Pontiac’s Fiero still lingers out in the land of limbo in terms of finding favors with collectors, but the good news is that means decent project cars can still be found cheaply. One with the preferred manual transmission is the way to go, such as this 1988 model found here on craigslist for just $3,500. It looks quite clean and is presented as a solid driver by the seller.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Miguel for the find. The Fiero came in a few different flavors, with the GT-spec and Formula package cars being the most desirable. This isn’t either of those, but it is a stock example of the classic Fiero recipe. The seller says this is a decent driver, with no major issues other than some cosmetic paint peeling.
Inside, you’ll find the preferred manual transmission. This isn’t the best color combination I’ve seen in a Fiero, and white with black would be far more attractive. The steering wheel cover also needs to be permanently removed, but other than that, there’s not much to fault in the cockpit other than some blown speakers.
The seller reports excellent fuel economy out of the midship-mounted four-cylinder, which was sort of the calling card of the lesser-powered models. All the looks of a sports car with the efficiency of a sub-compact is a drum the Fiero beat pretty hard, but it didn’t necessarily win it any more fans among consumers. Just enjoy it for what it is, and the Fiero starts to make more sense as a fun project car that can be bought cheaply and not need excessive maintenance going forward.
Back in the day this was the sleeper you wanted. You combine the “Iron Duke” with the Pontiac Motorsports catalog and you could build an over 3 liter 944 or firebird killer in sheeps clothing.
Here’s my Fiero with only 17k miles.
Had a buddy that stuffed a Northstar V8 in one of these in the early 90’s in our high school shop class, before LS series had been heard of. That thing was a screamer and would eat anything we came across on the street. Lots of fun til we scattered the torque converter all over the place. Then found a wrecked five speed in a junkyard and converted it. I wish I could recall how many Mustangs, Camaros, Supras, and even a few Corvettes that we utterly humiliated with that Fiero.
LS4 is the way to go now, as it’s already set up for transverse mounting, and mates up to non-Ecotec GM transaxles.
I am tempted to try putting a massaged LSJ or LNF Ecotec into a base-model ’88 Fiero… 300+ horsepower and probably lighter than the original Iron Duke.
Just fui that is an 84 not an 88. You can tell by the steering wheel, door pannels, and its still a notch back not the fast back like the 86-88. Correct me if im wrong but im almost positive because i drove the 85 daily for a few solid months.
Noah, here is the first 11 of the VIN.
1G2PE11R6JP
Notice the J in the tenth position, which indicates it is indeed a 1988 model.
Noah, you have to remember the notchback was made from ’84-’88. You’re right the fastback began in ’86 but they didn’t stop making the notch.
Im pretty sure thats an 84 judging by the notchback instead of the fast back like the 86-88 style and has the first gen door panels with the original steering wheel. My guess is that this is the 84 gt model.
Nope, only the GT was the fastback style, both the base model and the Formula had the notchback styling like this one. The only real visible difference between the base model and the Formula was the rear wing on the Formula. The Formula had the GT’s V6 engine, but the steering wheel was the same as the base model.
Scroll up to see what the GT looked like in ’88, there’s a very nice-looking pic of a burgandy one.
While it has been said this isn’t an ‘84, there was also no GT for the first year. The first GT models appeared in 1985 and were all notchbacks. ‘86 was when the fastbacks were introduced.
You could not get a black interior on a fiero. Tan or Gray. Tan would have looked better with the white paint.
God no! White and Tan is the most putrid color combo on the planet!
..but CJM is right about the no black interiors available on Fiero
There was only one good feature about Fieros :
The women that owned and drove them in the 1980s
A common upgrade back in the early 90’s was to replace the 2.8 V6 with a
Quad 4 dual ohc 4valve/cylinder 4banger as found in the Olds “442” Calais.
more horsepower, significantly lighter in the rear, much improved handling. Most Fiero gurus will tell you the 1988 was the one where GM FINALLY got the suspension and other things right – and then, just like with the gen2 Corvair, once it was right they killed the car.
Funny, isn’t it? Pontiac put out the Fiero, and Mazda comes out with the Miata, or is that the “me-too-ata”?
Like a Delorean, I wanted one of these too until I tried to sit in one. Game over!
Dave – Miata was a better, or less expensive and more reliable, Lotus Elan.Front engine, rear drive. Not even comparable by sports car guys. I’m over 6’3″ and fit in a Miata just fine…Perhaps you’re thinking of the Toyota MR2 as a similar mid-engine car ?
They were still using the big four in the Goody’s Dash series and some entry drag racing. You could build it to around 3.5 liters with a small 4bbl card and some rediculous cam specs. All that with the weight of the foot banger. I had a built iron duke four in a rwd Sunbird that got under 2 minutes at Mid Ohio. Now that was a fun sleeper.
Careful, it was the 4 banger that had the fire problems.
That was really only the ’84 model year, by ’88 they had cured all those problems.
By ’85 they had cured all those problems, and actually the number of Fieros that caught fire was less than 200, which puts it average for all cars made in ’84. In other words, there was no systemic fire problem that was any more of a problem than all other cars built on average. Made good media stories at the time though.