My dad worked at the Fiero plant. When I ordered my 87 GT he took me to the plant and I followed my car down the line as it was being built. Not many people can say that. Miss you Dad!!!

Typical GM; work out all the bugs then cancel the model.

GM had this car just about perfect in 88 and then pulled the plug.

As a Fiero owner, I'm so glad about this model's resurgence in popularity over the last few years. The younger generation is extremely interested in 80s cars!!!

My sisters had a base ‘84 Fiero as her sweet sixteen car. It was very mildly used with just a few thousand miles on it, and it was purchased while new ‘84s were still on the dealer lots. I drove it a lot when she was in college and the care was home when I hit sixteen. It was fun, but within safe parameters. I can neither confirm or deny that it could seat four in a short distance pinch. In was awful in the rain, but better than you’d think in the snow. Loved the speakers in the headrest. We all thought that was coolest thing. I know the car gets a lot of hate, but I have nothing but fond memories of it. Poor things was stolen by thugs and destroyed. It was found with the transmission wrecked when presumably the morons threw it into park while traveling at a pretty high speed. What a shame.

My first new car was a 1984 Pontiac Indy Fiero. Had a four speed manual transaxle. It left me stranded several times, usually when a fusible link fried. It cost my 26 year old self $16,500 out the door, which is close to $50,000 in 2024 dollars. I still have the "Official Pace Car" decals that I never applied to the doors, and my California "84 INDY" and Nevada "INDY" license plates. Knowing that GM internally referred to the Fiero as the "P car" platform, I had considered getting the license plate "P ENVY." I remember the print ads that said, for the first time in history, all 34 cars at the Indy 500 were mid-engined (the 33 race cars plus the Fiero pace car). Later that year, Rick Mears' 1984 Indy 500 winning car was parked on a street in Morristown NJ where I worked, and there was an open space in front of the race car, where I parked my Indy Fiero. So my Indy Fiero actually "led" Rick Mears' car. And it was 1984, when nobody carried cell phones or cameras, so of course I don't have a photo of this chance encounter. Forty years ago. Damn I'm old.

"The Saturday Night Joke" A man owned a small farm. The Labor Department determined he was not paying proper wages to his staff and sent an investigator out to interview him. "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them!", demanded the investigator. "Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for three years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board. "The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free room and board." "Then there's the halfwit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 a week. He pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of whiskey every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally." "That's the guy I want to talk to...the halfwit!" said the agent. "That would be me," replied the farmer

As the owner of a 1987 Fiero GT since 2010 I was thrilled to see a "Fiero" video pop up!!! They are great cars! Thank you Adam!!!

The colors of the "test interiors" scream 70's loud and proud.

These cars handled very well for being built from the parts bin.

Working on the assembly line at the Fiero plant was the last job my father had before retiring from GM. When they closed the plant, he was given three options, the first of which was a job in a city we'd never heard of before; Tonawanda, NY. Needless, to say, my father declined that position and took an early retirement (they also offered a buyout that he wasn't the least bit interested in). While he worked at the Fiero plant, he would occasionally bring home a car for a day and would take me (then, a teenager) for a drive. I loved it; admittedly, he did not. He was always disappointed at how under-powered the cars were. To this day, I still have plans of getting my hands on an '88 GT or Formula. I truly appreciate your deep dive into the history of this car and thought I'd share a little bit of my own. They were cool and unique cars and should be remembered. In my opinion, they never should have been discontinued. The prototypes of the next generation models were very cool. Thanks again for the great content.

Wow, you sure are a fantastic interviewer. Prepared, knowledgable, adaptive to the conversation and let the guys talk. Very well done, Adam!

A tale of two friends. First friend bought an 86 Fiero GT new. Second friend worked for Ford at the time and would tease him by saying, "You're driving a Chevette in reverse". All in good fun. Excellent content as always - thank you.

An important omission is Fiero’s space frame and “Mill and Drill” manufacturing process. The space frame resulted in a very strong chassis structure, and “Mill and Drill” eliminated stacking of manufacturing tolerances for better fit of the exterior body panels. This was a very innovative process that I don’t think was continued beyond Fiero, likely due to cost and/or overly conservative leadership. A shame.

I had two Fieros, an 84 Fiero SE and 86 GT. Both were exceptionally fun and reliable cars.

I bought my 88 GT in November of 87. I still have it and I still love it. 😊

In 1984, I toured the Fiero plant in Pontiac Michigan and saw them being built.

