I’ve been looking for a Fiero to feature in this series for a while and while I have found a couple, they were so stripped down by the time I located them that I didn’t think they were worthy. I’m glad I held out as my luck changed recently when this first year example popped up. What I didn’t expect is that it was no longer a stock example.
The Fiero, while interesting to me when new, debuted a little before I got my driver’s license, and I recall it as being a pretty big deal back then, even in Southern California. Pontiac certainly had a potential hit on their hands, as here was a small two seater, mid-engine, with some interesting body technology.
Of course, as we all know in hindsight, they pretty much bungled it from the start by saddling it with the Iron Duke, GM’s 4-cylinder 2.5liter that wasn’t known for either show or go and by simply re-using the suspension bits from some decidedly uninspiring vehicles such as the Citation and Chevette.
Then when Toyota introduced their MR2 a year later, the initial partying at Pontiac had died down a lot. Pontiac tried to (re-)compete by finally introducing a V6 version, which Toyota countered eventually by supercharging the MR2, although the standard engine was a marvelous piece of machinery. However the time the damage was already done, not helped by engine fires in the 4-cylinder versions and the reviewers in general becoming disappointed with and sort of turning their backs on the Fiero.
At the end, the Fiero actually turned into a pretty good car, but as they GM is wont to do, their killed it right as it was starting to live up to the promise.
Looking at it now, I find that it has aged fairly well, this particular angle reminds me of the Lotus Esprit (another mid-engine car with a 4-cylinder at the start that was hotted up significantly over the years and also didn’t have a metal body). This one, in red, is one of the two colors (white was the other one) that were available at the beginning of the model year. The paint shop apparently had issues painting the panels, and were not ever able to handle more than four colors at a time. Later in the first model year black and light gray metallic (silver?) were added.
The structure of the Fiero was designed to be all internal, the composite body panels carry no load at all and are merely affixed to the underlying steel “skeleton”. This aspect made the Fiero quite popular as the basis for several kit cars, for example there were several companies converting these to look to like Ferraris (uncomfortably so, Ferrari ended up suing several of them), and of course the Zimmer Quicksilver, which we’ve recently featured, was another.
But as I alluded to in the title, this Fiero is not completely stock anymore. While all 1984 Fieros (136,840 of them, of which 65,671 were SE’s like this one) came with the Iron Duke, people eventually figured out that other engines would fit. So let’s raise the lid and see what we have.
I believe that’s the Buick 3800 V6 with a supercharger as offered in various GM vehicles over several generations. I had one in my own Buick Regal GS and found it to be a very enjoyable (and reliable) engine with plenty of power. Identifying which generation this one is is beyond my immediate knowledge but at a minimum these produced 210hp and quite a bit more later in the run. Given that the stock Iron Duke produced 92HP and 134lb-ft of torque in this car, any of these Supercharged V6’s provided quite the boost.
It looks like this may have been a project that was never finished based on the masses of wires and the painted pulley on the supercharger that doesn’t have a belt installed. Or it ran but had issues that couldn’t be resolved, I don’t know. I do know that this is not that uncommon of a swap and seems to make a lot of sense if you have a decent 4-cylinder shell to put it in. I don’t know if I’d bother if I already had one of the faster 2.8 V6’s from later in the run although it’s still a huge power boost. The above picture also shows the luggage area aft of the engine (designed to hold two golf bags), I figured that’s decent for this car but the front must have more space.
Not so! The front is completely taken up by more mechanical bits and the spare tire. That’s kind of a bummer, the MR2 had a usable trunk at both ends as does the Porsche Boxster as another mid-engine example that isn’t really any larger.
Perhaps Pontiac took a page out of the Brougham playbook and figured that a luggage rack on the rear decklid would help. As those things go, it’s probably the best integrated one I’ve ever seen, to the point that I never really even noticed it before. A few bungees hooked over the front of the engine lid and then the little wing thingy and you and your luggage are good to go for a long weekend at El Pollo Del Mar in Santa Barbara or wherever your fancy may take you and your main squeeze.
