Junkyard Gem: 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT

Should you like inexpensive, mid-engined two-seaters, the Nineteen Eighties have been your decade. Fiat (and, a bit later, Bertone) provided the X1/9, Toyota offered MR2s, and even Normal Motors bought into the act by creating the Fiero. Obtainable from the 1984 by 1988 mannequin years, the Pontiac Fiero confirmed loads of promise however ended up being principally disappointing, in some methods echoing the profession of the Chevy Corvair of a few a long time earlier. Immediately’s Junkyard Gem is a once-spiffy 1986 Fiero GT, present in a self-service yard close to Denver, Colorado.

After an extended and painful growth interval stretching all the way in which again to John DeLorean’s XP-833 Banshee (which ended up being a significant affect behind the unique Opel GT), the Fiero lastly debuted in 1983 as a 1984 mannequin. The highest-of-the-model-range GT appeared the next 12 months.

The Fiero was constructed as a notchback coupe and as a fastback, with all of the GTs being the latter sort.

I could not get the engine lid open, however this automotive would have left the meeting line (in Pontiac, Michigan) with a 2.8-liter V6 rated at 140 horsepower.

This automotive has a five-speed handbook transmission, making it a reputable rival for Toyota’s MR2. 

The 1986 MR2 was much less highly effective than the Fiero GT (112 horsepower versus 140), but in addition scaled in considerably lighter (2,459 kilos in opposition to the Pontiac’s 2,780 kilos). The MR2 additionally price much less, priced at $11,298 whereas the Fiero GT price $12,875 (that is about $30,540 and $34,805, respectively, in inflation-adjusted 2022 {dollars}).

In the meantime, the $6,998 Honda Civic CRX two-seater lured away many potential Fiero consumers regardless of being a front-engined/front-wheel-drive automotive, and the $7,186 Ford EXP/Mercury LN7 additionally put a dent in Fiero gross sales. I am unable to discover a worth for the 1986 Bertone X1/9, however it price a hard-to-believe $13,990 in 1984.

GM nonetheless was utilizing five-digit odometers in lots of autos by the center Nineteen Eighties, however this Fiero has a six-digit unit and thus we will see that it practically achieved 150,000 miles throughout its driving profession.

The 1984-1987 Fiero suffered from a parts-bin suspension design, with the entrance suspension borrowed from the Chevrolet Chevette and your entire rear transaxle/suspension meeting lifted from the entrance finish of the Chevrolet Quotation. For the 1988 mannequin 12 months, GM lastly spent the cash to design an improved Fiero-specific suspension … after which promptly put a halt to manufacturing. Extremely publicized fires and quality-control issues for the 1984-1987 automobiles had carried out their harm, and simply over 25,000 of these better-handling Fieros have been offered.

I used to see much more of those automobiles throughout my junkyard travels, however now my private junkyard Fiero sightings are down to some per 12 months.

I nonetheless see Fieros on race tracks, nevertheless, so the Fiero information is not all unhealthy!

Here is in-car video from one of many Salty Thunder Racing Fieros on the Excessive Plains Raceway observe.

Identical to a cling glider.

It appears like a billion francs.

When hitchhiking house from school, at all times watch for the Fiero that would not have the Iron Duke four-cylinder.