Fiero means " very proud " in Italian , and that ’s how Pontiac feel about its machine of that name . Why ? Because Fiero is not just Detroit ’s first mid - locomotive product effort but only its second loudness two - seater since the mid - Fifties Ford Thunderbird .
Yet within Pontiac itself , the Fiero had more significance as a moral triumph : the sports gondola for which the division had fight back for the ripe part of 20 geezerhood , an alternative to the Corvette from rival Chevrolet . Not that it begin out as such . Rather , it was broached in 1978 as a " commuter train car , " a high-pitched - gasoline mileage mini to help General Motors meet the government ’s new corporate mean fuel economic system ( CAFE ) standards that hold effect that year .
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But the itch toward a full - fledged sports railcar was irresistible , peculiarly since even the " commuter " concept envisioned a mid - engine / can - driving layout with a transfer power package from the forthcoming Adam - body front - driving force compacts . In October 1978 , GM president Elliott M. " Pete " Estes okayed the idea – perhaps for sentimental reason : He himself had plead for a two - butt Pontiac as partition foreman back in the Sixties .
remarkably for a GM project , Pontiac Fiero technology development was assigned to an outside house , Entech of Detroit , with Hulki Aldikacti as overall theater director . Basic styling evolved under Ron Hill in Advanced Design III , then finalized from April 1980 in Pontiac Exterior Studio II under John Schinella , who also came up with the Fiero name . Corporate immediate payment - flowing problem almost toss off the project several clip in 1980 - 82 , but Aldikacti in the end convinced management that the Fiero not only made fiscal signified for GM but was vital for shoot Modern life into a Pontiac picture that had become confused and stale .
The result was a " incarnate outfit car , " with a 2.5 - liter four - cylinder engine mounted transversely behind the cockpit on an X - elevator car engine cradle . The compact car also donated their 4 - speed manual and optional 3 - swiftness automatic transaxles , plus front suspension and brakes , used aft , of course .
Up front were Chevy Chevette steering , hiatus , and brakes . A major innovation was the fully driveable space - frame frame structure to which various Enduraflex plastic ( not fiberglass ) trunk instrument panel impound , building that would make way changes prosperous , cheap , and tight . Only four coloration choices would be provide at any one time in the interest of character control , which was claimed to represent a new Pontiac peak .
get in in foundation and dashing S / E trim , the Pontiac Fiero received wide and mostly prosperous jam coverage . " Buff Book " applauded the fine-looking styling , practical packaging , and overall roadability , but yearn for a quieter , lighter car with more zing , a 5 - speed gearbox , smoother ride , and less twitchy cornering . Pontiac responded .
The Pontiac Fiero was named Pace Car for the 1984 Indy 500 , which spawned replicas with a snarky new dry land - embrace olfactory organ . This returned for 1985 on a new GT mannequin powered by Chevy ’s ok embrasure - injected V-6 ( also from the ecstasy - cars ) with 52 - percentage more magnate than the base four . received rear spoiler , " priming effects " body addenda , uprated Y99 suspension , and a mellowed exhaust arrangement enhance the newcomer ’s mini - muscle - car aura .
Sans V-6 , this computer software became the 1986 S / east model , come at mid - season by a new GT with revised rear flank and " vanish buttress " fastback roofline . The promised 5 - velocity , a Getrag design built by GM under permission , did n’t arrive until June . Changes for 1987 were limited to a large fuel storage tank ( 12 versus 10.2 gallon , answering a relentless complaint ) and extra minor trim and equipment rewrite .
The sporty pair became even more so for 1988 as the Pontiac Fiero finally get its own suspension system . Though geometry stayed broadly the same , the new element made handling rigorous , corner more predictable and fun . A new Formula package option with GT - style appearance and physical body spectacles arrived to spice up the S / E notchback , and an improved gene linkage made 5 - velocity shifting a unfeigned pleasure in V-6 models . Alas , steering remain manual – and sonorous at low swiftness – though Pontiac hint that power assist was in the offing .
The Pontiac Fiero will no doubt continue to mature . It ’s already develop into fundament - model " commuters " as earlier envisioned , but the S / E and GT are the ace to have : real sports machines that are downright exciting with the right choice . They ’re railway car to do any partisan proud .
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