Hey Adam, the burgundy '88 GT with gold wheels you featured a few times sold YESTERDAY on BaT for nearly $30k! That's twice the original sticker price. These are finally getting the respect they deserve after years of being a punchline. ☺

I interviewed GM Designer John Schinella and he has very fond memories of the Fiero.

The nicest Fiero I ever drove belonged to a good friend. He put me behind the wheel but didn't tell me that it carried a 4.4 liter supercharged Northstar. It is a rocketship. He still has it and enjoys it on nice weekends.

My uncle owned a yellow '86 Fiero SE V6 that was imported from Massachusetts (we live in Bahrain). He was quite into the likes of F-bodies and 'Vettes but couldn't afford them in his youth. He played a role in me becoming a car person. I still consider the Fiero a guilty pleasure of mine, even the Iron duke ones.

Another fun fact is the Fiero plant was the 1st plant where GM trided to impliment japanese team oriented manufacturing techniques. This pre-dated nummi and like nummi it was a plant slated for closure so the workers were happy to try something new to keep their jobs. I remember reading a story about a fiero that fell into the cravace on the line and some quick math showed it was better to get it out and throw it away than to get the equipment in to get it out and resettled on the line. 1 tossed car is better than 15 cars that wont get built was the logic so a forklift operator speared it and ripped it out to get the line moving again.

Great cars that suffered from low quality GM electrical parts and too high engine bay temperatures. As a rookie, I remember replacing a boat load of TPS sensors on the Iron Duke. It was pretty close to the EGR valve and I bought a long swivel socket from Snap On that was originally a Caddy distributor socket to change them quickly with. Still have the socket and use it often for other stuff. LOL

To this day, I still want a Fiero. A friend of mine had one in school, and it was so fun to ride around in. Wasn't old enough to drive it, though. And unfortunately, I've never had an opportunity to drive one since. Now that I've been working on and customizing cars for years. I would love to get my hands on one in decent shape

Had a jet black ‘84 Fiero 2M4 in my 20’s, with the sunroof and rear deck strips and spoiler as at 10:50. Many great memories of the car and its styling. It always turned heads. Mechanically, had some trouble with the cooling system and water pump(s) as I did not recognize its complexity-to my regret-and some general annoyances as an exterior driver’s door lock that stopped working, busted driver’s seat floor adjuster (no clearance underneath to repair), and a radio backlight that burned out. Just loved it though, a two-seat sports car impressed my girlfriend and eventual wife-to-be, so was worth every single penny….

Saw a late model gold GT w/ manual for sale a while back. Still looked fantastic, low miles, was reasonably priced. Tempting.

"...GM didn't have the capital..." in 1983 to introduce a new model, mkay. and yet, 1985 Roger Smith was able to find $5B of capital to buy Hughes Aircraft, which really made sense for a car company, right? At the same time, Smith was spending plenty of capital to start shutting down Buicktown, moving production to Mexico and selling off the tooling to Japan. Roger Smith presided over the destruction of GM during those dark days.

Like the corvair that they fixed all the problems pointed out by Nader but by that time, although a good car by then, it was dropped.

Imagine a modern Fiero with the new 2.0l turbo and a manual 6 speed...yeah

The styling has held up surprisingly well.

Once you do the 4.9 Cadillac V8 engine swap, this car really comes into its own.

I always liked the later model year Fieros. Especially the V6 version.

Two things I recall about the Fiero. One being the radio speakers located in the headrests. The other was seeing them in traffic with one headlight up and the other one down.

Thanks for sharing Adam!! Your automotive history is amazing!! My dad talked me out of buying a 1988 Manual White Fiero Formula in 1988. Wish I bought it!!

I knew I’d like this video before I actually viewed it…Always great car information from the era I grew up in without any “performance art.”

Nice piece Adam. I had an '88 Coupe a couple of years ago. Low miles, one owner, red over grey, manual transmission. My first Fiero. It was a surprisingly nice little sports car. If it had been a GT, it would've been a keeper. The GT is such a nice design.

The front X car suspension was not really turned around 180 degrees. It was just slid backwards to become the rear suspension. That’s why the 4 cyl engine has the intake side toward the firewall and why the drive belts are on the same side as the X cars.

I will NEVER understand why the totally revamped 1988 Fiero was one year only. All of the vices were gone and then....canceled. The modifications should've been celebrated and advertised. I recall the magazines loving the fixes.

In my opinion this is the best Fiero video I've seen. Very informative with no nonsense or untrue rumors. I own 2 Fieros myself, and get endless compliments about these cars. Great video, thank you.

