If you were to picture the perfect factory Fiero what might that look like? An ’88 with the uprated suspension? V6 power and a five-speed stick? Maybe the T-tops to let the sun shine in? Well, you just described today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe car. Now let’s see if it’s also perfectly priced.
Incredulity mixed with outrage was the response to yesterday’s 1987 VW Westfalia Syncro and its highfaluting price tag. Yes, it was super pricy but then ALL Westy Syncros are, and this one was particularly nice in its execution and presentation. Still, it wasn’t nice enough to make that Westy your bestie and it fell in an equally monumental 89% Crack Pipe loss. Here’s a prediction from the Graverobber Crystal Ball (the left one): it eventually will sell for about ten-grand less than that asking, just a hunch.
Speaking of prophetic visions, do you think anybody in the late ‘70s could have predicted that Pontiac would release a mid-engine car in the very next decade? I mean Chevy had threatened to build a mid-motor Corvette for some time but that all proved to be just talk and bow ties. No, it would be Pontiac, who after decades of also-ran status in the sports car game (see Banshee), would finally have a car with a motor that really gets behind you.
The result of course was the Fiero and due to the machinations of corporate infighting and some scaredy cat whining, its original iteration was intended to be somewhat lackluster so as to not take sales away from the corporate flag waver, the ‘Vette. That meant a suspension that was a mix of ancient Opel and X-body, and an engine famously dubbed the “Iron Puke” by owners who lost fillings due to its shaky performance.
Over the course of its five year production run the Fiero improved, and by the time this 1988 GT was built much of what was wrong with the car had been exorcised. Of course this being GM, getting it right meant it was time to cancel the car. Thanks General!
At least we have Paris… er, this low mileage (31K) Fiero to fill the long lonely nights. This is a GT and it’s optioned in Mama Bear fashion, rocking both the 140-bhp 2.8-litre OHV V6 and the Munice/Getrag five speed. Not only that but in ’88 Pontiac got the Fiero’s suspension right, massaging the front for better articulation and replacing the Citation rear end with a triangulated setup that Pontiac’s engineers had wanted from the start.
Add to all that the fact that this Fiero looks like it just rolled off the assembly line and you’ve got yourself a pretty intriguing time machine. Much like the contemporary Toyota MR2, the ’88 Fiero could be had with an optional T-roof, and this car has that too, right down to the original snoods in which to store the tops in the trunk.
Now, the ad for this car is mostly a Wikipedia article about the model, but it does offer up some important intel on the car itself. It’s a one-owner car that’s been garaged all its non-active duty life and is all-original with the exception of new tires, battery, and likely an oil change here and there.
I’m not quite sure where the seller got his description for the interior as he claims the seats to be ‘tan leather’ when they are quite plainly grey cloth in the pictures. Also, the Fiero and C4 Corvette do not share the same seats.
Despite those inconsistencies the car seems obviously desirable, and an excellent example of the breed. There aren’t too many out there any more, and there were only 6,848 GTs built in the car’s final year so this is a rare duck in words and indeed.
There’s no ducking then that it might command a sizable chunk of change to buy. The asking price on this clean as a bean machine is $17,000, which is pricy for a ‘80s Pontiac, but not all that much cheddar in the grand scheme of things today.
What’s your take on this GT for that kind of cash? Do you think this Fiero could command seventeen grand? Or, is that too much to get it right?
You decide!
Eau Claire WI Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Adam M for the hookup!
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