Model Pontiac Fiero

Pontiac Fiero

A unique mid-engine cool sports car the Pontiac Fiero built by Pontiac from 1984 through 1988. The unique name had duel meaning; in Spanish in meant “Wild” in Italian it meant “Proud”. The Fiero was designed by a car designer by the name Hulk Aldikacti to be a sports car for Pontiac. The Pontiac Fiero a two-seater sports car one of the first since the coupes built in 1926 to 1938.

It is also billed as the first ever and only mass-produced mid-engine sports car ever manufactured in the U.S.A. Some of the other names considered for the Fiero were (Firebird XP, Fiamma, P3000, Pegasus and Sprint. It made the Car and Driver magazine’s one of the ten best list in 1984. It was even chosen as the Official Pace Car of the Indianapolis 500 over the 1984 Chevrolet Corvette. As the standard for the day the bean counters of General Motors were opposed to another two-seater sports car. Management thought they were better off with just the Corvette. The 1979 oil crisis lit fire under the bean counters and dipped into their pockets, so the design work on a fuel efficient Pontiac Fiero began.

A version of the Pontiac Fiero that was fuel efficient with a 2.5 L 4 cylinder touting 27 mpg city and 40 mpg on the highway. The revolutionary economy-ratio transmission helped to achieve these numbers.

In 1985 with the oil crisis being over the demand for more power for the rear-engine sports and Pontiac responded. A GT model Fiero with upgraded suspension and a V6 with more horsepower were produced.

Many changes came in 1988 and the most significant were a redesigned suspension and better brakes with a new two piece calipers and upgraded rotors. Some of the more interesting improvements were improvements in power options. But the planned DOHC engines and turbochargers never made it before the production ended.

The bean counters dropped production quoting insufficient future profits claiming a decrease in demand for the two-seater sports car. The bean counters were proved wrong because the actual sales were double the forecast still making a nice profit.