What surprised me about these Fieros 9:51 was the leg room they had. I had a buddy who was 6’2” and bought one of these. He never complained but we all laughed when he would get out of it.

Woah, a 45min video? That has to be a record for you, Adam. Keep em coming!

thank you for not using an ai voice

Boy, what a treasure trove of a video for Fiero fans. Nicely done!

Adam, I would never have thought anyone, even you could find 44+ minutes of things to say about the Fiero.

This is the most educational and smartest automobile channel on KZfaq! I really appreciate the history and interesting interviews that really snapshot the automobile industry of tha an era!

Great video. I've owned 6 of them. 84 Red, 85 Red SE V6, 87 Blue GT (still own), 87 Blue Coupe 4 cly, 88 Red Formula V6, 88 Red Formula TDI (still own)

An absolutely excellent overview of the Fiero, Adam. I especially enjoyed the interviews that your shared with Irv and Marv. Well done, sir.

Thank you, Adam. Great background on one of my favourite 80’s cars!

You could get the super duty iron Duke over the counter from gm performance parts. It had a forged crank, pistons and rods, a bigger cam, and higher compression.

Great video!! I really enjoy the talk with the designers and the concept sketches.

One of the 2000 made Indy owner here, glad to see such a comprehensive break down. The interior information was very interesting as I had never heard or seen that before in regards to the development.

Bravo on a wonderful episode.🌲

Loved that car! So “rocketship” cool. Thank you!

Excellent video. This is the car that ended my Pontiac aspirations after owning 4 different ones. When it was thrown away and the Stinger never produced, i was done. Now we need a show dedicated to the 1989 running concepts.

#11: The first use of base coat, clear coat paint in the auto industry was on the 1984 Corvette and the 1984 Fiero.

I test drove a GT in 1987, man it was a nice car. Loved the interior, it really had a cockpit feel and the seats were incredibly comfortable. It felt like driving a go kart. It handled really well. Unfortunately the insurance made it a no go. Always felt like it was the one that got away.

Thanks for this one, Adam.. I drove one of the first Fiero's ever made, it was the first one delivered to the Pontiac dealership where I worked. The steering was very high effort, and there was no power steering option. It was striking how hard it was to turn the steering wheel on that car. That plus that boat anchor of an Iron Duke engine made it all show and no go.. That was remedied rather substantially in later years, but then (in typical GM fashion), once they fixed the car they axed it.

Alot of graduating female seniors were gifted one of these in the mid 80s. The car was cute and fit that characterization perfectly. What great memories.

Fascinating to know how this design process works.

Adam, very well done and THANK YOU for again focusing on the Fiero! It was truly revolutionary, especially for GM. The P platform was shared with no other car. Hard to believe it is 40 years old this year. People often forget the impact these had upon introduction, before it became a punchline. I’ve owned many over thirty years. At car shows to this day, everyone above a certain age either had one or knew someone who did, and then proceed to tell a nostalgic story. They are finally getting the respect they deserve. ☺ The burgundy GT with gold wheels that you feature a few times actually sold on BaT yesterday for nearly $30k!

A friend of mine owned both an 1985 and 1988 Fiero (the '85 he drove from '86 until '88, and the 88 he drove from '88, brand new, until '92). The '88 was a GT, with the MUCH, MUCH improved power and suspension. One thing I recall is the dashboard in front of the passenger had a small plate that said "Suspension by Lotus" or possibly "Suspension tuned by Lotus". The difference between the two cars was like night and day, completely different. With the engine over the rear tires, you could drop the clutch from 5000 rpm and take off like a rocket. That Fiero GT was faster 0-40mph than every single car in my friend group, including my built (350hp) '67 Olds Cutlass, my bosses '67 Impala with a 450+hp 427, and his brother's '78 Trans Am with its slightly built high performance W72 400. The Fiero GT also performed extremely well in both Solo 2 and tight, twisty road course racing. That '88 Fiero was very impressive with its V6 and Lotus improved suspension.

Great vid!!! 🤜🤛

Late night release. Adam After Dark.

A couple of years ago, while driving on Highway 34, just North of Maryville Missouri, I spotted 2 1984 Fiero Pace car replicas sitting at the end of someone’s driveway. They were both for sale. They were both in good shape. I wish now that I would have taken a picture of them.

Great video, Adam. One thing that wasn't mentioned about the interior is that because the fuel tank was located between the seats, it made for a wide center console.

With the recent news about Pontiac maybe making a comeback, the potential of a Fiero coming back would be really really cool. Pretty sure I'd end up buying one.

