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it's also too bad the Fiero started off with Chevy Citation suspension parts. I can just picture the engineers who designed the Fiero banging their head against the brick wall when the bean counters took over.
Actually, alot of inexpensive mide engine cars use the drivetrains from more plebian vehicles. Hell, even the new Lotus uses the entire drivetrain from a Camry. When Toyota built it's mid-engine sports car, they used the entire drivetrain and front suspension from a Corolla FX16 and moved it to the back. The Fiat X1/9 and it' slarger sister, the Lancia MonteCarlo used basic FWD car drivetrains moved to the back. Even Honda did it with their home market Beat sports car.
The plan for the Fiero to be a sports car WOULD have been fine using that drivetrain, but the beancounters said no to a sports car. So the engineers repurposed the car as a "commuter" to get it past the bean counters and into production, and then started to re-engineer it as it went to be a proper sports car. Notice that when the "2M4" commuter car first hit the market that a complete racing parts catalog was released at the same time...
these are the Fieros the engineers wanted you to have:
And yes, you could buy all the parts. Of course, now, you can bolt in a V8 and have a serious street machine.
While we remember Novas as musclecars, the reality is, the Nova was Chevy's base economy car in teh '60s. So making a base economy car with that name wasn't THAT far off the amrk.
And the complaints about the GTO looking like any other generic car of its era COMPLETELY forget that the original GTO was only a couple badges away from being a Tempest economy car that looked like any other car of ITS era.
The original GTO "stood out" from the Tempest due to a badge that said GTO and a couple small fake hood scoops. Wow. Big difference. ONLY people who know the cars can tell if it's a Tempest, a LeMans, or a GTO. And not even then from across a parking lot.
There's less difference between them than between the modern GTO and any domestic GM product. Unlike the modern GTO, which shares not a single body panel with any domestic sedan, the Tempest/LeMans/GTO used the same EXACT body. And hell, as you can see, even the same hubcaps! They were merely trim levels of the SAME CAR. LeMans wasn't even the top trim level, either. By the end of the '60s, it had replaced Tempest as the bottom trim level on the Pontiac version of the A body.
What town are you in? There are a few speciality Fiero shops around the country. Also an online store specializing in just Fiero restoration and repair parts, which grosses over a million bucks a year!
That surprised me!
The dealer with the Fiiero on the lot is Howard Bentley Buick/GM (Used to also have the Pontiac and Toyota dealership) in Fayetteville, TN.
The Fiero specialty place is The Fiero Factory in Toney, Alabama (really part of Huntsville, AL), just across the state line from Fayetteville. They got new ownership earlier this year.
Had they produced them from the factory to look like that you would have a legit agrument. The NEW GTO is a big over weight jelly bean with tires. Very ugly and not all its hyped up to be performance wise.
That orange one does look good though I will say that.
Now this is SWEET! Check out the LeBra on it too!
You're quite wrong on the new GTO. The styling was understated but it was an amazing car. My mechanic has driven many, many cars and says that the GTO was the best car he'd ever driven. Californians bought most of them but the rest of you didn't. RIP
While we remember Novas as musclecars, the reality is, the Nova was Chevy's base economy car in teh '60s. So making a base economy car with that name wasn't THAT far off the amrk.
And the complaints about the GTO looking like any other generic car of its era COMPLETELY forget that the original GTO was only a couple badges away from being a Tempest economy car that looked like any other car of ITS era.
'64 GTO:
1964 Tempest:
The original GTO "stood out" from the Tempest due to a badge that said GTO and a couple small fake hood scoops. Wow. Big difference. ONLY people who know the cars can tell if it's a Tempest, a LeMans, or a GTO. And not even then from across a parking lot.
There's less difference between them than between the modern GTO and any domestic GM product. Unlike the modern GTO, which shares not a single body panel with any domestic sedan, the Tempest/LeMans/GTO used the same EXACT body. And hell, as you can see, even the same hubcaps! They were merely trim levels of the SAME CAR. LeMans wasn't even the top trim level, either. By the end of the '60s, it had replaced Tempest as the bottom trim level on the Pontiac version of the A body.
