Fieros have long been demeaned, ridiculed and laughed at for being symptomatic of GM's on-the-whole failed attempt to build small, sporty cars. The road between cars like the Eldorado I just posted and the acceptable small cars GM builds today was not an entirely smooth one, and the Fiero can be seen as something of a pothole in that road.
The first edition of the Fiero was, even by 1986 standards, a dismal attempt at a sports car, pieced together with parts from GM's contemporary economy cars. It was slow, underpowered, and handled like a drunken elephant at a knife-throwing competition. Oh, it also had a tendency to spontaneously burst into flames.
Ever since its demise in 1989, the Fiero has been the butt of many a joke, mostly due to its popularity as a base for replicas of various mid-engined supercars. Few know, however, that there was a GT version produced between 1986 and 1988 that was actually a very respectable sports car. In place of the 'Iron Duke' four-cylinder that powered the anemic Fiero was a slightly more powerful V6 powerplant, which combined with upgraded suspension bits to produce a much improved Fiero experience. It also looked a lot cooler.
A 1987 GT is currently on offer in Beamsville, and it's all kinds of mildly attractive. The mileage is good at 69,000kms, but his asking price of $7,900 is fairly high. The car has minor issues, such as a possibly bad oil pan gasket and a sagging headliner, and in light of those I wouldn't pay more than $4,500-$5,000 for it.
Though its buyability gets a solid 'meh' from me, it's nevertheless a cool car. It'd be even cooler if I could get my hands on the 1990 prototype of the second generation car that Pontiac never built, which now resides on the Island of Forgotten Cars, somewhere near the North Pole.
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2 comments:
????1984 was the first model year of the Fiero 2M4 (2 seat mid-engine 4 cylinder). 1985 was the first model year of the GT model (aero nose and 2.8L MPFI V6 engine). 1986 they added the fast back side lites to the roofline. 1987 added some minor changes. 1988 had some suspension improvements and was also the last model year (not 1989).
In addition to my above comment, I've owned an 85 GT and two 86 GTs, the 86 I still have I've had for 26 years and 246,000+ miles and is still goin g strong. After reading valleyboys comments i'd 'say he should go back to the valley.
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