a Pyrrhic victory, that.
I’d consider it if I could do it. I’ve always liked these and felt that they were misunderstood, numerous warts and all.
Thankfully, I have neither the money or the space to entertain buying this, and I doubt I could register it where I live anyway. Nice find, though.
I loved these as a kid. Of course, I never had to live with one. It’s a great looking car and very innovative. It’s a shame they screwed up the details.
Never driven but 210 km on the clock. What the heck???
That’s less than 150 miles. Some new cars at dealerhips have more than that.
I once had a car dealer tell me they can sell a car as new if it has less than 600 kms on the clock (In Canada). I don’t know if it’s true or now.
Codswallop. A new car is NEW. At best a demo is a car with km that hasn’t had a private owner. This wouldn’t qualify because it would be out of the demo period.
150 miles is nothing. Dealers may need to drive it to a wash, detailing, etc and also test drives add up. Sometimes they even let a prospective customer take it home for a night or two. It doesn’t take much to hit 150, and it’s not unusual for a new car to have that many miles on it.
Minimal-mileage cars like this are a mixed blessing unless you’re looking to stock a museum. On the plus side, if the mileage is genuine, you probably don’t have to worry about finding hidden Bondo or suspicious respray marks. On the other hand, engines don’t take well to extended inactivity, even if you do the long-term storage stuff a lot of people don’t think to bother with, and rubber bits (like tires) don’t age well. So, you end up with a car that looks pretty pristine to the eye, but you never known when the door seal is just going to pull off (and where will you get one at this point?) or if the engine is going to start spitting blue smoke because a valve seal gives up the ghost after years of inactivity. And do you drive it or try to keep the mileage and originality as you found it? Tricky.
When I was working in a VW/Pontiac dealership around 89/90, the 84 Fiero had a life time engine warranty recall. Of course, today neither Pontiac or most likely even a new engine would exist in GM’s stock today. It is a safety (engine fire) recall. Would be interesting to see how this played out if the engine started leaking it’s fluids! Pretty sure a big SOL!
Good points on these ‘survivor’ cars. I mean, really, a run-of-the-mill old car, especially one in fantastic shape, isn’t really suitable as a daily driver. It’s not like it’s going to appreciate much in value, either, since there’s not much special about it (other than the great shape), but they’re even harder to maintain as the high-dollar stuff since there’s not much call for NOS parts for old, everyday cars.
About all these are good for are nice, easy, affordable ‘entry-level’ participation in local car shows. In that regard, they’re a fun alternative to all the monster-engine musclecars that really weren’t all that prevalent back in the day. To me, seeing a pristine six-cylinder Valiant is actually more interesting than a Hemi-Cuda.
As much as we get frustrated with the prevalence of cars like the Mustang and Tri-Five Chevys, I think parts availability has a lot to do with it on a practical level. If you have a car that’s not worth big-ticket money, the hassle of having to track down NOS replacements for model-specific trim and mechanical stuff can probably take it from fun to unfun pretty quickly.
It was bad enough when I had an older car that was getting toward the end of the window for manufacturer-supplied new parts. New replacement stuff (like the aforementioned door seal) was still available, but only from one parts depot, which, based on how long it took for parts to arrive, my mechanic and I used to joke was probably located deep within the Andes, accessible only by burro.
I here ya, the last few years have been rough in the MN12 Thunderbird/Cougar community. There’s a few wear parts that no one except for Ford seemed to properly engineer for them and recently those parts have either gone obsolete or a key piece to installing them is obsolete. The key I’ve learned to finding quality replacements is to look elsewhere for “damn close” parts from different cars/trucks (preferably newer/more common to eliminate immediate future headaches) but that’s pretty much hot rodding and keeping a mental list of ‘wrong’ parts to use is pretty draining at times.
