Pontiac’s mid-engine Fiero was one of my favorite automotive discoveries immediately after my family’s return to the United States after a year of living abroad. I honestly don’t remember if that final, long, transatlantic flight had landed in New York, or if it flew directly into Detroit Metro. At the point of departure from Europe (Paris, if I remember correctly) in late summer of 1984, I was a ball of excitement at the prospect of being back home in Flint, Michigan with friends, family, my toys, the local McDonald’s, and a whole bunch of cool stories to tell about my fourth grade year spent living in my paternal grandfather’s ancestral village in upcountry Liberia. I was perhaps just as excited to see cars on the road from familiar brands like Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler, versus the likes of Peugeot, Vauxhall, and Opel.
In upcountry Liberia, c. early 1984, months away from seeing my first Fiero.
Many members of my extended family were right there at the jet bridge waiting for us to deboard (remember when that was allowed?), and my maternal grandfather had his multi-piece VHS video camera and recorder ready to catch the moment. When I rewatched that footage years later as an adult, my eyes went straight to the new, black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that was on display in the airport right where we had deboarded. It was like one of the most all-American of performance cars, a Trans Am, was personally welcoming me back to the good, old U.S. of A. and familiar automotive dreams.
On the night ride to my grandparents’ farmhouse from the airport, I remember being exhausted but also unable to keep my eyes closed, as I strained them looking for any trace of a new model that had first appeared while my family had been away. I remember seeing a beautiful Chrysler G-Body coupe (Dodge Daytona or Chrysler Laser) for the first time as it passed us on the expressway, and that memory gives me goosebumps to this day. For this reason, a Daytona or Laser had always been on my short list when researching my first deliberate car purchase (versus the family ’84 Ford Tempo that had later been passed down to me).
I write all of this to set up the fact that the first time I encountered a Fiero (which I had originally mispronounced “Fire-O” until corrected by my classmates) was a big deal. Fiero production had actually started the previous August, in 1983, probably immediately after my family had departed for our yearlong stint overseas, so I had missed the stateside introduction of this model that was, by the time I had first seen it, old news. Whatever. It was new to me, and quite exotic to my eyes.
I didn’t and still don’t think of the original notchback shape as being drop-dead gorgeous, but there was something about its wedge-shaped profile, low stance, short length, and mid-engine configuration that made it look somehow wicked and more exciting than its styling would suggest at first glance. I fell in love, and subsequently owned a couple of Fiero scale model kits – one of which I butchered, and the other which is still unassembled in its original box. (Perhaps in my retirement, if and when that happens, I’ll attempt to put that one together.)
I was on a walk home from a beachside park in the neighborhood north of mine this past September when I spotted this example. I will always swoon when I see a running Fiero, and even if I’m generally introverted, my enthusiasm for cars has often hijacked my reserved side. When I saw open windows, I had to wave a greeting at the intersection and ask the driver if it was a first-year ’84, which he confirmed. He was smiling and friendly, seeming to bask a little in the adoration his new purchase (there was a temporary tag out back) was netting from some stranger on the sidewalk. His lady friend in the passenger seat, however, didn’t seem entirely thrilled with the extra attention.
As a high school senior, fall 1991. Flint, Michigan.
I kind of understand. I have been in situations before when I was trying to be low key in some scenario where someone in my party or the person next to me was calling attention to my general direction when I did not particularly want to be noticed. What I did wonder, though, is whether she didn’t want to be noticed in general, or didn’t want to be noticed in this car. An ’84 Fiero is now thirty-six (I can’t even) years old, and judging by the looks of the occupants of this one, this car is probably a decade or so older than both of them. And maybe the windows were down because the air conditioning didn’t work. Maybe she had just wanted them to take the other car.
I’m friends with three sisters my younger brother and I grew up with. Their father had a stick-shift, Fox-body Mustang hatchback from the mid-’80s era from that awkward middle period between when the Foxstang was new, fresh, and novel, and later, when the increasingly more popular and attractive 5.0L models were starting to gain near-universal popularity. The professor’s Mustang wasn’t a 5.0L, but he thought it was cool. The sisters, however, thought it was janky.
As it was told to me, Dad would ask the girls if they wanted to go somewhere with him on an errand, but when they found out they were going in the Mustang (which they thought looked like an embarrassing, generic compact car), they would change their minds. Dad then didn’t understand why any of them wouldn’t want to go anywhere in the Mustang, because to him, it was a cool car. My hope is that the owner and driver of this red Fiero understood from my burst of enthusiasm that I was his brother in solidarity with his choice of automobile. Hopefully, his lady also came to understand.
Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, September 13, 2020.
I was older and more jaded when these came out and I paid as little attention as was possible with the breathless coverage all the car magazines were giving them. But I absolutely admire your enthusiasm for this little red Fiero and can understand why it has such a central place in your heart. I will join you in giving a big thumbs-up to the young driver who is giving this one a new lease on life.
Truthfully, I found the styling about as attractive and nicely executed as anything of its era. I have shot pictures of a couple of these over the years but have been unable to gin up the enthusiasm to write them up. So good on you for doing so.
I thought the Fiero was a great looking car, inside and out! Even the wheels looked great!
But the car was cursed with an OK suspension, and an sub-par, inferior engine better suited to use in a tractor. The car had Ferrari looks and Chevette performance–very sad.
The Toyota MR2 that came out after looked OK, IMO. Definitely not as nice as a Fiero, or even a Fiat X1/9.
But it didn’t look offensive. And mechanically, it was a brilliant executed car. The MR2 had modest looks, but was a blast to drive–with its 7500 rpm and mid-engine, it felt like a Ferrari 308GTB.
GM gave us sizzle and no bacon. Toyota offered up little sizzle, but lots of bacon.
I never cared for these. To me, they are just a X-car with the engine in the wrong place and a funky body; the same could be said about the X-1/9 and its powertrain roots except it’s Italian and they can do no wrong in the styling department. I do, however, give my blessings to those devoted (twisted?) enough to keeping them alive. Somebody has to do it.
I greatly admired the Fiero……until I had the opportunity to drive a few.
The steering was stiff and slow geared. The manual transmission shifter was klunky. The automatic tranny model was gutless.
The same year Honda CRX was a light weight revelation of style, speed and sportiness.
Guess which one I purchased?
I’m convinced you walk around Chicago just looking for opportunities to post the picture of you in your Z. Cavarricci’s, this must be the third or fourth time now! 🙂 Of course it’s a defining picture of a time in your life and thus perfectly respectable and appropriate and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
That Fiero seems rare in that it doesn’t have the luggage rack which seemed to be an almost standard feature on the early cars. Besides issues with perhaps not being noticed, a Fiero seems like a good city car in that the plastic bodywork won’t pick up dings as well as being small and (sort of) nimble.
No Z. Cav’s here, Klein! They’re just regular jeans rolled at the cuffs, as kids my age did back then. And, this is the 2nd time, first being another Pontiac post from last year. LOL. Glad you remembered.
What strikes me about this one is the wheels. Didn’t all of them have those multi-directional alloys as standard? Is this one riding on four spares? Anyone have any insight?
About half of the first year run were SE models which I think got the alloys standard. Those would have a white SE sticker in the little windows at the rear of the cabin, yours doesn’t have that.
There was a steel wheel version as well. It may have been the later years that had a plastic hubcap too, sort of a three spoke with fins branching off into the void spaces. But silver steelies with a black center was for sure available early on.
You kids and your jeans fads. If you were a few years older you’d be wearing a set of Guess coveralls with one buckle undone, Too-Rye-Aying around the block like Dexy’s Midnight Runners…
Only ever seen one and it was modified bigger wheels nice paint and interior so I have little idea what ythey were like but they look sporty but knowing GM it would be a parts bin under the paint.
I always thought that the Fiero and the CRX has one thing in common, that both (at least the original 4 cylinder Fiero) were marketed as sensible economical sporty cars. However the limited cargo space in the Fiero didn’t really fit that role.
By the way, in the background of the first pictures is a future (far in the future) CC, a rare 3rd generation (2016-present) Toyota Tacoma with the Utility package option, which deletes several features including the body color front bumper. The resulting large black bumper has given these trucks the nickname “bearded Tacoma”. If it’s one of the early model years of this generation that was still offered with the 2.7 liter four and 5 speed manual, it’s quite a unicorn, the last in the line of basic Toyota trucks sold here.
It’s interesting to read early (i.e., pre-production) articles and press accounts of the upcoming Fiero — it’s usually described as a “commuter car.” Early ads held that story line as well… the first major print ad campaign called the Fiero “practical and durable” as well as exciting.
I think the intent from GM, at least back in the early 80s fuel crunch years, was to highlight the Fiero, like you said, as a “sensible economical sporty car.” But as the fuel crisis receded, I think the marketing angle pivoted to it being a sports car instead. And maybe that was part of the Fiero’s problem, that it was caught between these two worlds, without clearly fitting in either of them.
