(Hat tip to Daren!)

The hybrid Fiero is being built to compete in the Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge, which means it has to cost no more than that sum of the year and will compete in an autocross, a drag race, and up-close judging. That's right, when this monster is done, it'll get raced. So what's in it? First and foremost, the original GM four banger is staying in place, powering the rear wheels as it has since 1988. But the front wheels are getting a comprehensive rework. Instead of the boring, un-powered design it was originally given, the builder has decided to plop in a 114 HP electric motor pulled from a scrapped electric Chevy S10 between the wheels. This is essentially the same unit which powered the EV1. It'll get power from a couple of battery packs from junked Prii hacked together for more power.

The suspension is basically stock, modified to accept the added hardware, though the upper control arm had to be moved up for clearance reasons. The axles came out of a Saturn S-series, the struts came of a Honda Accord, and the rest of the car is essentially a mutt. Amazingly, this beast is already back on the ground and after some finagling, the electric motor works and turns the wheels. Very cool and incredibly impressive. If this thing doesn't win the Garret Jenkins Memorial Best Engineered or at least get the crowd favorite vote we'll be shocked. Pun intended. [Grassroots Motorsports]

To make us all feel better again, here's a beautiful unicorn airbrushed onto the hood of a Pontiac Fiero. There. All better now? [via 4Chan]

In his last article published by The Atlantic—How to Get a Nuclear Bomb, which later became the first chapter of the book The Atomic Bazaar—William Langewiesche recalls a conversation with an operator in Russia’s nuclear bureaucracy. Their discussion is about the ease with which nuclear weapons can be acquired by any state willing to build them:

“Once a country has made the decision to become a nuclear-weapons power, it will become one regardless of any guarantees. You needn’t be rich. You needn’t be technically developed. You can be Pakistan, Libya, North Korea, Iran. You can be …” He searched for a country even more absurd in his estimation. He said, “You can be Hungary.”

Stinging though it may be for my fellow Hungarians, the Russian’s quick analysis is certainly spot on. While starving North Korea has detonated a Hiroshima-size nuke this Monday, the last glory days of Hungarian military might were way back in the 15th century, when the Black Army of King Matthias Corvinus romped about Central Europe under one hell of a military flag, wreaking havoc every which way. It’s been all downhill from there.

So it is certainly an occasion when a Lamborghini Countach is spotted on the streets of this sad, lonely outpost on the very edge of Western civilization. But then you have to remember that in outposts, appearances can deceive. Which entails that when you start counting a Countach’s cylinders, you come to a sudden halt after six:

And realize that it’s probably not a Countach after all, but a Pontiac Fiero with a body kit.

The only solace for a rueful Hungarian nationalist would be the fact that we would have neither nukes nor the car that put America on wheels without Hungarians (1, 2, 3, 4).

Photo Credit: Balazs Keki

10) 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT

A Pontiac which never got much love till the end of its life was the Fiero. Burdened by the sluggish 2.5-liter "Iron Duke" four-cylinder and suspension bits from the lowly Citation, the Fiero started off with lead weights around its neck. By 1988 though, GM had seen the light and given it a proper suspension, eye-catching styling and improvements to both the four-cylinder and V6. It also gave the car the axe once it reached desirability. Seems there are parallels between the Fiero and the Pontiac brand.

9) 1956 Pontiac Star Chief

Pontiacs of old could be reliably counted on as the stylish, more sporting brother to their more staid Chevrolet counterparts. The '56 Pontiac Star Chief lineup can be considered the pinnacle of the Chieftain line, with a selection of sedans, convertibles and wagons all bringing the heat with beautiful body work and powerful V8 engines.

8) 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6

The 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 was the final F-Body muscle car to come out of Pontiac, with a 325 HP LS1 V8, six speed manual and the last iteration of that famous "Ram Air" hood, it was a performance bargain at $28,000. The final year got the special yellow and black livery and if you've got one, it just went up in value.

