1985 Pontiac Fiero: quite possibly the sportiest economy car out there!

[Lug_Nut]

Doomed US 2 seaters:
Ford Thunderbird
rehashed Ford Thunderbird
Pontiac Fiero
Cadillac Allante
Chrysler T/C
Buick Reatta
Plymouth Prowler
AMC AMX

Successful US 2 seaters:
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Viper

The score is 7 to 2 against.
Apparently we want performance to back up the 'sporty' looks. A Chevy Citation turned around backward didn't do it for us. We don't want luxury and lack-luster performance, we don't want nostalgia if it's powered by a V6 from a Dodge intrepid, we don't want short wheelbase drag racing funny cars for daily drives.
We apparently just don't want domestic 2 seater cars.

Anyone care to look up the number of Miata sold in the US and compare that to the sales numbers of the domestic 2 seat cars listed above?

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

Successful US 2 seaters:
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Viper

Geo Metro convertible

Apparently we want performance to back up the 'sporty' looks.

Fuel efficiency is "performance" too, so I guess that statement stands.

[jharbert]

Take heart - the Pontiac Solstice is now outselling the Miata: http://news.windingroad.com/auto-new...ng-sports-car/

[BumblingB]

NICE STORY Peakster, I love to hear stories about cars people have had.

Original 2 seater bird wasn't all that doomed, they just figured out they could sell WAY more if it seated more than 2 - they were right on. Of course, I wasn't there for that since I'm too young.

New T-Bird: Ford claims they never planned to make it more than a couple years and had planned it to be a "limited production vehicle" I'd remove those 2 from the doomed list and add 1. How about the Nash Metropoliton if you're going way back in time? Then again it had a bench seat so technically you could fit 3 in there. Also there is the new Saturn; Solstice brother....and the Cadillac XLR - for the most part those are limited production since most, not all people don't want 2 seaters.

A co-worker of mine has a 6cyl GT Fiero - cool car when it's running. Actually it runs great but has tranny problems. Still it's in excellent shape. Hmmm, how about a Pace Car Fiero.........

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

Doomed US 2 seaters:
Ford Thunderbird
rehashed Ford Thunderbird
Pontiac Fiero

[Golf3r]

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

Doomed US 2 seaters:
Ford Thunderbird
rehashed Ford Thunderbird
Pontiac Fiero
Cadillac Allante
Chrysler T/C
Buick Reatta
Plymouth Prowler
AMC AMX

Did anyone here like the Plymouth Prowler? Ive always thought that car was sweet looking and if i had the money I would have bought one, plus i still want one now . Just thought id say that.

[Peakster]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Prowler. Really popular in the late 90s, but they were super expensive. I wasn't a fan of them becaue it looked too hot-rod-ish & for some odd reason I never did like hot rods.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by Golf3r

Did anyone here like the Plymouth Prowler?

I thought they were cool. I like the matching trailer.

[SVOboy]

My ex girlfriend's dad had one, wasteful piece of crap in my opinion. Plus it was always in the shop for something.

[MorningGaser]

I had a new 1986 Pontiac Fiero, and it was the worse car I have ever owned. It was the V6 model, and it guzzled gas worse then my cousin's F-150, and it cornered not much better then a Chevette, and way worse then anything in that sporty class back then. It had massive problems, in and out of the shop all the time. It's FI was very unrefined, and notchy. It had really bad Under-Steer during power drives, and the front end rattled really bad, as though parts of the front suspension were lose or something. Steering was losey-goosey, and never tracked straight without very vegelent corrections by the driver. It over heated all the time. It was fun to drive, but if one looks at ConsumerReports in the day, it scored really, really bad. These cars were notoriously horrible for reliability, and this had NOTHING to do with the engine being in the rear, nor because reaching engine parts is difficult...it was just a plain bad car, made during a time that GM made really bad cars....I got rid of this heap and replaced it with a 1988 Acura Ledgend, now that was a great car....250,000 miles later still no problems.

[ma4t]

For a while, I wanted to get a Ferrari kit. I hear the Fiero is the best platform.



Others have made impressive replicars, like this one:
http://www.replicacountach.com/