How I wish they had done the Banshee - what a great looking car.

I had an ‘85 2M4 with the 5-speed Isuzu gearbox. It was a pretty good car and I put a ton of miles on it. Yeah the 2.5 Iron Duke was a dog and the “no glove box” stock interior was idiotic, but the car was fun to drive and cheap to own.

First Grew up with a 1988 Formula

What a beautiful car this was! Wish they made a modern version like they are doing with many models of past decades !

he final two years of production finally allowed it to be the car that it should have been from the beginning. It's still amazing to me how the design and production team managed to pull a fast one over corporate and get the thing produced. It could have been a Corvette killer from the beginning if Chevy wasn't so afraid of that. I was fortunate to work at a dealership during the last year of production. I took every opportunity that I could to take one on errands, even though the newest one I could do that with was a used '86.

The latest iteration of this car, with some top notch suspension and a turbo v6 that actually performed would’ve been a home run. Like a mini Porsche.

That was great, thanks.

Dude, I was so young when this car was introduced. I was still being supported by my parents. I wanted one but could no way afford it. But I did drive a new Pontiac Firebird, my senior year in high school!😊

Actually the fiero rear suspension is, as mentioned, the front suspension from the x car. However it was not turned around 180 degrees as mentioned, but rather had the same front to back orientation in both platforms. Essentially the x car front end was just slid back to reside under the rear of the fiero. Fieros are starting to draw some attention. I have an 84 Indy Fiero and my teenage son and I get a lot of comments and looks when we have it out. Such a cool design with so many unique features. I'm very pleased pontiac fought for it and gm made them. I own a 1980 buick x car with the iron Duke and both cars appear to have the same engine orientation to me.

This is one of the few GM cars that’d I’d actually like to own at some point. I remember having a toy one as a kid, and really like the way they look. I like the older ones though, to me they look better than the later more rounded ones. Funny enough I remember the toy one I had, had the Fiero emblem on it pretty large, and I must’ve never looked at it real close. I always thought it was a bird, similar to what you’d find on a Trans Am, and now I clearly see it is a horse. Very interesting.

Adam, I have a friendly inquiry: You noted the X-car powertrain was flipped 180 degrees to fit amidships in the Fiero. I believe this is a common misconception. It was simply slid back as-is (still facing “forward”). Exhibit A (of many) are the Duke spark plugs up against the firewall behind passengers where they would normally be easy to access from front of X-car or equal. Ex. B is transmission stays on driver’s side, belts on passenger side. Ex. C is air cleaner inlet still faces forward over top the valve cover. I could go on…. Am I wrong?

Great video. I would love to own the 1988 T-top, manual speed GT with WS-6. Many have swapped engines to a supercharged V-6.

I enjoyed this episode, never cared for the ferio ( myself) but thats a cool interview. Thank

In 1974 Pontiac had the Banshee III. It was a two door four seater powered by a 455 SD with a TH400 transmission. You can find pictures of it online... I was fortunate to get to ride in it. My buddy's Dad worked in the design department at Pontiac.

Thank you Adam. This car was interesting to hear about. The photos really bring things together. This car was supposed to be just a "commuter car", but it turned into something else over time. Thank you for mentioning that on your video as I recall reading that years ago. I am glad you mentioned the Chevette suspension and X Car suspension. They did this car on a budget indeed. I saw a Fiero with a 3800 V6 online. Someone modified one. Too bad it did not get that super duty 2.7 liter engine. I also saw photos of what was supposed to happen before the car was killed. In a way, the Solstice is a spiritual successor.

My friend got an '84 in maybe 1990. I drove it, and was shocked at how bad the handling was, just vague. My cars had included old toyotas, a rabbit, and even a VW bus. We talked about it, we were both motorcycle mechanics, and could only come up with new (high tread depth) 80 profile tires as a reason. I was actually laughing while wiggling the wheel and getting the car to "wag" exactly OUT of phase with the steering wheel motion. It was both scary and entertaining, I remember it vividly. I was a fan of MR2's, and ended up with a couple. No comparison, handling wise. Used to autocross them, and would never have considered a fiero a threat until the newer v6 ones, which seemed to be getting pretty ok. I did alway think their (the fiero) exterior styling was better. To me, the interiors were a little weird, more driven by styling than ergonomics like the mr2. The shifting on the manual fiero was not good, the 2.5 four was coarse and sloow...the fantastic 1.6 four in the mr2 was 25hp more (in a very mild state of tune), and a joy to scream to the7800rpm rev limiter.. Close ratio 5 spd worked well. So, if Pontiac thought "commuter car" meant foul handling, slow, and every control the driver interacted with having a vague rubbery feel, they hit the nail on the head. I didn't want to dislike it, but that was my impression. I'm glad that by the last year, it finally got some power and handling to back up it's nice looks.

