Pontiac · 1983–1988

Pontiac Fiero

The Pontiac Fiero is a rear mid-engine, light economy car manufactured and marketed by Pontiac for model years 1984 – 1988. Originally designed as a small sports car, it was subsequently revised for production into an economical commuter car with modest performance aspirations. The Fiero was Pontiac's first two-seater since their 1926 to 1938 coupes, and the first mass-produced, rear mid-engine car by any American manufacturer. In addition to using 4- and 6-cylinder engines to help Pontiac meet America's 'CAFE' average fuel economy requirements, the Fiero's chassis and structure technology used non-load-bearing, composite body-panels, contributing to the car's light-weight and its unique selling proposition. Its mild performance, reliability and safety issues were common points of criticism. Pontiac engineers subsequently modified the design over its life to resolve reliability and safety issues and to enhance performance in an attempt to reposition the two-seater closer to the implications of its sporty configuration. The Fiero 2M4 (two-seat, mid-engine, four-cylinder) placed on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1984, and was the Official Pace Car of the Indianapolis 500 for 1984. A total of 370,168 Fieros were manufactured over five years' production. The Fiero was discontinued after 1988 after annual sales fell steadily.

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History and design

The Fiero was conceived as a small, two-seat sports car with all new suspension and a V6 engine. While General Motors's management were opposed to a two-seater sports car that might compete with the Chevrolet Corvette, young Pontiac engineers in 1978 were able to sell the Fiero concept to the corporation as a fuel-efficient four-cylinder "commuter car" that just happened to have two seats, as compared to the more common muscle cars of the era. When the engineers built a running prototype in less than six months, it was given the green light for production. GM management perceived the oil crisis as a market opportunity for a fuel-efficient sporty commuter car. The Fiero was redesigned to use a fuel efficient version of GM's 2.5 L (151 cu in) existing four-cylinder Iron Duke engine capable of 31 mpg‑US (7.6 L/100 km; 37 mpg‑imp) in the city and 50 mpg‑US (4.7 L/100 km; 60 mpg‑imp) on the highway with the economy-ratio transmission option. The fuel economy was considered impressive for a 2.5 L engine of the period, though the three-speed automatic reduced highway mileage to only 32 mpg‑US (7.4 L/100 km; 38 mpg‑imp). With respect to fuel economy, the Fiero appealed to a market niche distinct from the Corvette's. Pontiac assigned oversight of the Fiero project to Hulki Aldikacti, a Turkish born executive with over twenty years of experience. Its design was unusual for GM, and stood out from their other products. The two-seater's development budget from design to plant retooling, was 400 million dollars, a fraction of a typical GM development budget. Aldikacti's initial challenge was navigating GM's corporate structure, which split its engineers into two categories: the car engineers who would create blueprints for the car, and manufacturing engineers who would work out the f

Production years

=== 1984 === The Fiero began production in August 1983. In an effort to sell the car as economically sensible, GM equipped and sold the Fiero as a commuter car; although the marketing build-up leading to initial release indicated anything but a regular commuter. The car also proved uncomfortable for some drivers because of the lack of power steering. At the beginning of production, the Fiero was only available in Red (M71) and White (M40) colors with Black (M41) and Light Gray Metallic (M14) introduced later, the paint shop was only able to handle four different colors at a time. All 1984 models came with the same 2.5 L I4. Although sales literature listed only two models available in 1984, there were at least three models available with different optional packages. There was the Fiero Coupe, the Sport Coupe and the SE. The Fiero Coupe, also called "Fuel Economy Leader", came with the MY-8 4-speed manual transaxle that had a 0.73 overdrive top gear along with a high mpg 3.32:1 axle ratio. This gave it an EPA highway/city rating of 50/31 mpg. Air conditioning and automatic transaxle could not be ordered. The starting price for the Fiero Coupe was $7,999. The Fiero Sport Coupe, also referred to as the "base car", came with the M-19 four-speed manual with a 0.81 top gear along with 4.10:1 differential, giving it better acceleration at the cost of fuel economy, 42/26 mpg. An automatic 3-speed transmission, MD-9 Hydramatic 125-C, was available along with A/C which was shared with the Pontiac Sunbird. The starting price was $8,499 ($26,338 in 2025 dollars ) for the Sport Coupe. The top model was the Fiero SE, starting at $9,599 ($29,747 in 2025 dollars ), it included the WS6 handling package along with other trim upgrades. The marketing included title sponsorship of Daryl Ha

