The Pontiac Fiero has long been a model that many enthusiasts feel some pity for, as this was a concept with great potential unfortunately done in by the bean counters at GM. The first few editions of the car were underwhelming and far closer to being a cheap economy car than anything approaching a sports model. Of course, when they finally got it right with the later versions like this 1988 Fiero GT listed here on eBay. the bean counters struck once again and the model was killed. This GT is in good overall shape with under 60,000 miles and the preferred manual gearbox; bids are at $6,100 with no reserve.
The seller notes he wanted one of these GTs when they were new, so it was a bit of a dream come true when he found one that had been sitting but had also benefited from a fresh paint job and a few other tasteful improvements. Unfortunately, upon driving the car, he discovered his frame no longer wanted to be confined to a low, tight cockpit, and he developed a challenging condition known as Sciatica. This has made driving a car like the Fiero a painful task, so it’s now up for grabs. The listing notes that the Fiero rides on an aftermarket coilover suspension, so it likely rides even lower and firmer than when it was new. One of my favorite design details has always been those sweet tinted taillights.
Along with the looks, the engineers at GM finally gave the Fiero an ideal combination of power and suspension tuning that made the GT a thrilling drive. The 140 horsepower V6 put the power to the ground courtesy of a Muncie-built Getrag five-speed manual and 15-inch diamond spoke alloy wheels. The brakes and suspension were also improved, with discs at all four corners and a Lotus-tuned rear end. The seller also references how the V6 featured a revised crankshaft that provided much-needed smoothness. Overall, it was clear that the revised GT was thoroughly improved, making its untimely demise all the more unfortunate.
The seller doesn’t included many photos of the interior but does reference the fact that it would look better with a good cleaning. When you see a Fiero in person, the seller’s issues with the car do make sense: you truly sit low in the cabin and the interior is small to begin with. It would have to be incredibly difficult to get in and out with a painful condition affecting your limbs. The seller does note that this Fiero was previously repainted, going from maroon to cherry red, and while we always like to see highly original cars, the end result appears to be a paint job of a decent quality. These are tremendously fun cars and under-appreciated at the moment; get one while you can.
The fact that being good looking cars doesn’t hurt the Fiero GT at all but the mid engine design gives the driver one of the most well balanced cars built in America. The bright red paint on this car fits it’s good looks. Only problem I see is Crew Chief says there isn’t any room for groceries.
Other vehicle for groceries 😁
Fieros do have a trunk behind the engine, surprisingly deep in the middle, looks big enough for at least 2-3 typical brown-paper grocery bags packed full, could prolly fit even more with plastic grocery bags using the shallower spots at each side of the deep center well.
Consider upgrading your crew chief, Bob. 😅
I moved cross country in a Fiero….it’s doable of you’re creative!
While my preference is for the slightly less-flashy Formula, wish I could take a look at this one. Can’t get a new one at the nearest Pontiac dealer — if you could FIND a Pontiac dealer, which you can’t — so it’s best to opt for what you can get.
I’ve driven several Fieros, and the ’88 was by far the best. Not eye-watering fast, but the handling was memorably good.
I have sciatica, and drive a C4. I smell a flip with issues.
Is that his Porsche 944 Turbo in the garage in the background? He’ll have to sell that too if he legit can’t get in or out of the Fiero.
That was my exact thought on this one, 50 miles and you wanna sell the car you wanted forever. I have a C4 and I had an 84 Fiero years ago, I’m 53 and would rather climb in and out of this than my C4, but once you’re in the C4 you’re comfy, it’s just getting in there lol.
I agree being this old you’ll want to check the the metal water lines under the car on the sides for corrosion. I owned an 87 gt new back in the day.
The ’88s are definitely the ones to have, and since everyone wonders why GM would invest in such major improvements just for one final year only… they didn’t, at least not intentionally.
The 2nd-gen Fiero was then in late development and due to launch for ’89 or ’90, so they decided to roll a few of those more significant improvements into production early, as a sort of preview of better things to come and an attempt to goose sales.
Despite glowing reviews lauding those improvements, sales for ’88 not only weren’t goosed but actually dropped by nearly half vs. ’87 production, which itself had already dropped by nearly half vs. ’86 production, so management sadly decided to pull the plug on the 2nd-gen Fiero entirely.
Fieros are unsafe junk.
True story: I know a guy named Greg who used to own a Fiero—actually the only person I’ve ever know that owned one. Greg also happens to be 6’5″ and around 275 lbs. He never complained about not being able to fit in it. He sold it for a Camaro.
This is incorrect, Greg. You know not of what you speaketh.
