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Completely Original: 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT

Captured from certain angles, the Pontiac Fiero GT remains one of the best-looking coupes to come out of the 1980s. The GT moniker is essential, however, as the cosmetic improvements made to the later cars, not to mention the chassis and drivetrain upgrades, make it a far superior vehicle to the earliest editions of Pontiac’s mid-engined coupe. The GT added aerodynamic enhancements along with sharp wheels, a gaping front air dam, and of course, a 2.8L V6 mounted right behind your head. This example has just over 31,000 original miles and is described as being completely original. Find it here on eBay with bidding at $14,000 and no reserve.

The Fiero GT got numerous other appearance upgrades that sometimes go unnoticed, from the true dual exhausts to the tinted taillight panel. The revised front and rear fascias completely changed this car, for me at least, from a somewhat interesting econobox to a legitimate bargain-basement performance car that looked better than the contemporary Corvette from certain angles. Hell, the Corvette’s powerplant at the time wasn’t exactly a firestarter, and the smaller Fiero GT with its beefier V6 was likely a bigger threat than GM wanted it to be. Throw in the fact that these cars respond well to engine swaps (Northstar, anyone?) and you’ve got a hot-rod-and-a-half if you’re so inclined. Given this one remains bone-stock and looks to be in mint condition, I wouldn’t change a thing.

The Fiero is equipped with a five-speed manual and a gray cloth interior. The cabin looks as good as the outside of the car, with no apparent flaws or modifications. The Fiero GT is part of an emerging class of collector cars wherein the best examples are certainly appreciating past the point of being a throwaway model. For years, the Fiero was wrapped up in its slightly depressing history of essentially becoming the car GM always meant for it to be right before pulling the plug and yanking the mid-engined coupe from the lineup. It’s a shame, as you can only imagine what the Fiero would have become if allowed to mature into GM’s lineup over the long term. Check out the paint work in this photo – there’s a lot of shine, from the fenders to the door jambs.

The seller doesn’t relay whether this Fiero GT was put away new as a collector car, or simply used sparingly as someone’s pride and joy. The Fiero GT and the Fiero Formula are the ones to buy if you’ve got your eye on one, and I suspect you won’t lose your money any time soon if you buy a good one like this, preferably before it hits eBay. In most cases, outside of collector circles, the Fiero still trades hands for reasonable money, so it’s worth paying attention to if you find one in GT trim with no modifications and solid cosmetic condition. Find one of the few to leave the factory wearing rare colors like yellow or blue and you have a legitimate collector car. Would any of you spend real money for a Fiero GT like this?

Comments

  1. Avatar Bob S

    I kicked around the idea of buying one of these in ‘84 when they 1st came out, (2M4), glad I didn’t, but by time this one came out, GM pretty much had all the bugs worked out, right before they killed it, go figure. This is one of the nicer examples I’ve seen in a while, ticks all the boxes, but looking at the odometer on the eBay listing, looks a little wonky to me.

    Like 8
  2. Avatar RayT

    Looks to be in excellent shape (which seems to corroborate the claimed mileage) and is, at least in my opinion, a much better car than many people thought. As Bob S says, Pontiac had worked out most of the bugs by ’88. My personal favorite was the Formula model, which lacked some of the whiz-bang styling but had all the important stuff underneath.

    I remember a long conversation with one of the development guys from the Fiero team about the time production stopped. When I praised the ’88 chassis upgrades, he said, “You should have seen what we had ready to go for ’89….”

    Not sure how much can be done to the 2.8 to give it a little more oomph, but I would be tempted to try. Always felt the late Fiero could handle more.

    Like 5
    • Avatar Poppy

      I always wondered if they were planning to install an HO Quad-4 in it for 1989. Not that that’s such an awesome engine by today’s standards, but 180hp would have really livened this car up.

      Like 1
    • Avatar Teh Agent

      IIRC the 3.4l (maybe its the 3.1l) was a direct bolt in upgrade. People did them on the 2.8l s10s for a while, and still do once in a while today.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Teh Agent

        – additionally, someone supercharged one and then theres the good old turbo option. Crank is kind of weak in them though, so you cant turn up the boost a whole lot.

        A LSJ or LK9 would be fun; those are the Super and turbocharged Ecotec engines. Then you have the LNF which would be scary fun with all its torque on tap at 2000rpm.

        Like 0
  3. Avatar SkipCar

    I want to have a Fiero one day. It was one of my aspirational cars as a teenager in the 80’s. People look at me as if I have three eyes when I tell them that I want one of these.

    Like 13
  4. Avatar Jake8687

    My old girlfriend had an 84 2m4. Was hardly a muscle car. Was cool car for a 17 year old girl. Was a fun little car kinda like her. Ahh the mamories.

    Like 20
  5. Avatar Terrry

    In typical GM fashion, as soon as they get a car sorted out and perfected, they discontinued it.

