If you read the ad for this rough 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT, you’ll sense some frustration on the part of the seller. It seems he wants this car gone, and he’s threatening to actually invest money in it and then charge $25,000 in a Hemmings-grade listing. I mean, really, that’d be great for the next owner to have all of that fiddly restoration work done that they’ll have to do anyway to bring this one back to life. It’s too bad, because apparently the mileage is quite low despite looking like it’s been through the ringer. The paint isn’t original and the seller speculates it’s a former show car; hence, the low mileage. You be the judge and check it out here on craigslist in Ft. Myers, Florida, with an ask of $3,750.
That cheesy “black cherry” paint job is definitely the type of color you’d see on the show circuit, and it doesn’t look too polished today. The seller believes the car was originally black, but a photo showing the underside of a body panel looks like it could be mistaken for blue. Who knows – bottom line, it’s been repainted and not in the original colors. If the low mileage can be confirmed, it’s quite possible this Fiero was used as a demonstrator for a performance shop, or a custom stereo specialist, back in the day. These cars certainly have the vibe of being both an eye-catching cheap performance car and a possible marketing asset for a period tuner shop looking to build a name for itself.
Of course, this is all speculation. Rampant speculation, in fact, when you consider the state of the interior. This is very much not a show car, both in terms of it appearing to be completely stock (not a bad thing) and quite tattered (definitely a bad thing.) In fact, this is where the low mileage claim fuels the most doubt because this just looks like the inside of a tired old car with over 100,000 miles on the clock. Usually, if a vehicle has survived with under 30,000 miles, items like the original steering wheel at least look fairly mint; not the case here, as it looks to bear the scars of many years of hard use and sweaty hands. I suppose being a Florida car the sun could have had a hand in the break-down of the materials, as the seller admits it’s been left outside in his parking lot for many years.
Now, the engine bay looks quite fresh, but it’s possible the valve cover was repainted at some point in the recent past. The more tell-tale signs are the black plastic and rubber hoses that all look quite fresh, and those are the items people rarely swap out for the purpose of presenting better in photos. If that’s original paint down the bottom center of the photo, then the respray wasn’t exactly an expensive one, which only raises more questions as to why go through with defiling a low-mileage specimen if you weren’t going to do a superior job on the altered cosmetics. Lots of questions here, unfortunately, but the seller does seem to have it priced fairly – but an interior detailing would go a long way to providing some assurances that the mileage claims are indeed accurate. What do you think the story is?
Jeff, did you mean the intake manifold???
This is my favorite of all the Fiero’s, but that steering wheel is an indicator, an indicator of nothing good. At least it’s cheap. You could have a lot of fun with it…
The one time one of those cheesy looking aftermarket steering wheel covers would actually be an improvement.
Ronnie Finger’s next project?
Ahh ya beat me to it
Show car? Maybe a horror show.
It was the “before” showcar for various car care products.
I’ve owned quite a few Fiero’s. In the day, I may have been considered a fanatic. The most striking thing to me about this particular specimen is the headlights. Although the headlight motors are common failures from 84-86, by 88 they were fairly reliable. It’s unlikely they would BOTH fail in 29K miles. Along with all of the other issues, not sure I buy the low mileage claim. That 3-speed automatic is a dog, and the interior is a gut job. Price seems reasonable, all things considered.
Terrible job on the odometer roll back. The way the numbers don’t line up screams roll back
Don’t even need to roll it back. These gauge clusters are super simple to swap out – takes about a half hour. Get yourself a low numbers gauge panel and make your 200k + beater into a 30K “low milege” beater.
Hmmm,
Trust – But VERIFY!!!!!!
Looks like it may have been a submarine and some time in it’s life.
hahahahahhaahaa!!!
To repeat: The price is right.
Well we missed our last chance to buy it cheap. “He knows what he has”..
I’ve owned a few of these, too. Got rid of them when it came time to change the spark plugs.
The best thing this one has going for it, IMO, is the gold rims. They are not that common.
I’m pretty sure all ’88 GT’s came with gold rims. Formulas had black centers. ’86-’87 were silver, different offset.
Also just looked at Craigslist pics and noticed rear quarter windows are aftermarket replacements (no “GT” emblem) and tail lights are delaminating.
Wasn’t this the year that GM finally got these things right?
I’ve seen this car in person and it is not worth 1/3rd of the amount he is asking for it. The car was repainted according to the codes, it is sun bleached from sitting outside for the past ?? years, it has flat tires, weeds growing around it from not having been moved and it doesn’t run. I might consider it for a parts car, however not at that asking price as I have purchased other 88’s for less in much better condition. Sorry no sale here..
Bring in the mullets and crank up the Motley Crew!! Yikes the 80s were tragic!
I had an 86 GT. These are fast cars and you can by mint low mileage ones for $14k. Get in and have fun instead of busting knuckles restoring one.
Watch out for the ignition problems. Something happen to my ignition module and the exhausts lit up like a cherry! Keep the emergency brakes in good working order or you won’t have rear brakes either.
i machined thousands of replacement exhaust manifolds in the late 80s.
the reason for this is they warped from to much heat.