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That decade started out with some promise that GM could get its act back together, starting in 1982 with the Camaro & Firebird, as well as the Pontiac 6000, a much raved about automobile; IIRC, they finished 1-2-3 in the Motor Trend COTY Award contest in 1982, although I believe that the 6000 was second to the Camaro, with the 5-speed Firebird placing third.
But then the Fiero came along in the mid-80's---too heavy, too noisy and too expensive which almost immediately led to its kiss-of-death designation as a 'girl's car', and it was essentially demolished by the 1983 Prelude (Car & Driver called it the best $10,000 sports car ever made in a cover story that year), as well as the Toyota MR2, and the Honda Civic CRX (one of the auto magazines referred to it as a 'rollerskate GT'), which came out a year or two later.
My very first car was a 1970 Skylark, and I managed to get over 170K miles on it despite not taking real good care of it, but it was a fabulous automobile.
Fiero could have been a great car if they didn't use off the shelf suspension parts and given it the engine it deserved.
Yep, 1989 was the model year they finally got the Fiero right -- so naturally, the 1989 model year never saw the light of day.
Thankfully the Fiero frame is amenable to swallowing anything from the GMO Quad4 that was supposed to go in it in '89, to the 3.8 (supercharged or otherwise) right on up to an LS V8.
back then GM was scared to really push the fiero in case it ate into corvette sales remember C4 corvettes back then were only making 230-240HP in the 80's and a 200HP V6 supercharged would killed some vette sales.
in the end it died because GM was competing with itself and one car could not out do the other even though a RWD mid-engine set-up is better for perfect 50/50 weight distribution.
They weren't offering a V6 supercharged Fiero. In fact they didn't start supercharging the 3.8 until the 90s. The top end Fiero to be offered in 1989 would have had 180HP. By that time the 'Vette was producing 245HP, and about 837lb-ft of torque, or so it would have seemed compared to the 4-cylinder that was headed into the top-end Fiero. I doubt GM considered itself in much danger of losing a lot of 'Vette sales to the Fiero. Even if they lost a few, a sale is a sale and as long as people are still buying 'Vettes, then Chevy's halo car would still have been out on the streets.
The reason for dropping Fiero had nothing to do with fear of cannibalizing Corvette sales and everything to do with Fiero's tarnished image and declining sales.
I don't think of nameplates like the GTO or Lemans as being somehow sacred to America or anything... but the 80's Lemans just plain sucked. I don't think I've seen one on the road in at least 8 or 9 years.
I have an 88 Fiero Formula, V6 5-speed, which has the redesigned suspension they installed that year (it's last). It's not fast by modern car standards, but with the stick, non power assist steering, and lightness compared to modern cars, along with the new suspension, it is entertaining to drive. It's not a Corvette but I like it just the same. It is too bad it didn't survive a little longer to see more powerful engines and more refinement.
I have an 88 Fiero Formula, V6 5-speed, which has the redesigned suspension they installed that year (it's last). It's not fast by modern car standards, but with the stick, non power assist steering, and lightness compared to modern cars, along with the new suspension, it is entertaining to drive. It's not a Corvette but I like it just the same. It is too bad it didn't survive a little longer to see more powerful engines and more refinement.
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.
Our former Pontiac dealer in our small town still has a Fiero that he keeps on the lot.
There was actually a repair/parts shop locally that specialized solely in repairing and souping up Fieros. Haven't been by there recently, but it was still open a couple of years ago.
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!
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Anemic engine and all. 
