I have been posting a few comments about the FIero in the Corvette C8 comments section. I got a private message asking me how I seem to know a lot about the Fiero. When I replied to him he sent me back the following reply that I thought some folks here would be interested in
Thank you for the nice note. I was working at Pontiac Engineering at the time the Fiero was designed and produced. I remember how difficult it was to get this car approved by GM Marketing. Chevrolet kept blocking it, because they thought it would compete with the Corvette. That's why it was sold to GM Marketing as a low priced commuter car with a 4 cylinder engine. It indeed was designed to fit a small block Chevy, although that "feature" was kept pretty hush-hush from GM Marketing. I never saw a prototype of one with the V8, but heard there was a buck (non-running chassis in white) with one in it. Pontiac also built a prototype turbo V6 Fiero, and it ran the quarter mile in 13.3, which was very fast at the time, and much faster than the Corvette. I really wished they had produced that.
The Fiero was a car with so much potential, but in typical GM fashion, they starved the car of the resources needed to keep it updated, and the car died.
It only took Chev 30 years after the demise of the Fiero to build a V8 Fiero !!!
Everything else that makes the mid-engine Corvette good is a natural progression of technologies (seen on Lexus, Infiniti etc.) that even the Fiero would have with 30 years of development behind it.
I never could understand the "Threat to the Vette" concept......The Corvette was a $30,000 semi-supercar, and the Fiero was a whole rung lower in the market. People shopping the 1st and 2nd gen Z/ZX and RX-7 were not looking at Corvettes because they were out of their price range. To me, it would be like Cadillac squawking about Chevy putting out the Monte Carlo (Too luxurious! It will take sales away from our Cads!!!!)
As for the new Vette......Back in the 70s, I was crazy for the Aerovette and still think it was a stunning concept car...But since the Vette has matured and become a great performer, I really don't like that it is going Mid-engine.....And, styling the back end of the C7 like a Japanese car has just ruined the car for me, anyway...Plus, it's now up to 3600+ lbs......Will the new one finally make it over the 4000 lb mark....? (Maybe they could include a kitchen sink!!!)
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 11-12-2018).]
So the logic by GM was, don't build the Fiero as a full featured little sports car. It will be too fast and people won't buy Corvettes. This is pretty stupid as the people who were buying Pontiac Fiero's liked the styling and did so because they were affordable and half the price of the Corvette. This segment of the market couldn't afford to spend more. Even if the Fiero was made to be as fast as the Corvette, they were sold in two very distinct markets - luxury high end and economy.
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I love reading the stories of the guys who used to work there. I would love to have a day to sit down and talk with them.
Should have been at the 35th. There were like 5-6 engineers, at a presentation, that worked on the Fiero. They all told little stories about different things that they went through. It was fascinating and they answered questions at the end of it. An attendee at the 35th had let a couple of them drive his car on one of the cruises. All the guys were quite taken back at the dedication and loyalty that was, after all of these years, presented by the Fiero owners and enthuisiasts that were there.
[This message has been edited by TXGOOD (edited 11-12-2018).]
I think what it boils down to, isn't that the Fiero would sell more, or take away Corvette sales.. It's the smug pride of the Corvette guys knowing a "bottom shelf" Pontiac could actually keep up or in some cases outpace a Vette. That's where the real rub is...
Damn, the 89/90 Fiero is so gorgeous.. It is a true shame that we never had the chance.. Even the 4cyl coupes(that proto was ugly, IMHO) got a healthy engine upgrade away from the Duke..
It always blows my mind that you could have gotten *SEVEN* engine choices on the Grand Am, but only (one to start!) two engine choices for the Fiero..
People that remember the Fiero as a 'lousy car' only see the penny-pinching part of the Fiero process..
I'll always love the Fiero, but can also acknowledge that it was poor in design and execution because it had to be.. It's a wonder we ever had the Fiero at all...
I think what it boils down to, isn't that the Fiero would sell more, or take away Corvette sales.. It's the smug pride of the Corvette guys knowing a "bottom shelf" Pontiac could actually keep up or in some cases outpace a Vette. That's where the real rub is...
The Vette people went crying to GM when the Buick Grand National/GNX were blowing them away at the tracks. GM didn't want a repeat of that...