Only thing I’ll counter, RE: the prevalence of cars like the Mustang and Tri-Five Chevys, other than body parts and some engine parts those kinds of cars have less excuse. The First generation Mustang as we all know effectively rides on a unit body Ford used on every compact/intermediate between 1960 and 1980, same could be said about the Fox chassis cars. True a lot of components are car specific, but there is a huge interchange rate among them, more than enough to reliably and cheaply keep whatever non-Mustang roaming the streets and hitting up the cruise nights.
Same could be said for most old domestics for the most part, with all the platform sharing there was always one infinitely endearing model based on one to create an infinite parts supply it seems. Between that and the general simpleness of them they’re pretty easy to deal with as low milers, the latter point being there was a lot more raw universal bits used in the old days, window seals, trunk seals, door seals, ect. Unlike more recent(~mid 80s like this Fiero) cars that use uniquely molded rubber/plastic everything, older stuff can be sourced from a universal weatherstripping roll from jcwhitney, newer stuff not so much.
“the last few years have been rough in the MN12 Thunderbird/Cougar community. ”
That’s too bad. I’m a big fan of that generation T-bird.
What I meant about the Mustang, Tri-Fives, Camaro, etc. is that aside from the mechanical stuff that’s shared with a bunch of other models, there are so many reproduction parts that you can get pretty much anything you need. The quality might be variable, but if you have the money, you’re probably not going to end up driving around with only three wheelcovers for a year while you scour online auctions and swap meets for the right replacement. So, if someone just wants “a cool old car” that isn’t going to be a big hassle and constant scavenger hunt, that is the path of least resistance.
There was an ’88 GT offered in Houston during the summer. IIRC, It had under 500 mi on the clock. They wanted 25K or so for it. I almost shorted out my monitor drooling over it. But, I’d only drive the wheels off it and it wouldn’t be a collector item anymore.
I owned a new ’88 back in the day. I sold it in ’92 as I paired down my fleet after getting married. I think I’ll get me another some day. Maybe not low miles… But, it’s gotta be mint. The carpet in them is impossible to find new or NOS.
With only 200km I think its a good deal for $11,000 if you can fit inside and enjoy the car during the summer. Come to think of it, I saw one a few weeks ago driving around Edmonton. Not really a surprise as for some time I’d see a die-hard Miata owner doing a regular commute between St. Albert and Edmonton in winter.
Still, if I really liked a car i won’t slog it through winter conditions.
When I was little, I used to think it was pronounced “Fire-oh” 🙂
My nickname for these is “Chariot of Fire”.
It’s not?
Although I knew several people who bought one new, back in the day, don’t think I’ve ever driven or even ridden in one. Back about 12-14 years ago, I came across somebody who was a Fiero collector. Talked like he had 8-10 and had owned others that he had let go when he found better ones. I do recall that the Fiero started out as a small, sporty-looking economy car. It didn’t have much in the way of sporting credentials until later in the run. So I kinda liked them, but not especially so. I came to conclude, and has time has passed I think rightly so, that Chrysler’s G-24 cars, the Laser and Daytona, especially with a stick, were more practical, drove and handled at least as well if not better and were able to deliver equal if not better fuel economy. I can say that after owning and driving a used, base model Laser with a stick for 10 years and well over 100K miles. Laser/Daytona owners also didn’t have to worry about their cars catching fire, I might add. Many of these cars have gone on have kit cars be built on the chassis.
I will acknowledge that the price seems pretty good for the low, never-used miles. In the past, have seen them for much more. Frankly, not a bad price for a “new” car. It’s a car that will still attract attention, with so few around in such excellent condition and will be a conversation-starter.
I have a hard time believing that the Daytona/Laser would handle better. Maybe around town but there should be no competition at the limit between a legit mid-engine RWD sports coupe (even one with an economy car engine) and a FWD sporty coupe designed on a modified compact platform. Unless they royally flubbed/cheaped out the suspension design, handling should easily favor the Fiero.
You can tweak a platform to do wonderful things–the 90’s Integra Type R, widely considered the best-handling front-driver ever built, shared a platform with the humble Civic–but I doubt Chrysler worked quite the same magic with the Daytona/Laser.