7) 1978 Pontiac Trans Am

If you were a boy growing up in the 70s or early 80s, the '78 Pontiac Trans Am in the black and gold "Bandit" livery, complete with the flaming chicken vinyl on the hood, sat right next to the Lamborghini Countach in your fantasy garage. For '78, the compression was bumped in the top-line V8 and this end-of-malaise era automobile made a stout (for the time) 220 HP. Burt Reynolds, along with that repressed little redneck inside all of us, will miss the '78 Trans Am.

6) 1969 Pontiac GTO "Judge"

The second generation GTO picked up right were the first generation left off, adopting a more modern fastback styling language and hugely powerful 400 cubic inch V8's rated all the way up to 370 HP. The Judge package was kinda hokey but also pretty cool, with wild color options, matching decals, spoilers, a Ram Air hood and a T-handle Hurst shifter. Bring on the Judge.

5) Pontiac Bonneville

The Bonneville was Pontiac's longest surviving nameplate, running from 1957 to 2005 when it mercifully got the axe. As lackadaisical as the car had been for the last 20 or so years, there were some gems throughout its history. The 1999 SSEi had woeful build quality, but when it held together the FWD 240 HP supercharged V6 was a hoot (as was battling torque steer). The monstrous '71 Bonnie wore a 455 cubic inch V8 and four barrel carb good for 325 HP and the '59 model wore outrageous quadruple fins.

4) 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe

The 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe solves the main problems we have with the Solstice/Saturn Sky twins with actual cargo space and no more pain-in-the-butt convertible top to operate, while keeping the 260 HP Ecotec inline-four and a six speed manual driving the rear wheels. It's a targa-topped Miata competitor and faithfully re-interprets the awkward little British coupes we love and loathe. Buy one now as the take rate is so slow you could park it in the garage and sell it for a profit.

3) 2010 Pontiac G8 ST

They say to have loved and lost is better than to have never loved at all. We call baloney on whoever says that. GM tantalized us with the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST ahead of the 2008 New York Auto Show and our dreams of a modern, tire-smoking, truck-car, mullet-machine were so close to reality. A year later GM squashed the G8 ST under the force of the Carpocalypse, and now Pontiac follows it to the grave.

2) 1964 Pontiac GTO

The 1964 Pontiac GTO was little more than a hot-rodded LeMans, but the 325 HP, 389 cubic inch V8 with a Carter four-barrel carb, dual exhaust and a three-speed Hurst manual transmission ignited the original muscle car wars. It lit a fire in Pontiac showrooms, selling three times the projected annual sales and it will always have a special place in every car guy's heart.

1) 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP

Finally America had gotten it right — by importing a car from Australia. The 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP had everything — raucous styling, a 415 HP 6.3-liter V8, six speed transmission and rear wheel drive. Our own Wes Siler posited GM should be saved for no other reason than to put the G8 GXP on the road. If you've managed to get your hot little hands on one, hold onto it, like an artists painting, it'll be worth much more once Pontiac is dead.

HONORABLE MENTION: Pontiac Aztek

We will miss the Aztek for two main reasons: First it was a breath of fresh air in a then-burgeoning SUV market, with incredible functionality and great features, the Aztek pointed out how underfeatured many of the more expensive entries were. Of course, that breath of fresh air was tainted by its fart of styling. Not since the Edsel was a vehicle so universally panned for the stylistic abomination it was. So the second reason we'll miss it is because it was so easy to make fun of. In many ways, that's what the Pontiac brand's been all about. We'll miss it.

UPDATE: NPR Questions Jalopnik 's Inclusion Of Pontiac Fiero In Top Ten List

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

By all accounts, the Fiero was quite fast (vindicating the legions of Fiero zealots who fill their forums with lists of reasons for the Fiero being the ultimate 24 Hours of LeMons car), but then disaster struck. They got rear-ended in most crushing fashion by a team that will remain nameless (because I couldn't get that info) and the brake lines took some sort of impossible-to-repair-quickly damage. Let's hope they come to Houston next month for another try!