Should have been at the 35th. There were like 5-6 engineers, at a presentation, that worked on the Fiero. They all told little stories about different things that they went through. It was fascinating and they answered questions at the end of it. An attendee at the 35th had let a couple of them drive his car on one of the cruises. All the guys were quite taken back at the dedication and loyalty that was, after all of these years, presented by the Fiero owners and enthuisiasts that were there.
Are there any video or audio recordings of this? jon
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Biology says there are coded genetic signals in every cell, but we KNOW that no intelligence created life.
I'm the original owner of a white ' 84 2M4 purchased Dec 10, 1983 from Pontiac. Always garaged, no rust, 4-wheel drifts are fun!
I never bought the corvette killer thing either, but then again I'm not sure GM execs actually drove the cars they sold?? I have both an 87 Fiero and an 88 Corvette. Even if they put the corvette spec L98 in a Fiero, they are night and day driving experiences. I don't think anyone who could have afforded a Corvette would have driven one, walked over to Pontiac driven a Fiero and then went "Hey this is just as great at half the price, I'll buy a Fiero"
I never bought the corvette killer thing either, but then again I'm not sure GM execs actually drove the cars they sold?? I have both an 87 Fiero and an 88 Corvette. Even if they put the corvette spec L98 in a Fiero, they are night and day driving experiences. I don't think anyone who could have afforded a Corvette would have driven one, walked over to Pontiac driven a Fiero and then went "Hey this is just as great at half the price, I'll buy a Fiero"
Agreed. But if they didn't want a Corvette or even if they did and knew the price was out of their reach, they may have test driven the Fiero and said "Hey... this isn't half bad - and a lot of fun!!"
But had it continued improving in handling and performance for another 10 years...
[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 11-14-2018).]
I have spoken to enough GM people to know the Corvette killer fear was true and real.
Here is the deal. GM makes the Corvette do a business case just as any other car at GM. It also has to make a profit like any other car at GM.
The Corvette in the 80’s started strong but as time went on with the C4 sales tapered much as it was flawed and did not age well. The money was tight at GM even then as they were go8ng bankrupt long before the time the got the bail out.
In fact even after the Fiero was canceled the Corvette C5 program was canceled. The man in charge of the. Or Vette at that time ignored GM and finished the C5 and it got a reprieve. He paid for it with his future at GM. Today those in the Vette circles see him as a hero.
The fear of a cheaper V6 Fiero with more power was a real fear. With sales dropping it could have taken enough sales to make the Corvette a liability.
On the other hand while GM failed to support the Fiero Pontiac did it no favores.
Pontiac too the risk of building the Fiero at a plant much too large for Fieto only production. They took the chance the coming GM 80 fwd Body would fill out production. But no one at GM wanted a FWD F body but managment. The program was canceled and there was not model to fill the void.
Pontiac also over sold the Fiero in the first few years. Just about everyone who wanted one had one. Sales would have been difficult for the second gen Fiero no matter how good it was.
There is much more to all this too. Pontiac needed to do as Mazda and limit sales and go global with the Fiero. Sell them globally to keep volume up but keep each market wanting more than you deliver yearly. This is how the Miata has survived.
Two seat cars are a limited market and mostly a play car or third car in a family. Most two seat cars live 10 years or less. The Corvette and Miata are two that have broke the trend.
The MR2 died twice. The RX 7 died. The Datsun Z car died, the many English and Italian sports models lived short life’s and died.
The true reality is the Fieto if the second gen Likely not made more than another 4-5 years at best.
There still is more details but this alone is what happened and was enough to kill it.
The divisional conflicts, drama and conversations notwithstanding, the CFO typically has a lot of influence. It would be a tough sell to keep the Fiero considering the production numbers in the chart below. If the Fiero followed the Camaro & Firebird decline, by 1990 it might have sold less than 9,000. The narrative from the car guys is entertaining; meanwhile the financial guys pull the plug based on sales. Corvette buyers don't appear to be materially affected by the other three options below, which aren't likely 'options' anyway.
[This message has been edited by David Hambleton (edited 11-17-2018).]
I have both an 87 Fiero and an 88 Corvette. Even if they put the corvette spec L98 in a Fiero, they are night and day driving experiences. I don't think anyone who could have afforded a Corvette would have driven one, walked over to Pontiac driven a Fiero and then went "Hey this is just as great at half the price, I'll buy a Fiero" 