I had a white 88 GT was always amazed at how the crammed the V6 into such a tight space yet I found it relatively easy to work on, I thought if it like sitting in my living room going 80 and yes I thought it was relatively comfortable
The demise of the Fiero really sticks with me. This was a great year, and I enjoyed driving any Fiero really, even with the horrendous 2.5L. Oh well, can’t fix the past.
Me too! It’s a combination of the poor execution of a potentially great idea with the failure of GM to build a competent sports car that is much more affordable than a Corvette for those of us without trust funds or seven-figure incomes that really stings! GM had the potential to build a winner and they built a flop instead.
Had a silver 87 GT in high school, the nose lifts so high at 130mph you can’t steer. Other than that, they are awesome. The no rust description is funny since the body is fiberglass.
Not fiberglass, but thermoplastic resin, a close relative of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), except for the roof, which was made from Sheet Molding Compound (SMC), IIRC. The “space frame” that the panels bolted to was still steel, so the panels could look great on top of a car with major rust issues, so check the usual places where the dreaded “tin worm” hides and likes to eat, such as floorpans, rocker panels and wheel arches. IIRC, one magazine article during the Fiero’s debut showed a nearly completed car being driven around the factory, on its way to the station on the assembly line where the plastic body panels were applied. Fortunately, the space frame was made with two-sided galvanized steel, and subjected to numerous rustproofing steps, so these actually held up quite well against corrosion.
The Fiero was the prototype for this construction method, which was later used for the early Saturn cars, the SL1 and SL2 coupes, sedans and station wagons.
I remember when the Saturn was first intro’d to the public. At the time, I didn’t take the cars seriously. At the time, I thought the sedan and wagon looked like a Toyota Corolla of the same year.
Yes but it attaches to a metal space frame. Rust can kill that frame and make the car a no go. So really it’s important to check. But I guess since you just in high school and sounded like your driving was scary we can not expect you to be a good reference.
Lots of red overspray in the front areas, looks like the car was black to begin with. Under carriage has been coated to look nice and black but you can tell from the control arm bolts where the suspension was when they did a quicky bottom spray to cover things up. Too many other little details that look sketchy to make this as good as it appears on the surface.
I was a Pontiac saleperson back in 1988, it was a sad for us sold those fine 88 GT’s,that all my friend.
Auto Check score is a 23 which is about the lowest I’ve seen. The average range is 51-69. Only thing I could see possible is that it looks like it might have a lien on it. Anyway, I’d be careful on this one.
I also see that the car was reported to have 120,318 miles in Dec 2000. While that seems pretty unlikely, something just doesn’t add up here.
Beautiful car. I remember when the Pontiac Fiero first debuted. I found it more attractive than the Toyota MR2 that debuted around the same time. It’s a damn shame it was discontinued when it was. While it may have had some “teething” problems, such as the engine catching fire, I’m sure with the right testing and research, it may have helped with durability and reliability.
True, the Fiero was better looking than the “Mister Two”, but in every other category except price, the Toyota was the better car in every way. I shopped both when looking for my first new car out of college, and Toyota dealers were charging $3k or more over list price on the MR2, while Pontiac dealers had to offer rebates on the Fiero. The Fiero was one of many examples of GM cars that had great potential but failed in the marketplace due to poor execution. I don’t know why it took so long for GM to figure out that using your customers as development engineers is not a path to success, but they didn’t get it right with the Fiero, that’s for sure! That’s a shame, because the stillborn 1990 edition is what the car should have been in 1984 right out of the box!
Here’s a link to some pictures of the 1990 Fiero that never was:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/forgotten-future/forgotten-future-1990-pontiac-fiero-prototype/
I find later versions of the “Mr. Two” way better looking than the first gen version. I owned one for a couple of years, and for the most part, it was quite reliable like most Toyota cars are. My biggest complaint was that there wasn’t enough room to fit comfortably. With the sunroof, it had almost no room to move your head around. If I had an accident while driving the car, I wouldn’t be typing this.
Pontiac was about to make the second gen Fiero into what people either thought it was or thought that it should have been when it came out in ’84. That, of course, got another division that was and is extremely protective of its two-seater model to lobby for the extermination of the “threat”.
Whether Chevy had the second generation Fiero killed, or poor sales were enough to do the trick is debatable, so I’ll leave that discussion for others (Yes, I’m a coward, LOL!). What is clear is that GM dropped the ball on so many levels with the Fiero, generating yet another loss for Team USA against Team Japan!
Personally, I always thought that the idea that a $15k, entry-level sports car would steal sales from the $50k Corvette, either then or now, to be total idiocy! They served two (2) completely different market segments, with no overlap at all, other than that they were both two-seat sports cars. You’d have no better luck getting a Corvette customer to consider a Fiero than you would trying to sell them a Chevy pickup truck, IMHO! The whole idea that the Fiero would cannibalize sales from the Corvette is so laughable as to be ludicrous!