Unique is an understatement here. This is why we love the return of traditional hot rods to the scene: you never know what you're going to get. And hey, who said hot rods aren't practical. We bet that thing has a huge trunk up front. [Hemmings]

According to the seller, this car was featured in the obviously well known motion picture "13 million," a movie we all remember fondly (never mind that even IMDB has never heard of it). We just can't get over how spectacular this thing is put together. Is it possible for a car to be so bad it crosses the line into greatness? The answer is yes. (Thanks Henry) [eBay listing]

We're going to pull our punches here and choose a V8 that's not only fairly small for a DOHC unit but already set up for a front-wheel-drive application. That means the engine and associated transaxles are already lined up in correct orientation in the recipient cars' chassis. So whip out $1,600 and drop a Buy It Now bomb on this 300-horse late-90s Northstar engine, then head to the junkyard for some transaxle shopping fun.

You won't be the first lunatic ambitious project builder to take on the Northstar Fiero project. Far from it- why, it's been done many times! Here's a guy who makes the whole process look pretty straightforward. You can keep repeating to yourself the mantra "GM engine... GM car... easy swap..." as you head on down to pick up this very reasonably priced '84 Fiero (go here if the ad disappears). Only 400 bucks asking price! You can go ahead and make plans to have your new 300-horsepower Fiero terrorizing your town on the very same weekend, that's how easy it's sure to be... well, actually, you might need to spend some time fixing brakes and stuff, since the car has been sitting for "5 or 6" years (probable translation: 10 or 12 years). So let's say two weekends, tops!

Isn't it cheating to swap in an engine made by the same corporation that made the car? The Northstar might even bolt up to a GM transmission that fits perfectly in the Fiero, and where's the fun there? Not only that, the Fiero came with a V6 from the factory, which means there's room for a somewhat wide engine. That's why you need to spring for an extra hundred bucks and buy this '86 Toyota MR2 (go here if the ad disappears). Dad says it's gotta go, and when Orange County dads say it's gotta go, they mean it! All we know about the car is that it "NEEDS WORK," because the owner, Steve, needs to repeat his phone number four times and runs out of motivation for describing the car itself; hey, it works on radio ads, so why shouldn't it be even more effective in print? You might think that shoehorning a Northstar into an MR2 would be damn near impossible, what with the fact that the little Toyota came with only an inline-four engine and all, but it's been done! With 300 horsepower (or more, since you might as well add supercharging to this already-hopeless challenging project), your MR2 should have the kind of power-to-weight ratio seen only on racetracks (and in car-crash stories that make the national news).

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

With Half Price Day coming up at the junkyard, we had to select our wing carefully; after all, $9.00 is quite an investment. We considered going for an MR2 wing, but some quick measuring led to the discovery that the wing off the Pontiac Fiero GT was just the right width for our car.


Into the Civic with the other half-priced loot! The Fiero GT wing is especially nice because it mounts on any flat surface via four easily-drilled holes.


Because we wanted to try to get some test time at a track with a "No Brake Light, No Service" policy prior to the actual race, we picked up some Chrysler minivan brake lights to mount on the underside of the wing.


Look at that safety!


By our calculations, our Fiero wing adds 50 horsepower and infinite coolness.

"Have you always wanted a Ferrari Enzo, but just didn't want to put up the top dollar or found yourself not on the list to buy one? Well friends, who needs the Italian stallion when you can buy yourself a re-bodied 1986 Pontiac Fiero with the same level of reliability as a real Ferrari. Best of all, no one will ever know the difference. At least anyone with absolutely no knowledge of cars. And if they're blind. And if they lack both the sense of touch and hearing. Basically, if you're trying to impress a corpse on the cheap, the Fierenzo is the way to go..."

And lucky for you — you can snag this beautiful work of art for a pittance at only $7500 or best offer. That's right, for less than the price for one Brembo on an actual Enzo Ferrari, you can get a V6-automatic beauty dressed in "Corvette Red" that drives "like a go-cart" But please, "SERIOPUS INQUIRES ONLY."

In addition to the forged Ferraris they report on, we spy with our little eyes a fake Lamborghini Diablo in the mix as well. Suppose they just missed that one, or is the Ferrari angle just sexier? Somehow all of this reminds us that Car und Driver's Mike Austin still has a Fiero left over from LeMons in his garage. Or maybe it belongs to Phil Floraday of Winding Road - can't quite keep that straight. We're thinking those guys have to be involved in this somehow.