Fiero Month at KCAM

[Kalashnikov]

At that price the boxerro is about what real boxster costs. The fenders, hood and lights must be worth about $1,500-$2,000.

[5chn3ll]

The idea that the guy didn't realize he was using the front fascia of the "poor man's" 911 both delights and saddens me.

[5chn3ll]

I came across a photo of The Fiero late last year. I will dig it up - it was a sweet looking little car.

The shifter in that car was a turd...it used a flexible pushrod set-up like the 996, but the pushrod and jacket materials were really flimsy, so the cables would deform if you tried to shift too aggressively.

The "Iron Duke" 4-banger-powered model speedo only went to 85 (oil crisis yo), but it would do about a hundred. At some point between 85 and 100, the windows suck outward from the weather stripping, terrifying your unsuspecting passenger. Heh.

The base Fiero weighed in at about 2,500 pounds, 92HP. It wasn't un-fun to drive, and I think I would have probably wound up dead if it had been 50% faster....

You owned a 4 cyl fiero? Pics or it didn't happen.

[FRUNKenstein]

I remember when the Fiero first came out. I was in college. I think it was spring 1984 when a fraternity brother and I went down to the local Pontiac dealer in Columbia, Missouri (Mizzou). Those idiots gave us the keys to a red over light gray one, which had the 4 banger. We drove it all over campus, rolling like rock stars. I suppose it was at least good advertising for them, but I think the 2+ hours we had it out and the mileage we put on it was a little more than they expected. But, for a brief shining moment in time, we were livin' the dream, baby.

[5chn3ll]

Like the Solstice, the Fiero wasn't a total turd. I was bummed that Pontiac got shuttered before any appreciable number of Solstice GXP coupes were produced - I actually wanted one of those. Only 1,266 Solstice Coupes were produced...

[FRUNKenstein]

I bought a 2008 Saturn Sky at the auction several years ago, just on a whim. I saw it going across the block and it was pretty cheap, so I bought it. I got it home, and and handed it over to my older son (who always helped me flip cars - the one that works at VW HQ next door to gnat's house). He called me at work to say "hey Dad, I think this thing is some sort of special edition model." It turned out to be a "Carbon Flash Special Edition" model with the Red Line performance engine. I shrugged it off and said "cool". Well, apparently they only made 550 of the Carbon Flash models and then only some of them had the Red Line performance engine. And, putting one up for sale is akin to chumming the waters on the Great Barrier Reef.

As soon as we put the ad up on ebay, I get a call from a guy who lives about 5 hours away. He's like "Holy crap, is that really a Red Line Carbon Flash Special Edition?!?!"
Me: "Yes, yes it is."
Him: "Oh man, those are super rare and I've been looking for one forever."
Me: "You know, you're really bad at negotiating."

(and I actually found a picture of it sitting in our driveway)

Picture of Saturn.jpg (70.62 KiB) Viewed 2111 times

[5chn3ll]

Mrs. S. and I test-drove a Solstice GXP toward the end of Pontiac because there were some deals to be had. Due to the seating situation and Pontiac apparently thinking we look like criminals, we had to drive one at a time with the salesdork, who was young and stupid. Before they left on their test drive, I pulled the kid aside and told him that my wife was the 3-time North American Women's Drift Association champion, and not to worry if she tossed the car around a little.

He was afeared.

The 'vert was just too snug inside - I couldn't see crap from inside that thing. It was fun to drive, though.

[OceanBlue2000]

Mine was a 4-banger. The MR2 may have been faster, but it still looked like a turd squeezed from a square asshole.

As for reliability - my Fiero never caught fire. It was quite reliable except when I ran it out of oil and spun the bearings.

You're gonna have to work harder to troll me, Kalashnikov. I'm in a fantastic mood - Justin Bieber has Lyme disease and a terminal case of mono.

Didn't Pontiac build a really attractive car, then put the Iron Duke in it? I remember the Fiero being a real disappointment. Then Toyota copied it, and made it actually fun to drive, those bastids.

[OceanBlue2000]

I bought a 2008 Saturn Sky at the auction several years ago, just on a whim. I saw it going across the block and it was pretty cheap, so I bought it. I got it home, and and handed it over to my older son (who always helped me flip cars - the one that works at VW HQ next door to gnat's house). He called me at work to say "hey Dad, I think this thing is some sort of special edition model." It turned out to be a "Carbon Flash Special Edition" model with the Red Line performance engine. I shrugged it off and said "cool". Well, apparently they only made 550 of the Carbon Flash models and then only some of them had the Red Line performance engine. And, putting one up for sale is akin to chumming the waters on the Great Barrier Reef.

As soon as we put the ad up on ebay, I get a call from a guy who lives about 5 hours away. He's like "Holy crap, is that really a Red Line Carbon Flash Special Edition?!?!"
Me: "Yes, yes it is."
Him: "Oh man, those are super rare and I've been looking for one forever."
Me: "You know, you're really bad at negotiating."

(and I actually found a picture of it sitting in our driveway)


Picture of Saturn.jpg

Nice! These cars were on my list when I was thinking about moving on from the 928. Mostly because one was in front of me on Route 3, then all of a sudden he was over the horizon. I was impressed.

[5chn3ll]

Well, Pontiac was THE name in "OK looking cars with lackluster performance."

Didn't Pontiac build a really attractive car, then put the Iron Duke in it? I remember the Fiero being a real disappointment. Then Toyota copied it, and made it actually fun to drive, those bastids.

The car did OK, even with 100HP. It was a reverse sleeper - looked faster than it was. Nevertheless, the Duke pushed a Fiero along a whole lot better than it pulled those 80's Firebirds that weight about 800 pounds more...