Technical features

=== Engines === The Fiero was available with the 2.5 L (151 cu in) LR8 I4, and 2.8 L (173 cu in) L44 V6. SD4. The SD4 (Super Duty 4-cylinder) was the last in a line of high-performance Pontiac engines. A 2.7 L (165 cu in) 232 hp (173 kW) SD4 engine powered the 1984 Indy Fiero Pace Car to over 138 mph (222 km/h) during the race. The SD4 was never available in a production vehicle, however Pontiac's Performance Parts counter had all the SD4 parts available and one could garner a 2.7 L (165 cu in) 272 hp (203 kW) version and a 3.2 L (195 cu in) 330 hp (246 kW) version. All 2000 Indy Fiero replicas came with the 2.5 L (153 cu in) 92 hp (69 kW) Iron Duke engine. Transmissions. ==== Automatic ==== All automatic-equipped Fieros were equipped with the three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 125 with torque converter lockup (RPO MD9). Automatic transmission final drive ratios: I4 1984–1986: 3.18 (RPO "F75") 1987–1988: 2.84 (RPO "F17") V6 1985–1986: 3.18 (RPO "F75") 1986 SE: 3.06 (RPO "FW2") 1986 GT, 1987–1988: 3.33 (RPO "GX3") THM-125 gear ratios 1st gear: 2.84 2nd gear: 1.60 3rd gear: 1.00 Reverse: 2.07 Manual. All four-speed manual transmissions were built at the Muncie, Indiana, Allison plant. The 1984 production line saw two transmissions, a performance four-speed with a final drive ratio of 4.10, and an economy four-speed with a final drive ratio of 3.32. The V6 on the 1985 model and part of the 1986 production year came with a four-speed with a final drive ratio of 3.65. The lower-geared 4.10 four-speed transmission showed improved acceleration, but sacrificed fuel economy. Isuzu and Muncie (Getrag) five-speed transmissions were available, depending on model and equipment beginning in 1985 for the Isuzu five-speed which came on four-cylinder cars and in 1986 for the Muncie five-spe

Problems and issues

Safety issues escalated rapidly by the summer of 1987, when the fire count for 1984 models reached a rate of 20 fires per month. Fieros were catching fire at the rate of one for every 508 cars sold, surpassing all other mass-market automobile cars. Pontiac engineers knew about the problems early on: one wrote an urgent memo dated October 6, 1983, to report that two Fieros had suddenly caught fire during test drives. This was only 3 months after the production of the Fiero began. It was first thought to be caused by antifreeze leaking out of poorly installed hoses, when in reality it was defective connecting rods. After one meeting with the Saginaw foundry manager, he wrote that "60 percent to 90 percent of the rods produced do not exhibit defects." This means at least every 1 out of 10 rods produced were defective and possibly 4 out of 10 were also defective. The Associated Press quoted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as saying it had "received 148 complaints regarding Pontiac Fieros catching fire including reports of six injuries. Low levels of engine oil may cause a connecting rod to break, allowing oil to escape and come into contact with engine parts. The oil would catch fire when it contacted the exhaust manifold or hot exhaust components." David Hudgens, a GM spokesman in Detroit said "if you ran out of oil, and then that coupled with some aggressive driving, perhaps, and maybe not changing the oil very often, you end up with a broken rod, and that's where the connecting rod came in; it is still the owner's responsibility to check the oil." The Pontiac division said in a 1988 press release that "GM tests have shown that running these 1984 cars with low engine oil level can cause connecting rod failure which may lead to an engine compartment fire

In popular culture

The Fiero is a popular base car for replicas of supercars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis, as well as for various other kit cars, due to being one of the least expensive mid-engine cars available on the market. Legacy. When the Fiero's 1984 model was introduced, it played a major role in building the "excitement" image that the Pontiac Division Motor Company wanted to establish in its car buyers. This car pioneered new concepts such as the participation of autoworkers in production methods as well as new materials provide a showcase as the first production car in the world to use a space/frame chassis with a separate body shell composed of SMC Sheet Molded Composite. According to Design News, Pontiac engineers pointed out that the Fiero experience helped the company to develop the sporty look of the Grand Am and Sunbird, as well as "road car" features in the once-traditional Bonneville and Grand Prix. Such Fiero advances as the composite skin lived on in new GM products like the Saturn. Scale models. Several diecast model manufacturers have replicated the Fiero in various scales. Hot Wheels released a 1984 Fiero 2M4 under many paint schemes. Matchbox and Majorette also released Fiero models during the car's heyday. Monogram has released, and re-released, a 1985 Fiero GT model (the re-release is currently available). In recent years, a large 1:18 die-cast model of a 1985 GT was available in red and silver colors. In 2007 the Motor Max toy company began making small die-cast Fiero GT toys under the "American Graffiti" and "Fresh Cherries" lines. Select Wal-Mart locations sold a special "Since '68" Fiero made by Hot Wheels, which uses the original 1984 mold with a new paint job. The Kenner toy line M.A.S.K. had a black Fiero GT that converted into a glider craft and thre

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Pontiac Fiero
Manufacturer: Pontiac (General Motors)
Production: August 1983 – August 16, 1988, 370,168 produced
Model years: 1984 – 1988
Successor: Pontiac Solstice
Assembly: United States: Pontiac, Michigan (Pontiac Assembly)
Designer: Hulki Aldikacti, George Milidrag
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door fastback coupé, 2-door notchback coupé
Platform: P-body
Layout: Transverse mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine: 151 CID LR8 I4, 173 CID L44 V6
Transmission: 3-speed THM-125 automatic, 4-speed Muncie manual, 5-speed Getrag 282 manual, 5-speed Isuzu manual
Wheelbase: 2373 mm
Length: 1984–1986: 4072 mm, 1987–1988: 4144 mm, 1987–1988 GT: 4193 mm
Width: 1984–1986: 1750 mm, 1987–1988: 1753 mm
Height: 1191 mm
Kerb weight: 1116 to

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q348019CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_FieroCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1371679564 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fiero88.JPGPublic domain · Photo: Jonrev at English Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.