While worn, those seats look fairly comfortable and “sporty”, the speakers in the headrests are a nice touch too. Shame about the automatic (the THM-125 3-speed unit) with the 3.18 rear end (stock), that couldn’t have been helpful whatsoever to a sports car. That being said, the manual on offer was only a 4-speed which is surprising, by 1984 5-speeds were not uncommon, and especially in a sports car…
While certainly blocky and dated now, looking back 35 years and imagining this in a showroom I can see the appeal. This is far better than a lot of Pontiac interiors both prior to and subsequent to this car. The colors work together, it looks mission appropriate and while I wouldn’t pick brown and tan with a red exterior, it’s “warmer” than a gray version would be.
The mileage reads 112,150 which seems appropriate for the general condition of the car.
I keep forgetting just how common manual window winders still were back in the 80’s, but that lower panel carpeting looks fairly good and just not something that is often seen anymore at all. That door panel in general looks pretty well designed with what seems like a comfortable armrest and I remember those door latch pulls very well too.
The SE version was the most popular in 1984, representing just over half the total production that year. Starting at $9,599 it included more features including the WS6 handling package than the “base” version ($8,499) which was actually the mid-level car and denoted (but not labeled) as Sport Coupe.
It sold almost as many, and a lot more than the really base car (Fiero Coupe), whose mission was to be a fuel economy leader – it was offered with a four speed manual, A/C was not an option and neither was an automatic. Only about 7,000 of those left the lots starting at $7,999 which is no surprise although originally the car was pitched to GM brass as an economy car in order to get it approved for production in the first place.
By the time it was actually produced the fuel crisis was over and while still available in economy spec, that became a secondary mission overall. And not to be forgotten, there were also a couple of thousand Indy pace cars in the bunch.
The 2M4 obviously stands for 2 seats, Mid-engine, 4-cylinder. Later there was also a 2M6 (you can figure that out) and a GT badged version along with Formula and SE, all having various permutations of body and powertrain. While I did mention the MR2 above as a direct competitor, the Fiero really wasn’t a failure even though it wasn’t renewed for another generation. The first year (admittedly an extended model year) handily exceeded expectations and over the five years that it was offered it sold more than 370,000 copies. The MR2 in its first five years sold less than half that.
It almost looks better without the wheels. The original alloy wheels somehow defined it as a Pontiac as the design of them was shared with the Firebird and GrandAm, without them (although I didn’t mind them at all) I find this shape to be more attractive and am able to imagine it badged as something entirely different. It just doesn’t really look like a Pontiac.
Overall, while getting saddled with a bad reputation for engine fires and sundry other items, it was an interesting idea and somewhat surprising to see come to fruition. While a 4-cylinder with 3-speed automatic as this one started its journey is about the last version I would want, a later V6 model or perhaps one like this with a functioning supercharger swap would be an interesting proposition. Although, upon a few seconds of thought, a base 1985 MR2 would still win my affections in the end as it was just a better package with far fewer compromises from the start.
This particular car is a very early example; while the date is unfortunately no longer readable, the VIN ends in 212001 – the first one started at 200001, so this was the 12,001st off the line in Pontiac, Michigan. As noted there were over 137,000 made that first year, so this was from near the launch. I can’t figure out how many Pontiac dealers existed in 1984, perhaps a thousand? This car might have been in the first couple of batches shipped.
As it turned out, the end of the Fiero was also the end of the manufacturing plant in Pontiac, it closed when production stopped. The last year’s production totaled 26,000, so about a fifth of the first year and it had been trending down since the beginning. I don’t think I’ll ever find a better condition one that is this old in a junkyard, but I will keep searching.
Related Reading:
Of course there’s a Deadly Sin post, #19 in fact
Joseph Dennis found a very rare Fiero Pace Car
Here’s a brand new used Fiero, it may still be available
I have a soft spot for the early Fieros, for Christmas 1984 my big present was a 1/16ish scale remote-controlled (by wire) Fiero in almost this exact red, with those trademark Pontiac “alloy” wheels and a gray interior. The doors opened and all the lights worked. Hot stuff for an almost 10-year-old, even if the red body plastic lit up along with most of those lights!
It made me a Fiero purist, at least in terms of styling; none of the revisions made to it looked as good as the original.
What – no bordello red interior in perfect condition, and no manual transmission…? Why, I’m surprised Jim’s favorite junkyard took it.