My experiences involved far more than around town. My road trip went from Ohio to Texas, to SoCal, then back to Ohio. It was winter and I-70 was shut down in the Denver area. Determined not to stop, after consulting my map, I detoured 100-200 miles, still in heavy snow. The car was amazing. No problems.
You seem to be talking theoretical when saying “at the limit.” From my teen years to now, have never driven any of my cars anywhere near the limit. The only place I sometimes do have some fun to see how the car handles is in the twisties. The 5-speed Laser and it’s replacement, a Stratus sedan with the 2.0L and 5-speed both have done exceedingly well in curves and the twisties. I’m speaking of absence of lean or body roll, hugging the road, etc.
I thought the Volvo 850 (later S70/V70, all are on the P80 chassis) was considered to be the best-handling front-wheel-drive car ever built. But I’ve owned three of them so I know all their quirks.
GM or a GM dealership should buy it and display it.
It’d be a real shame to just use it up after all this time and like Ate Up With Motor said, long term storage is sometimes worse for cars than just driving them.
It’s certainly nice in red and I always liked those wheels.
I just hope it goes to a good home where it’ll be babied and not turned into the worlds lowest mileage Ferrariac Fierorrosa or F(iero)-40.
Agreed, that would be a very nice showroom ornament in a multi-brand GM dealership. Or as a museum piece. It could be driven too, with judicious replacement of rubber parts. On a Lincoln forum I used to frequent there was a poster who acquired a Mark VII with less than 3000 miles on the odometer, stored for 15+ years, and went through it completely so it was a 100% driver, so that he could take it to shows and club meetings, and drive it to and from. A similar use would be ideal for this car.
At least it’s priced too high to be of interest to anyone except as a specific collector vehicle! Cool “time capsule” though.
“Brand new” actually means “Fresh from the fire”.
How appropriate.
I can’t seem to find it now, but I’m pretty sure it was in Bring A Trailer, where they showed a guy who had a Shelby Dakota, Shelby Omni and Shelby Lancer(?) that he stored for like 25 years, but he wanted over $40k for them or something fairly high.
Just shows that unless you stored late 60s to early 70s muscle cars, Ferrari 250 California/GTO and Porsches, specially 1973 RS and 356s, you were better off just enjoying the car.
Not sure what other modern cars could appreciate to the crazy levels those I mentioned have. But it’d be interesting to see…
Porsche 993 (and GT3) is about the most modern car I’ve seen with an upward trend in prices.
For the still-new old Mopars, go to Allpar.com, go to Forums, then click on Mopar News and Rumors. They’re still available as they haven’t sold yet. Not cheap for sure, but certainly the lowest miles examples of those old cars available now. They’re priced as the collector’s items they are.
I can’t say for sure when it started but at least 50 years ago folks started buying cars (and trucks) and “putting them away” with the idea they were going to be worth A LOT more in the not too distant future. As an investment strategy this has rarely been successful. A Ferrari? A good investment. A Fiero? Not so much. If the buyer of this car had wanted to make money on a Fiero he/she should have bought one of the last ones….not the first ones. And a top-of-the-range model instead of a run-of-the-mill model.
Still, it must have been difficult to hold on to this car for so long and not drive it.
The one I remember really kicking off the trend was the ’76 Eldorado ‘last convertible.’ It seems like a meaningful percentage of them sat in storage waiting for appreciation that never came. The Cosworth Vega is another car that there are still more delivery mileage examples than there are people that have a clue why they should want one. I think a standard ’71 Vega in decent shape would command more money from a collector than a pristine Cosworth, such is the surplus of preserved cars.
This belongs in a museum simply for being a pristine example of the quintessential, dictionary definition Fiero. Red, Trans Am-style wheels, white letter Goodyear Eagles, and no doubt the speaker headrest seats that became so frequently stolen that GM moved the speakers to the C-pillars on the ’86 models.