The car that perfectly encapsulates the GM Cycle – introduce a potentially exciting car half-baked, watch initial customers deal with serious flaws, watch sales tank as word gets around, correct said flaws, and then cancel car when it finally becomes what it should have been from day one.
Like you, I was excited by these when they debuted. They were stylish and different. It was hard to believe that something like this would ever come from one of the Big Three. You are lucky to have encountered one, as I don’t even see these at the Carlisle car shows.
Geeber,
WRONG! They do have Fieros at Carlisle car shows, with over 150 Fieros. Maybe you went to the wrong event. They always have it in every June for the past 20 years.
As many of you might know my middle son has a ’85 Fiero and while some of the mechanical bits are not super inspired it has the air of something special. They look nothing like the blobby two box CUVs that filled our roads. There is a sense of occasional to driving one. It is more than mere transportation. Glad to see this guy enjoying his and his lady friend indulging him.
David, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your son’s ’85. I had kept my pictures of this one on ice out of deference to you. I’ll concur that Fieros seem greater than the sum of their X-car / T-car parts, and I would be very proud (isn’t that the English translation of “Fiero”?) to have one.
Thanks. I would not have minded more Fiero stuff. Reminds me I should probably do an update on that car at some point. We stuck winter tires on it and it has a minor rally car vibe.
David, I had a Fiero as described below. Your winter tire/rally car vibe struck a chord.
Even on its Eagle GT’s, and ground clearance aside, was good in snow with great traction. Turning corners was simply dialing in appropriate steering angle and waiting for plow to fade and fronts to grip. Predictable
Also drove it across a quarter mile of recently plowed farm field during a rainy fall week.
I’m on my 4th Fiero. An 88 GT with T-Tops. Love these cars!
Great write-up… and I’m still laughing at figuring out if the lady in the passenger seat “didn’t want to be noticed in general, or didn’t want to be noticed in this car.” I’m sure she let her companion know which on of those it was, and hopefully they’re still smiling.
My first ride in a Fiero (my only ride in a Fiero, that I recall) was in Cambridgeshire, England around 1995. A friend of mine ran an americana store in Cambridge proper—phones shaped like ’57 Chevrolets, that kind of thing. He was really living the role; he had a RHD ’59 Chev with what he said was a factory green Connolly leather interior, he’d previously lived in South Africa and had brought with him from there a ’73 Chrysler Valiant Charger 190 Sports Coupé (RHD ’71 Dodge Demon with hotted-up 225 engine and bilingual English/Afrikaans controls and displays)…and he’d imported a first-generation Fiero from the States.
I don’t recall whether it was a 2M4 or a 2M6, and I don’t recall thinking any much better of the breed after the ride than before it, but I dig this writeup anyhow, and I can certainly relate to loving relatively unpopular car models. I’m reminded of Jeannie’s car in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.
I had an ‘86 SE, with the V6 and a stick. My first new car at 24 years old. Ordered in October, delivered Christmas week in ‘85. The dealer was two blocks from work, and I cruised it until I saw it unloaded Christmas Eve.
It was a sharp looking car, fun to drive and extremely comfortable. I never had any problems with it. What trouble did occur was people hitting it with their cars. As an example, Mom backed into it with her ‘76 Cadillac in their driveway as it was so small it couldn’t be seen behind it, nor in the rear view mirror.
Every impact it endured only had to be buffed out. The molds for those body panels were made right here in Chicago by Finkel Steel.
Was sad to see it go after five years, but I needed 4 wheel drive and seating for more at that point.
Thank you for sharing a positive story about your Fiero ownership! I would love for there to be such a database. I have often wondered how their composite body panels held up against the occasional abuse, and from what you said, nicks actually did “buff out”. I can imagine a little V6-powered Fiero being a blast to drive. The more I think about it, the only main deterrent to me wanting one is that I’m on the tall side, and the seats couldn’t be pushed back for adjustment.
I wanted one very badly when they came out, but in order to not hit the ceiling, I had to lean the seat back until I could barely reach the wheel. Without power steering, it was a no go. Bought a Turbo Sunbird with a stick, which was fun except in traffic jams.
Joe, the ideal candidate for the soon-to-be -to yours apartment garage spot!
I just recently ran across this youtube channel where a younger guy is going about doing a restoration on a 1985 Fiero 2M4. Not only does he post about his successes during the restoration, but also the setbacks and failures that he has had. Very refreshing to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/hackmandude12