Pontiac Fiero – the Car Truth Report – Car Comedy / Commentary / News etc.

It’s 33 years old, wears fake designer clothes, has flip up headlights, and is probably worthless than 1000 dollars. Are we talking about your adult live-in son, or the Pontiac Fiero? Find out today on the car truth report. Today on the Car Truth Report, we’re riding the rad riptide of 80’s nostalgia by takinga look back at the Pontiac Fiero!I’m your host and pragmatic four cylinder fanatic, Noor Elahi bringing you the Car Truth,the whole truth and nothing but the truth, unless we get it wrong. Thank your for joining us. The Pontiac Fiero was introduced in 1983 as the mid-engined four cylinder American carthat was too beautiful for this world — sealed beam flip-up headlights and all!Around the time Lee Iacocca coined the word “reliability” — look it up — Pontiacdecided it would be smart to make a coupe with an anemic American engine to competewith similar European offerings like the Porsche 9-whatever. Pontiac used the much loathed Iron Duke engine to power the base Fiero, which was also foundin the 1st and worst 4cyl Camaro. The 2. 5L pushrod carbureted Iron Duke made an embarrassing 92 horsepower. A couple of grand extra could have gotten you a V6, but this wasn’t what the car WANTED. What it WANTED was the aluminum, dual overhead cam Quad 4, which made a much less pathetic150 HP, and was introduced in 1987. Remember, this was back in those dark days when a V8 Corvette made 230hp. As a matter of fact, give a thumbs up if you think the Fiero would have had a fightingchance with the Quad4 motor, or a small block for that matter. So what was GM thinking?How did they plan to sell their tiny little slow-machine?Well, the Fiero actually had a couple of decent selling points. It was born from the 1979 Oil Crisis as a small commuter car, like the frog-faced threeFord Escort EXP. With the 2. 5L Iron Duke chug-chug-chugging away in back, it  managed up to 50 milesper gallon in manual trim. But most of all, it looked hot!Even today, Wikipedia – or as we like to call it, the Car Truth Report Investigative Department- compares it to the Ferrari 308GTB. As time went by, mid-westerners such as myself saw in this little car a thrifty sportingcompetitor to the sleek imports such as Toyota’s contemporary MR2. GM borrowed bits from their existing lineup such as the rear suspension and powertrainfrom the Chevrolet Citation, and the front suspension from the Chevette; a seeminglyregrettable decision today but one that ultimately, kept the production costs low.  It should be noted that the suspension was updated on later modelsIt was this affordability, and it’s engine placement that gave birth to the Fiero’sreal claim to fame as the base for a million kit cars. Late 20th Century car magazines were awash with back page ads for Fiero body kits. For a few thousand dollars and two years of weekends you could build yourself a replicaItalian exotic.  Results may vary.  Even today if you see a Flamborghini or Fauxarri at your local car show, There’sa good chance it’s a Fiero. The Fiero is also a favorite candidate for engine swaps, the most popular being the chevysmall block v8.  Let’s look at one here. Regular Car Reviews once said that Pontiac killed the dream of low-priced, mid-enginedAmerican cars and in many ways they’re right, but I have to fundamentally disagree. I don’t think America ever truly WANTED an affordable car with an engine behind thedriver. We WANTED it to fail. We WANTED Corvettes, Trans-Ams, and Mustangs. We WANTED a car to hold up and say, {Hank Hill voice} “look Europe, we made one andit just isn’t doable!Now get with the dang-ole program and put a motherloving V8 in front like Jesus intended!”And that’s what the Pontiac Fiero is: a thirty-something year old lesson in self-sabotage,just like your son JasonThank you for joining us for this episode of the Car Truth Report. We want to hear from you!Is the Pontiac Fiero a quirky American Classic, or the greatest pretender car of all time? Will the ladies be impressed by my new designer Calvim Klain kicks?Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to like, subscribe, ring-a-ding-ding thatnotify bell and send us money so I can buy my own v8 swapped Fiero. The Car Truth has been brought to you by about five beers, giving me a little more courage,since 1997

source https://cardetailingphoenix.com/index.php/2018/09/22/pontiac-fiero-the-car-truth-report-car-comedy-commentary-news-etc-3/