I enjoyed this video

The car in the opening scene here STILL looks fabulous.

At the 1981 Seattle International Auto Show, custom-fitted sheepskin seat covers caused a sensation! Suddenly, people demanded the "sheepskin look" for car interiors for style and comfort. Auto accessory shops were offering full-custom installation and retails stores offered one-size-fits-all strap-on style seat covers. Nice to see Pontiac go the sheepskin route with Fiero interion proposals. Brings back memories of the 1970's when "wet-look" vinyl interiors and tops were all the rage, with specially formulated care products to keep everything shinny.

Would love to have a last year Fiero. That one they finally got right.

Well researched

I loved these cars. The last year had the best styling. Typical GM, it perfects a model then shuts it down. Love to get my hands on a low mileage last year car.🇺🇸

I'm getting ready to list my black '84 SE. I've had it for six years and purchased it from the original owners, a family of mechanics. Only 19,000 miles. What impresses me most about that car is how stout it is. It feels so solid and substantial, like a mid-80's GM midsize., which I've also owned. A tough little car which gets great mileage, doesn't take up a lot of space, and sparks conversation wherever it goes. I'll miss it.

My earliest Fiero memory when i was 14 in 1985... My mom went on a date with a guy who owned an 84 fiero. She wasnt all that interested in him and when he came to the house for the 2nd date he tried to impress her by letting me drive his fiero around the block while he talked my ear off about himself. I drove it at 14 with no license about 5 miles and remember the lack of power steering and its tight feel like a go kart, when i got back i knew they werent going on a 3rd date.. lol

The advantage of the angled door handle (in the beginning of the video) in conjunction with the level surface it is attached to, is that it can be used more effectively as an outside armrest.

Thanks for the video of an interesting and largely forgotten car. I remember briefly driving a friend's fiancee's new Fiero back in the mid 80s and how wobbly it felt which really surprised me. At least GM gave the Fiero some muscle later on. The Banshee would have been an amazing production car and probably would not have affected Corvette sales too much. What could have been...

Thanks for the extended look at what was one of my favorite cars from the '80's. Speaking of great looking cars with pedestrian underpinnings, I would love to see a video about the Isuzu Impulse. That car had great design inside and out, and towards its end was lifted by performance enhancements by Lotus. Naturally I refer to the first-gen car designed by Giugiaro in the mid-eighties. The 2nd-gen Impulse just doesn't interest me. It's a shame Impulses are so scarce on the road today.

The X-car front suspension (cradle) and engine are not "turned around" in the Fiero, they are simply moved back to the rear axle position. If the engine engine were turned around, the Fiero would have 4 reverse gears, and only one forward gear.

I had a Fiero when I was a young man. It was a blast to drive! Like a Go-Kart with air conditioning! Didn't hurt that it was a chick magnet either!

had a 86 v6 manual fiero in th UK in 2001 , i loved it ,the sound ,attention it got especially from mr2 owners,drove it at over 100mph with no problems at all, clutch fork broke and radiator blew but that was all in 3 years.

The Pontiac "Pegasus"....LOL! I lived in an apartment in Fort Lauderdale in 2005 for nine months before we bought our house and one of these "Clenet" fiberglass cars was parked in the parking garage, under a cover. It's just a gaudied up '78 Mercury Cougar, and one day a guy was in the elevator when I was going to my '85 Porsche 928S2 and he asked me if I knew where the car was parked. "Yeah, it's over on the far edge, close to Federal Highway, under a cheap torn cover. I recommend very dark sunglasses, otherwise that hideous car is going to damage your eyesight....." He gave me a dirty look. I made a point of revving out the 928's engine as I left~

My uncle bought one 1984, took it through the S curves in Grand Rapids at 80mph no problem. Handling was pretty good.

One of my favorites in one of my favorite colors! And never thought of these as a "commuter car" even though that is how is was sold to GM!

I think using the X -series front drive axle assembly turning it 180 degrees as a mid engine rear axle on the Fiero is a really clever and inexpensive idea, I suppose that the plastic fiberglass body of the car was the too expensive part to be fabricated in large numbers which may have pushed for a premature end of the production. It would be interesting if former GM engineers could be interviewed regarding this aspect.