Great photo of the legend that changed everything. Were you of driving age back then? It was a lot more than a re-badged Tempest. No one ever confused the two. The legend took the country by storm and changed the direction of the car culture.
Great photo of the legend that changed everything. Were you of driving age back then? It was a lot more than a re-badged Tempest. No one ever confused the two. The legend took the country by storm and changed the direction of the car culture.
The point was that VISUALLY it was nothing special. IT WAS in fact a rebadged Tempest with a big engine and still looked like pretty much every other GM car of the era.
Unless you knew cars, and knew these cars specifically, you won't be able to tell the GTO from the Tempest if the GTO grille emblem was removed. And across a parking lot, the average person won't even know it was a Pontiac, much less a GTO. They didn't even then.
Quick, without the emblems, which is this?
I was born in '63, so by the time I knew about cars (in the late '60s), they were simply generic used musclecars. But i read up on them extensively in the '60s and even the magazines talked up the sleeper aspect, that they dint' stand out from other Pontiacs, and could be though of as "just a Tempest" until you "blew them away at a stoplight." That was, in fact, their reason for existence (well, that and to beat the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt at the drag strip in '64)
The point was that VISUALLY it was nothing special. IT WAS in fact a rebadged Tempest with a big engine and still looked like pretty much every other GM car of the era.
Unless you knew cars, and knew these cars specifically, you won't be able to tell the GTO from the Tempest if the GTO grille emblem was removed. And across a parking lot, the average person won't even know it was a Pontiac, much less a GTO. They didn't even then.
Quick, without the emblems, which is this?
I was born in '63, so by the time I knew about cars (in the late '60s), they were simply generic used musclecars. But i read up on them extensively in the '60s and even the magazines talked up the sleeper aspect, that they dint' stand out from other Pontiacs, and could be though of as "just a Tempest" until you "blew them away at a stoplight." That was, in fact, their reason for existence (well, that and to beat the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt at the drag strip in '64)
You weren't there, I was. I drove a new one owned by a friend. BTW, Tempest.
The dealer with the Fiiero on the lot is Howard Bentley Buick/GM (Used to also have the Pontiac and Toyota dealership) in Fayetteville, TN.
The Fiero specialty place is The Fiero Factory in Toney, Alabama (really part of Huntsville, AL), just across the state line from Fayetteville. They got new ownership earlier this year.
While we remember Novas as musclecars, the reality is, the Nova was Chevy's base economy car in the '60s. So making a base economy car with that name wasn't THAT far off the amrk.
And the complaints about the GTO looking like any other generic car of its era COMPLETELY forget that the original GTO was only a couple badges away from being a Tempest economy car that looked like any other car of ITS era.
'64 GTO:
1964 Tempest:
The original GTO "stood out" from the Tempest due to a badge that said GTO and a couple small fake hood scoops. Wow. Big difference. ONLY people who know the cars can tell if it's a Tempest, a LeMans, or a GTO. And not even then from across a parking lot.
There's less difference between them than between the modern GTO and any domestic GM product. Unlike the modern GTO, which shares not a single body panel with any domestic sedan, the Tempest/LeMans/GTO used the same EXACT body. And hell, as you can see, even the same hubcaps! They were merely trim levels of the SAME CAR. LeMans wasn't even the top trim level, either. By the end of the '60s, it had replaced Tempest as the bottom trim level on the Pontiac version of the A body.
I'll take any 1960s "GOAT" or Tempest over anything modern.
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ONLY people who know the cars can tell if it's a Tempest, a LeMans, or a GTO. And not even then from across a parking lot.
ponchos rest in peace
yikes!!
I am familiar with the Fiero Factory. Have not done business with them directly but they do have an excellent reputation in the community.
Much more so than my stock 6 banger. 
