Pontiac Fiero: The Definitive History.

[F Body]

A really good artical on the car that promised to be a good-looking, affordable mid-engine sports car, introduced exciting new techniques in production and design

But Alas, it proved to be one of GM's great disasters

http://jalopnik.com/5501545/pontiac-fiero-the-definitive-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://jalopnik.com/5501545/pontiac-fiero-the-definitive-history

[philoldsmobile]

I dunno why countries fight what they are or can do in the automotive world, the Americans should no more make a sports car than the Italians should make a pickup..

the results are equally predictable in each case.....

the following would be guaranteed fails,

a French muscle car
an Italian pickup truck
a German small car
an American sports car
an interesting Japanese car

There have been minor exceptions in every case, the Japs made the Datsun 240Z the Germans make the mini, while the Citroen SM could perhaps be considered a muscle car of sorts - the italians did produce the Lamborghini LM002 but the rule holds pretty true (its taken them half a century to get the corvette right, the C5 was pretty good, but in reality only the C6 has been truly competitive against the market leaders)

[a91_formula]

I wouldn't have called it a disaster but the model never recovered from the press coverage of the 1984 4 cylinder engine fires.  The cars development peaked in 1988 when they fitted WS6 spec suspension to the GT.  The prototype for the 1989 promised more power and Corvette killing handling.  Chevrolet could never stand the competition from Pontiac and GM forced the plug pulled.

History repeats itself - the original Pontiac Firebird was a 2 seater Corvette killer, GM interfered project was halted and the f-body platform was shared between the two.  Still, GM has now killed Pontiac so that only leaves Ford and the rice burners to worry Chevrolet.  I'm not on a Chevrolet rant but the GM division that always stood for power and performance is dead and I hope GM regret that decision as the banks foreclose.

[philoldsmobile]

thats one of the problems, the Corvette C4 was hardly a sports car bench mark. the Fiero was ok in its own right, and certainly the best American domestic sports car, but if it were sold on a global scale, it would have been murdered in the market place.

the 4cyl MR2 and the Mazda RX7 both make a complete monkey of it, in the case of the MR2 you could buy a supercharged version (FRAMES) that would destroy the fiero and would give the C4 a VERY hard time to 60 (less than 0.5 sec slower) while making an utter mockery of it in the corners and on the brakes.

to make the Fiero competitive, they should have used an all Aluminium engine, and shed a load of weight, but as is always the case with GM, cost would have prevented that.

[a91_formula]

Very true but neither the Corvette, the Fiero or the F-body were ever designed for use in any country other than the US.

[philoldsmobile]

you'd think GM would have thought about the ford pinto - the damage done to its reputation meant it never was the success it could have been, once an image gets tarred in the U.S. its game over, so the fiero engine fires were going to have a long lasting effect.

[F Body]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

once an image gets tarred in the U.S. its game over, so the fiero engine fires were going to have a long lasting effect.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Toyota now