A nice find, and sad to see it in ruins. Even if an MR2 had much more going from a performance standpoint, there was something about the Fiero that was so much cooler. Maybe it was that picture with Hall and Oates getting their sexy on with a Fiero very much like the one featured here.
This ad is the most awesomely-’80s thing, ever.
The Fiero was another maddening example of the craziness that was GM at the time. An entirely new system is developed for the body/frame. Great engineering and arguably revolutionary. Approved for production! An amazing new idea that has everyone looking at Pontiac!
However the same accountants who approved the expense of developing the new body system refused to allow more than a nickel for developing the mechanical aspects of the car. “Parts is Parts” especially if nobody can see them, and who can see the engine, right?
Well, “The Iron Duke was also a bit too large for the Fiero, forcing engineers to under-size the oil pan. The engine essentially ran on low oil 100% of the time, making it likely to overheat.”
So Pontiac ended up with a revolutionary car that had 92 horsepower….and which liked to blow up engines. If you were really lucky, the engine would catch on fire too.
Following not far behind the disaster that was the Citation – another good design ruined by the bean-counters- the Fiero fiery fiasco pretty well sealed the fate of GM as selling cars NOT to buy if you could afford anything else.
I often wonder how many good engineers at GM ended up as alcoholics out of frustration.
Most good engineers at both GM and Chrysler were alcoholics by at least 1984. Their products reflect that.
Anybody who was anybody bought Ford, Benz, or VW products in the mid 1980’s. And the depth of your wallet had nothing to do with your automotive prowess. Dumb people can have really deep pockets. I survived the 1980’s.
And I forgot to mention Toyota, while at the top of their game in 1985 or so, nobody cared. That’s what your 24 year old secretary drove.
I’ve always liked the looks of the Fiero. I actually prefer the original version over the final year refresh they did where they smoothed out some of the edges, though the refreshed version is still very attractive. I have to assume about 95% of these must have been this shade of red, which is fine because it looks great in red.
I drove one that a friend bought used because he wanted something sporty but had almost no money, and this was back when these had hit the bottom of their depreciation curve. The lack of horsepower wasn’t as bad as you might think given the car is so light, but on the other hand it doesn’t live up to its looks. It did help that his was the manual, and yes it was also this shade of red, though with the grey interior. He liked it, even though his other car, a 3800 V6 powered Buick Century, was still faster.
I have to wonder how well the automatic would handle the engine swap. Could be what sent this one to the boneyard.
I made the mistake of buying a used, hardly abused, 1985 4 banger AT for my son years ago. He loved it, but then I wa$ the one who paid..and PAID to keep this GM PO$ running.
While a reasonably good looking design for the time, it was completely let down by GM’s POOR execution. Gee………and once upon a time I was a avid GM fan!
Compared to the ’89 Toyota MR2 I had this Fiero was so far from being a “sports car” it was appalling. Given the fact that it didn’t even make a good commuter car, without large infusions of cash for repairs, the car really was not good for much at all; based on my repair bills versus mileage.
To think I still have a ’88 IROC-Z 350 and a 50th Anniversary C5 in my garage! DFO
In the late 80s I did a brief stint in the grease pit of a quickie lube. It gave me a unique perspective on the undersides of cars. You can read about stuff in magazines all day long, but when I saw the underside of my first Fiero, I said to myself, “Holy ship! It really IS the whole front subframe of a Citation, complete with steering knuckles, and outer tie-rod ends bolted to something rigid, instead of being connected to inner tie-rod ends!”
I just shook my head at the cheapness of it all.
They weren’t the only ones to use front suspension bits for rear wheel drive. My father’s 1984 Audi 4000 Quattro used front suspension struts in the rear suspension, complete with a short piece piece of tie rod attached to the rear subframe to set rear toe in. GM wasn’t even original in putting an complete FWD subframe and drive train in the rear, both the Citroen 2 CV Sahara and the Unipower GT did that with 2 CV and Mini drivetrains respectively.
Also the Fiat X1/9, with 128 drivetrain.
Audi 4000Q – Required to r&r rear window to change rear shocks?