    Like 12
  6. Avatar QMMQ

    I can tell you this, for what it’s worth. My classmate had an 88 gt, I had a 92 Eagle Talon AWD tsi. That Fiero hung with me every time, couldn’t beat me in straights or turns, but hung on my rear everything. Cool car.

    Like 6
  7. Avatar rick Member

    @Jake8687…..mamories….I got it. :-)

    Like 7
  8. Avatar nycbjr Member

    Yes please, if I didn’t live in Manhattan I’d be all over this!

    Like 1
  9. Avatar Vance

    Pontiac definitely had a possible winner on their hands when these came out, but if you were a a guy you could not buy one without losing your gonads. It was a decent car, but was so underpowered and small, you couldn’t be wimpy enough to buy one. It was a precursor to the Miata, and they were a fine vehicle. It was like buying a Fiat Bertone, you can give all the reasons for buying one, I just don’t buy it.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Motorcityman

      Actually a precursor of the Pontiac Solstice, a much better car although I like the looks of both, I never liked how the Fieros interior air vents stuck out a mile on both ends of the dash…..only goofy design on the car imop.

      Like 1
  10. Avatar rick Member

    Yeah, they were small and somewhat underpowered. But when you find that you don’t have to slow down for the turns, your appreciation for cheap, mid-engine, small, 2 seater, low to the ground, rear wheel drive cars… accelerates.
    X1/9’s, Fiero gt’s, 914’s, etc. Drive one at the limit and you’ll know what I mean. They were never made to drag race! Better to drive a slow car at the limit than drive a fast car slow.

    Like 11
    • Avatar Claudio

      Sadly, gm pulled the plug a bit too soon !
      A convertible and the new suspension design were going to save this but they chose to do all of it backwards
      I have always had a softsopt for these but never bought one cause i only drive convertibles

      Like 0
  11. Avatar Mike Phy

    Any issues with the transmission, clutch or ac? Any leaks? Where is it located?

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Vincent

    Much more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow.
    The fiero was the stiff 80’s pre pubescent teen males dreams made of.
    Seemingly attainable by price point standard Over a Ferrari testarossa or Lambo Countach

    A lot of these cars got hacked up to become crappy replicas of exotics.
    I like this one for its shape that evolved nicely and the near perfect paintwork.
    This needs to be driven and loved.

    Like 3
  13. Avatar Motorcityman

    If the miles r true I’d pay 15K for this.
    Never had a FIRE ARROW.
    Checks the boxes for me.

    Red
    Excellent condition.
    Low miles?
    Manual trans.
    88 model with Lotus best suspension.
    V6

    Like 2
  14. Avatar John A Corey Member

    The front of these GTs is wholly unappealing – more like a snow plow than a GT car. The Formula, also 1988, has all the same upgrades but looks like a real car.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Motorcityman

      I actually like the snow plow look……gives a little break to the door stopper look of the more base front end.

      Like 1
      • Avatar Dave Ward

        Late 80s my son had a RC truck with a F100 body, remember Big Foot? Also had this Fiero in RC form. Put the Fiero body on Big Foot painted Black with appropriate number 3’s and had Earnhardt’s Race Car

        Like 0
  15. Avatar Roland Schoenke

    The 88′ is the only one worth having, and I always wanted one. 2.8 was a very peppy engine

    Like 1
  16. Avatar Motorcityman

    HEY AGENT……
    What would u say is a safe amount of boost for a stock internal engine?
    Maybe 10lbs?

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Motorcityman

    Keep in mind people if u decide to bid, this is a 34 year old GM vehicle! It’s going to have computer/electronic stuff going out on it……can be REALLY expensive!

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Jim Z Member

    Resembles a Mazda RX-7…wish I still had mine!

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Fiero Guy

    Not all original….88s came with black or gold wheels, never white.
    Also, Fiero never had Lotus suspension.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Motorcityman

      U sure? I read before the last year Fieros had Lotus suspension?

      Like 1
      • Avatar Fiero Guy

        No, thats another myth thats been disproven many times over. We (the community) verified with engineers and designers thru docs and interviews that nothing from Lotus is on this car and nothing was made to copy any Lotus suspension. There were some other cars back then that did, and had the label on them to show.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Motorcityman

        FIERO GUY……So was the suspension improved on the 88s but not a Lotus or just the same as previous years?

        Like 0
      • Avatar Fiero Guy

        Yes, 88s had all new styled suspension and brake system, one year only improvements much better than previous years, which sets them apart, not to mention, last year made.

        Like 0
  20. Avatar Dave Ward

    Late 80s my son had a RC truck with a F100 body, remember Big Foot? Also had this Fiero in RC form. Put the Fiero body on Big Foot painted Black with appropriate number 3’s and had Earnhardt’s Race Car

    Like 0

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