CarBrandLogos archive · Pontiac · 1984

PontiacFiero

America's first mid-engined production two-seater, approved as a commuter car.

Photo: Jonrev at English Wikipedia · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Pontiac history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Pontiac Fiero, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Fiero should not exist. General Motors in the early 1980s was cutting costs and protecting the Corvette, and there was no appetite for another two-seat sports car. Hulki Aldikacti and George Milidrag got the programme funded by describing it as an economical commuter car, a two-seat fuel-saver for the post-oil-crisis market, which is why the first cars in 1984 arrived with the wheezy Iron Duke four-cylinder and suspension parts lifted from GM's existing front-wheel-drive compacts, mounted the wrong way round.

005 5A1 · Peakster at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Design and engineering

Underneath the compromises was real innovation. The Fiero used a galvanised steel space frame carrying unstressed plastic body panels, so the panels could not rust and could be replaced individually, and it put the engine transversely behind the driver, making it the first mass-produced mid-engined car from an American manufacturer. It looked like a proper exotic and cost about as much as a family saloon.

1988 Fiero Formula interior · Jonrev at English Wikipedia · Public domain

In production

The problems were immediate. Buyers expecting performance found a slow car, and a run of engine fires in early four-cylinder examples, traced to oil loss and connecting rod failures, led to a recall and did lasting damage to the car's name. GM responded properly: a V6 arrived, then the 1988 cars finally received the bespoke suspension the design had always needed, transforming the way it drove.

1987Pontiac Fiero GT · StalePhish at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0

Legacy

It was cancelled at the end of that model year, with 370,168 built. The best version of the Fiero was on sale for a single season, which is the most Fiero fact about it. The Solstice, seventeen years later, was Pontiac's next attempt.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Units built

370,168

Engine

151 CID Iron Duke engine#LR8

Designer

Hulki Aldikacti

Body

2-door fastback coupé

Technical specification

The Fiero, in detail.

Production: August 1983 – August 16, 1988; 370,168 produced
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door fastback coupé ; 2-door notchback coupé
Layout: Transverse mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine: 151 CID Iron Duke engine#LR8; LR8 Straight-four engine; I4 ; 173 CID General Motors 60° V6 engine#L44; L44 V6 engine; V6
Transmission: 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 125; THM-125 Automatic transmission; automatic ; 4-speed Muncie Manual transmission; manual ; 5-speed Getrag 282 transmission; Getrag 282 manual ; 5-speed Isuzu manual
Designer: Hulki Aldikacti ; George Milidrag
Assembly: United States: Pontiac, Michigan (Pontiac Assembly)
Manufacturer: Pontiac (General Motors)