Okay – this is straight-up depressing! Not the Fiero itself (which I still love), but that this example of an icon of my ’80s childhood lasted as long as it did before ending up here.
So. Much. Pontential, these cars had. Just last week, I was remarking to a friend (whose parents had owned two of the latter-day modes, one a notchback, and the other a GT fastback) how I liked the shape of the original.
I also had one of my high school senior pictures taken next to one. By the early ’90s, I still considered them cool cars.
That could have been this exact car! Are those Z. Cavaricci jeans? 🙂
LOL! Z Cavaricci’s were too exotic for me, though that would have been awesome. (I did own and wear plenty of other things from the era, including those baggy, draw-string skater pants, even though I didn’t skateboard.) These were probably indigo Levis.
A supercharged Buick 3.8L V6 swap was, I think, a great idea in theory.
That is a classic representative photo of the 80s Joseph!
Ah, the Fiero. Sort of like the second coming of the Vega, another small GM car that looked really good, but everything else was dog-pooh. And, just like the Vega, the Fiero was one hot ticket, at least for that first year. I recall Car and Driver testing one and saying it was a lot like that hot, young, cute high school girl who looked great from afar, but once you got closer and she opened her mouth, it became clear she had an empty head and the magic was gone. There’s only so much you can do with a Chevette front suspension and Citation drivetrain moved to the rear wheels.
With that said, I’d love to have one of the later V6 versions with a t-top and 308 body panels. They really do make a convincing Ferrari clone and would be considerably easier to keep running.
It also explains why this one is in such good shape. If they didn’t catch fire and melt to the ground, I would imagine those plastic body panels would live on forever. And since it’s a base car, there’s surely not many who need or want those original, base panels. Like I said, a whole lot spiffier to do a Ferrari if you bend any of your Fiero body parts. I think the same thing whenever I see a customized Corvette, particularly the C3.
And speaking of special Fieros, does anyone remember the version that had an air scoop with a big ole snorkel sprouting up from behind the rear window? It was sort of a foreshadowing of those river-fording shorkels occasionally seen on Jeeps.
A while back I was looking at Fieros on CL. It was a case of, “I’m not going to buy one, but if I did, how much more would I pay for an ’89 with the improved front suspension?” (Answer: quite a bit.) I saw at least one with the 231 V6 (can’t remember if it was supercharged) and one with a 4.9L Cadillac V8, which sounded interesting! I understand the Fiero’s roomy engine compartment makes it a good swap candidate.
1989? I have the last year, a 1988.
I have a 1988 GT. There are lawn mowers with more power. But, I’ve owned her since 1993. Still runs. She doesn’t see the road much. I’ll probably die with the title in my hand.
Good AUWM article on the Fiero, getting into the larger question of GM’s pattern of introducing flawed cars, fixing them, and then discontinuing them:
https://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/pontiac-fiero/
Very impressive find. I always scan background vehicles in the ‘Junkyard Classic’ series, and excellent condition doesn’t appear uncommon.
As I commented with your article featuring your pics from the ’85 LA Car Show, GM was displaying the more attractive next generation Fiero only a few months after its initial launch for ’84. They had the revised design already in the works, when it first hit showrooms. Missed opportunity for sure, given the designers didn’t have the approval to build a sports car. Though mediocre performance in a Ferrari-like body would have led to even more disappointment, and immediate pressure to improve handling and horsepower.
The animations/computer graphics in the first 15 seconds of the introductory ad, and later in the commercial, are very well done for the era. Must have been pricey.
This was the era when black body side moulding was popular. As seen on the Fiero, C3 Corvette, and Audi 5000, for example. As makers almost universally went body colour with this trim in late 80s/early 90s design. It would have cleaned up the looks of the first Fiero IMO. The Corvette and Fiero would have had less of a ‘modular’ appearance. Without their bodies appearing ‘sectioned’. And more integrated as one.
For all the shortcomings of the first Fiero, it is an 80s icon. As the Pacer was for the 70s. Its appeal is as much for its pop culture status, as its merits as a car.