The ’88 Formula and GT are the ones collectors want. This is the one everybody remembers.
$9313 comes to mind as the MSRP of the 1988 Fiero with no equipment. Sold them to “first time buyers”( who came in for Trans Ams, Formula 350s etc) who left with the promise of getting the Trans Am once they made 6 or 7 payments to establish credit (never saw that actually happen). The Lemans GSE became the Trans Am substitute in 1989 for the well to do 1st time buyer, less than well to do would be assigned Lemans Value leaders as temporary Trans Ams. The last 1984 Fiero that I retailed was in 1987 and went on fire on the customers way home. On the plus side, did sell lots of 1988 Formulas and GT’s, including some yellow ones with T-Tops and leather.
On the plus side, did sell lots of 1988 Formulas and GT’s, including some yellow ones with T-Tops and leather.
I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of those you sold still exists with even fewer miles on the clock than the featured ’84. Much like the ’87 Grand National and GNX, more than a few ’88 Fieros were ordered up with every option and stashed away with hopes of someday hitting the the auction jackpot.
God I miss when you could buy new CARS with raised white letter tires, blackwalls are so boring!
Despite the humble underpinnings and countless shortcomings my inner child still gets excited to see a bright red Fiero, especially the regular notchback ones like this, the later fastback GTs are bland and generic to me. As an aside I used to hate these Pontiac wheels when I was a kid, partially because I remember seeing them used on Muscle car era Pontiacs as an “upgrade”, but they look really cool to me now, very 80s
“God I miss when you could buy new CARS with raised white letter tires, blackwalls are so boring!”
Hence low-profile tyres. Less boring black to look at, more room to show off a blingy wheel!
Not totally, now you get a clear view of the ugly brakes and whatever’s behind them. If I could get RWLs on lower profile tires I would
I had one of these, only mine was metallic gold. I bought it brand new, and put over 90,000 miles on it, and never had a single problem with it. It was a great little car. It is a 2 seater, with a small trunk behind the engine. The gas tank is in the safest place possible, right in the center of the car. That resulted in a very high and wide console, which when combined with the exterior shape, made you feel like you were driving a Lotus Esprit or a Lamborghini. The Fiero used revolutionary construction techniques, with a steel “space frame” covered in plastic body panels. It used Chevette front steering and suspension, and the entire FWD assembly from the X body Citation, flipped around and put in the back. It was a true mid engined car, the crankshaft was ahead of the center of the rear wheels. It was made only 5 years, and was canceled by Roger B.S., even though it was selling well with virtually no advertising.
These days I would prefer a Pontiac Solstice, but I’m afraid to buy one, what with both Pontiac and Saturn (Sky) gone. Would probably be very hard to get parts for, as the Fiero has become.
WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A neighbour on my street had a Fiero back in the mid nineties. Identical to this one all the way down to the luggage rack. And just a few years ago I dated a girl who drove a Fiero. I can’t recall the year, but it was an early model. Hers was in excellent condition too, and the first one I had seen in many years.
I got to drive it on a few occasions. With iron duke power it was comically slow. The gear change was notchy and not at all sporty, but it was still a lot of fun to drive, if anything for the sheer uniqueness of it. The car had a lot of personality. The low slung driving position was the best part. It was fun to pop the lights up and pretend I was in Thomas Magnum’s Ferrari 308.
The styling is awesome. I prefer both the early and refreshed models to the contemporary MR2. Also very unique contstruction, with plastic body panels over a steel space frame. Apparently this made the Fiero surprisingly safe for its time. There’s a lot to like, and the potential is there to improve performance to match the looks. I hope this example stays stock though, as it’s such a perfect time capsule. The price is reasonable to me, but I think it would best be suited as a museum car.
There is a Fiero club here that has about 12-15 cars show up for cruise nights–I asked about the underhood fire and the gent I was talking to said he never heard of it happening to anyone he knew–and what the gov’t and media at the time called a fire was really just a melted wiring harness.
