My '84 Fiero (Bought It New, Had It Ever Since)

Its on-again, off-again development took 6 years before it finally saw the light of day. Like almost every inexpensive sports car through history, it used numerous components from high-volume production cars to keep costs down.Pontiac's crack marketing department predicted total sales of 60,000 that first year. Imagine their surprise when 30,000 people placed orders for the car sight unseen. By the time of its official introduction in September of 1983, there was a six-month waiting list. By model-year's end, 136,840 Fieros had flowed out the doors of its Pontiac, MI assembly plant, a record for any mid-engined car.It was chosen as the Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500 that year, powered by a Pontiac 2.7L Super Duty 4 making 232 h.p. The 2000 Pace Car replicas sold to the public had the standard 92 h.p. Iron Duke 4.Its Enduraflex body panels, bolted to a driveable space frame, never dented and never rusted. The lower door and fender panels would even bounce back from minor impacts. What GM learned about these body panels with the Fiero was applied to its first-generation minivans and its Saturn line of small cars. This one was my first, and only new car. 24 years, 134,000 miles, two owners (for the first four years, the bank owned it. LOL). I ordered it in October 1983 from Townsend Pontiac in Merrillville, IN; it finally came in April 1984. Mine is a Sport Coupe (the middle model), red with a gray interior and alloy wheels, and looks exactly like the Fieros Pontiac used in their print and TV advertising in '84. For this model year only, the engine cover grille was cast magnesium. The rear trunk held 5 upright sacks of groceries, the front compartment two more. (You listening, Solstice?)It went 50,000 miles the first 3 years, thanks to a long daily commute; it took eight years to go the next 50,000. It took another 12 years after that to get to 134,000+ miles. Not that it had an easy life, being a daily driver in Chicago winters, where they throw salt on the street if a snow cloud passes overhead (notice I didn't say it actually had to snow.)It's a 30-footer; from that distance, it could pass for new. As you get closer, you notice the stone chips, the clearcoat peeling off the wheels, the ripped driver's seat, and the swirl marks in the paint. But then, if any of you look like you did 24 years ago, raise your hands. Those of you who weren't even born 24 years ago can recuse yourselves.It's on its second hood medallion; the first and only time I left the car parked outside my house overnight in 1987, someone tried to pry the first one off, and nearly succeeded. This is its second clutch and its second set of headlight motors, and its third set of tires (Eagle GT2's -- Goodyear no longer makes 215/60R14 tires, so my next set will have to be BF Goodrich). The old Iron Duke and 4-speed have gone all the way; I'll have to take care of the Duke's oil leak this winter.Other than that, it's original and bone stock, an increasing rare commodity in the Fiero world of turbo-V6 and small-block V8 engine swaps and one-off wheels, bodies and colors.The only real problem I've had with this car is crappy repairs by mechanics, both dealer and independent, who shouldn't have been allowed to change a trunk light by themselves.The Recall was the worst. The mechanics at my friendly local Pontiac dealer would loosen parts to get to other parts and forget to tighten them back, causing a noticeable rattle (hardly the car's fault) and refused to take responsibility for their shoddy work; I ended up tightening those parts back myself.After 16 years of these kinds of repairs, through my local Fiero club, Northern Illinois Fiero Enthusiasts, I finally found a dealer mechanic, Dave Armstrong, who knew what the hell he was doing; he's the reason my car is still on the road. I found out from him that even when Fieros were still being made, it was OPTIONAL for Pontiac mechanics to be trained to work on them. If you brought your Fiero in for service, it was strictly luck whether you got a qualified technician (like Dave)or a clueless hack.A possible consequence of getting a dealer hack, going to an independent mechanic or doing a backyard DIY repair? If the Fiero's cooling system was not flushed and refilled according to a specific procedure (clearly outlined in the owner's manual and, I would imagine, the dealer shop manual), the car ended up with HALF the antifreeze/coolant it was designed to hold. And there were engine fires? Gee, I wonder why.Dave was the go-to Fiero guru at Jacobs Twin Pontiac in Chicago; now he's got his own garage near Harlem and Irving Park, doing a land-office business. It couldn't happen to a more deserving guy. He'll get your Fiero (or any other GM car) running right.Contact him at 773-282-1444.

Channel: Autos & Vehicles
Uploaded: September 17, 2007 at 7:58 am
Author: artistmac

Length: 04:26
Rating: 4.21
Views: 20357

Tags: '84  1984  4-speed  alloy  car  Chicago  engine  Fiero  Formula  General  GM  GT  manual  mid  Motors  Pontiac  red  SE  sports  stick  

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