The annoying thing is that the Fiero was intended as a sports car from the start with a V6. Then the combination of penny pinching management, a bump in gas prices, and the endemic corporate terror of cannibalizing Corvette or F body sales made them turn it into a commuter car. The Solstice/Sky roadster was also knee capped by “protect the Corvette”, along with a lack of development to address niggles
Based on size and weight, the J car’s 4 cylinder would have been a better choice, especially turbocharged.
The 3800 may be tight squeeze but it makes some sense as a very sturdy engine, unlike the Northstar conversions, which give your Ferrari kit car a properly Italian looking engine, along with Italian level maintenance headaches.
Good call on GM protecting the Corvette’s territory at all costs. Reminds me of Delorean and the mid-sixties Pontiac Banshee XP-833 concept which ended up pretty much being the 1968 Corvette. Somewhat ironic that the Fiero, as well as the Solstice, were Pontiacs, as well.
IOW, anything with two-seats from GM better not come even remotely close to Corvette-level performance.
They didnt sell it here but I have seen one at a car show, I’ve no idea what engine it had but since a Commodore V6 fits that would make a usefull upgrade, Toyota sold MR2s here in reasonable numbers its surprising these Fiero didnt appear in Holden badging it could have been worth a try. The car at the show was RHD it could have been ex Japan.
General Motors stopped building the factory-built right-hand-drive North American vehicles after 1968 model year. The drought ended in 1995 with “torrential downpour” of RHD vehicles: Saturn SC, SL, and SW for Japanese market (1997-2000), Toyota Cavalier (1995-2000), Cadillac Seville (1998-2004), Holden Suburban (1998-2000), and Chevrolet S-10 Blazer (1995-2000). Then, downpour dried up a lot after 2000, leaving Cadillac as only GM’s North American brand to build RHD vehicles in North America for export.
So, the right-hooker Fiero was probably converted by the specialist. The Fiero’s blocky dashboard is peach for the cut-and-paste conversion in the days before 3D scanners and printers.
“This aspect made the Fiero quite popular as the basis for several kit cars,”
Not always to great effect…
I remember reading in Car and Driver that the engineers had to get it past the accountants by pitching it as a two-seat commuter car. In their initial article, the magazine tried their hardest to be excited about it, but you could sense their frustration over what could have been – heavy construction, parts-bin suspension and engine…. I didn’t particularly like the blocky dashboard treatment, which seemed to be a GM thing, but it seems to work in these photos; maybe it’s the photo angle.
Then Toyota popped up with the MR2 (mid-engine sports car done right), and the rest is history.
I’m pretty sure I built that same kit back in the day, was it a Monogram? MPC? I don’t think it’s a Japanese kit, the wheels/tires aren’t rendered well enough.
This is the MPC, though Monogram did one too.
Pete, it must be easier doing cars from the 80s on, you don’t need much of that fiddly foil for the chrome trim.
True, though the foil isn’t too hard for me – been doing it so many years now! But with later cars you have black trim to paint. I built this one around ’85, and I’m amazed how straight I painted that black trim.
Introduced in the U.S. In 1974, the Fiat X1/9 was still a more advanced car even 10 years later, with the only changes being 1500 engine, 5 speed in 1979 and FI IN 1980
The Fiero also got an inaugural year boost as the Indy 500 Pace Car that year. The actual pace car was about 180 degrees from the ones on sale at your local Pontiac dealer, though – they had a specially built engine that was strong enough to hit the kinds of speeds a pace car needs at Indy.
To think that ten years earlier GM was almost the only US company that was turning out decent cars. Both Ford and Chrysler were, for the most part, in increasingly dire financial straits, continually re-purposing existing stuff with new faces and doing very little new while GM was investing heavily in new product. By 1984 GM’s ability to design a decent new car seems to have sunk to where Chrysler’s was in the 70s – despite having boatloads of money.
I really like the look of the early Fiero.
The only acceptable car to cruise up to the El Pollo Del Mar in Santa Barbara is a J-body Chrysler Lebaron coupe with Garfield suctioned to the outside of the rear window.
Or maybe an aero nose Fox Mustang GT convertible.
Haha, you got it!
I re-looked at the rear photo of the Fiero, and got to thinking – was this the car that pioneered the molding-in of its name (“PONTIAC”) on the rear bumper cover? Before noticing it here, I had assumed that honor belonged to the ’87 Ford Mustang.