They were really cool cars when new–my buddy seriously considered a V6 GT but decided he needed back seats and got a Daytona C/S
In 1987 I started dating a girl that recently purchased a brand new bright red Fiero. She thought she was all that. I think it had no more than 500 miles on it when we were driving on Route 95 in Massachusetts and we smelled a very foul electrical smell. Apparently when it was built there was an issue with the electrical harness but the car was allowed to go through the assembly line without being pulled. She said it had made the smell on and off from day one, but figured it was simply because the car was new. We exited off the highway, and the smell got much worse. When we were finally able to pull over and get out of the car, the interior had became so full of smoke you couldn’t even see the dashboard. Eventually the bottom portion of the dashboard simply disintegrated from the intense heat and her hot little red Fiero was truly that!. The insurance company ended up totaling it and she bought a brand new yellow Honda Prelude with AWS.
As bad as these cars could be, my sister-in-law owned a 1984 Fiero that she drove well over 100k miles. It was fairly reliable until the last year she owned it, which I think was roughly around 1999. She loved that car and wished she still had it!
Has anyone ever seen the crash test results on a Fiero? I am curious to know how well they did……..I thought I remember them actually doing BETTER than one would imagine, but I can’t remember for sure……….
They were very safe. The gas tank was in the very center of the car, where it was unlikely to catch fire in an accident. The “space frame” like the Smart car safety cell, was very strong. Mine had the Iron Duke engine in it, which was about as reliable as you could get, and a 5 speed. It had TBI injection.
The “fire” issue was caused by only a very few cars, and was nothing more than oil leaking from the valve cover gasket down onto the exhaust manifold and catching on fire. That could happen on any car, and does. There were no problems which stood out as happening more on the Fiero than any other car. Due to it’s construction, it was a very strong, solid design. No squeaks and rattles like the ’77 Corvette I traded it for. It had an expensive look and feel, like a car that cost a lot more than it did.
But it was not intended as a sports car, despite it’s looks. GM designed it as a sporty commuter. The magazines gave it bad reviews because it did not handle like a sports car and didn’t have enough power. IMO, GM’s mistake was listening to them. First they put the 2.8L V6 in it, even though it was never designed for that engine, and it was almost impossible to work on in the car. Then they started upgrading the suspension, added the longer nose, and finally the fastback body. In the final year it got the German made Getrag 5 speed. The unfortunate result of all these changes to try and make it into a sports car changed it from an $8,000 car the first year, to a $20,000 car the last year. GM just can’t seem to leave well enough alone. Then buick came out with the Reatta, and ole Roger decided to drop the Fiero, even though the base models were still selling well. The Reatta was seriously overpriced, not well styled, and was a total sales flop. Part of the problem may have been that the Fiero was stealing sales from the Corvette, which was much more profitable. One thing for sure, GM never promoted or advertised the Fiero.
Back in the ’80s, I knew 2 coworkers who purchased the Fiero around the same time. Both were single, flamboyant personalities; I suspect they simply wanted to make a splash, & that is what such cars are all about. Buyers like this will move on to something else if it catches their fancy, so manufacturers will have a hard time catching such fickle waves.
You just gotta love GM in the 1980’s.
To protect the sacred Cow, the Corvette, you could design and try to build something that was sporty but you couldn’t make it get out of its own way.
And to keep the costs down, you had to raid the parts bin and you got to use the bin of the least regard instead of where the good bits might be hidden.
What a marvelous idea – something affordable for the masses, still made of plastic like the Corvette, but something that was unique. And just for fun, let’s give it all the performance of a lowly x-car and then give it the suspension of a Chevette (or at least parts of it).
And just like GM, let’s introduce it half baked and then whine when no one buys it so during the last year we offer it the way it should have been but too late for anyone to care.
Imagine what the Fiero could have been starting where it ended and then going on from there.