Fieradillac: 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT V8
In 1988 Pontiac released the final version of their ferocious mid-engined “sports” car with a suspension not designed by Lotus (a myth frequently espoused, and thoroughly debunked). It continued the same excitement produced by previous iterations of the plastic body on frame Fieros…but as my momma always said: If you don’t have anything nice to say, start writing your own automotive blog. Find this 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT V8 here on eBay
offered for $8,500 in Huntington Station, NY with 4 days to go.
Oddly enough, this Fiero has quite a few positive points going for it — first it is being sold by its original owner (technically his son-in-law is selling it) and it looks good cosmetically. The seller claims in the Q/A section that he is a body shop owner, and if the paint looks good in person, this could represent a large chunk of the “other guy’s money.”
Under the hood is a Cadillac Northstar V8 mated to a 4T80E automatic transmission borrowed from a front-drive Cadillac. Power ratings of the transverse Northstar V8, available in everything from the Eldorado to the Allante, vary from 270 to 300 horsepower depending on year and model.
The Fiero driving experience is interesting with a torquey engine swap and an automatic. You sit low in the car, a few inches off the pavement. For a sporty mid-engined car, they cruise surprisingly well. Kind of feels like a widened MR2 on Xanax, but not in a bad way.
See another V8 powered Fiero for cheap? tips@dailyturismo.com
I could see this being a really decent car, something GM should have made in the first place. They had such high hopes for the Fiero, but they never really gave it the development it deserved. It sold well enough that they probably weren't bothered by it, though. They've been dancing around the idea of a mid-engined Vette for decades, and that never came to fruition, either.
Other automotive what ifs to ponder:
What if there was an MR2 with more than 7 horsepower (even the supercharged ones are sloooooooooow)?
What if "unintended acceleration" wasn't a thing the first time? It wasn't, people just shouldn't be trusted to operate a car correctly.
What if Lancia survived the 80's in the U.S.? Or most of europe? Or they didn't just sell rebadged Chryslers now?
What if GM didn't kill Saab?
I love these ponderances—I'll add to them:
-What if the Cadillac Allante had the Northstar engine and a power top all along, and could have been sold for $40k?
-What if Lexus and Infiniti never came to be—-would all German sedans still have 6 cylinders?
-What if Volkswagens had Toyota reliability—would they have ruled the world for the last 20 years?
-What if the Jeep Cherokee and Ford Explorer were never invented—would anyone care about SUV's?
-What if Buicks didn't sell well in China—would Pontiac or Oldsmobile been saved and Buick killed?
Sold via "Best Offer". I would say that was a deal.
If Wall Street can create the VIX index then we should create the "Other guys money index". Maybe a ratio of money & labor invested versus sell price. I can see Vince on CNBC now!
Sad that the original owner had to sell it due to health reasons.
Sucks getting old, I need to get that Miata base-lined soon.
Rene — DT on CNBC is a great idea, I'd be frothing at the mouth and beating things with baseball bats like that Kramer guy, but saying stuff like "100 large for a short hood 911…do I look like an idiot? I could crash a Volkswagen beetle every day for a year and STILL come out ahead" crash. smash. scream
-Vince