Just thought I'd ask this out of curiosity. I've always been a fan of 4th gen Firebirds, especially the 02 Trans Am and especially in triple black. It's common knowledge that the Firebird was supposed to be the 2nd gen Fiero and that 4th gen F-body interior swaps are extremely popular in our community, but for all my searching I haven't found a full rebody. I saw one Fiero pic with a Firebird nose, but what would the difficulty be in doing a full rebody?? Pics??
Nope.... why would someone rebody a Fiero to look like a Firebird, when you could just by a Firebird
If you look at the 89/90 Fiero concept, you can see where it looks very similar to the Firebird/camaro, but that is just because that was the look Pontiac was heading towards. The Firebird was not a 2nd gen Fiero... or even planned that way (my opinion). The vehicles appealed to different people. Now, that being said, I am not a fan of the Fiero GT concept as it looks too much like a run of the mill pontiac. The coupe was interesting looking though.
[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 06-19-2015).]
The issue is that the rear of a firebird is metal, so you couldn't just grab the panels. You would have to take molds and then adapt.... seems like a lot of work to put a firebird on a shorter chassis....
[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 06-19-2015).]
The 4th gen f body is just an updated 3rd gen, same car, change to upper a arms and slop the windshield some more.. if you look at the Pontiac line at the time, of the 4th gen it took two roads, some looked like the g/p and the rest the t/a, look at the sunbird it was a 3/4 firebird the "89" Fiero ran down that road.. and the grand am went down the g/p road.. then the gto went down the g/p road..
the 3rd and 4th gen f bodys are just 5/4th h body.. look at an 80 sunbird hatch back and an 3rd/4th gen f body platform..
[This message has been edited by E.Furgal (edited 06-19-2015).]
Nope.... why would someone rebody a Fiero to look like a Firebird, when you could just by a Firebird
If you look at the 89/90 Fiero concept, you can see where it looks very similar to the Firebird/camaro, but that is just because that was the look Pontiac was heading towards. The Firebird was not a 2nd gen Fiero...
I think what he means is that the 4th gen Firebird inherited the 2nd gen Fiero styling...which is true. Creating a Firebird body on the Fiero would be almost like creating a second gen Fiero...aka the 89/90 model.
^^ Yep, pretty much sums it up. The idea was to build the Fiero that never was, especially if it had been carried out to the 02 model year. I'm not too serious about it right now though. It's just a passing thought, and I hoped maybe it had already been done.
Nope.... why would someone rebody a Fiero to look like a Firebird, when you could just by a Firebird
If you look at the 89/90 Fiero concept, you can see where it looks very similar to the Firebird/camaro, but that is just because that was the look Pontiac was heading towards. The Firebird was not a 2nd gen Fiero... or even planned that way (my opinion). The vehicles appealed to different people. Now, that being said, I am not a fan of the Fiero GT concept as it looks too much like a run of the mill pontiac. The coupe was interesting looking though.
To be accurate here the 4th gen F body design was lifted from the 2nd gen Fiero as told by John Schinella the lead designer of both the Fiero and F body. He stated at one of the national Fiero meets when the 1990 photo's were first shown that it was too good to throw away.
The run down was GM was going to the GM 80 program that would have made the F body into a FWD/AWD car. Note at the time the Ford Probe was projected as the new Mustang to. Once Ford abandon the new FWD Mustang GM abandoned the GM 80 program. This left them in the lurch to come up with a new car in short time and Schinella lifted the Fiero Design a and moved it over to the F body with the needed changes to make it a Front Engine car.
They even used the dash pod pretty much as planned from the Fiero too. Keep in mind GM did not just go broke in 2008 they were going broke since the late 70's and money was tight because of many mistakes and poor management.
The bottom line is the 4 gen F body look much like the 2nd gen Fiero because they did lift the styling over and not because that was the direction they were going. At least that is the guy in charge of both cars designs has stated publically.
As for using the panels from a Bird to make a 1990 I am sure it could be done to a point but at how much labor and cost? It would neither be easy or cheap.
To do it right you almost need to do it in clay make molds and do it in fiberglass. Then you would also have to sort out the understructure as the new car was longer and a little wider too.
Who know maybe one day we can take a photo like we have here and print a body?
Originally posted by jscott1: I think what he means is that the 4th gen Firebird inherited the 2nd gen Fiero styling...which is true. Creating a Firebird body on the Fiero would be almost like creating a second gen Fiero...aka the 89/90 model.
either way.. but most of the 2nd gen Fiero style'n was updates on already used f-body stuff.. The tail light treatment, nose line etc.. you can go all the way back to the 85 t/a and see that type tail lights.. To bad both cars ended up mothballed one just sooner than the other..
The styling hallmarks are there but the 4th gen was based on the 2nd gen Fiero with a little GM80 added in,
While things like taillights were a carry over since the 70's the body lines even compared to the Z/28 above remove any doubt to what Schinella stated.
All Pontiac's since 59 accept the 1960 has a nose or some kind of beak too but that is just hallmarks or heritage.
The styling hallmarks are there but the 4th gen was based on the 2nd gen Fiero with a little GM80 added in,
While things like taillights were a carry over since the 70's the body lines even compared to the Z/28 above remove any doubt to what Schinella stated.
All Pontiac's since 59 accept the 1960 has a nose or some kind of beak too but that is just hallmarks or heritage.
There are a few who would like to recreate something no one else has and can not buy. But the cost of doing that is much more than the value of the car. That is the issue. The 4th Gen is not the 2nd gen Fiero physically. It may be bases on it but it is not the same identically.
The car could be built but it would take someone either with a great skill set or a lot of money to make one. To do it you would have to sculpt a body from clay and make molds also you would need to make changes to the platform that are beyond stock and that is a little easier. But in the end if you paid someone to do this you would easily be in six figures. Not many here can afford that and if you could would you do it?
Now if you have the skills the cost would come down but it still would not be cheap. Also before you say it you could never sell enough panels to make up the cost as a kit.
Originally posted by cam-a-lot: Why the heck would someone turn a Fiero into a wannabe Firebird for more money than just buying a Firebird
Why would someone buy a wannabe Fiero, instead of just buying the Fiero and building it up?
The point isn't to get a mid engined Firebird. It's to get something like the 90 prototype. And yeah, I doubt anyone will actually do it, even if just a one-off and not a kit.
Why would someone buy a wannabe Fiero, instead of just buying the Fiero and building it up?
The point isn't to get a mid engined Firebird. It's to get something like the 90 prototype. And yeah, I doubt anyone will actually do it, even if just a one-off and not a kit.
Well we do have other one offs like the GTO nose project, so there are people with the skills here (myself not one of them), but yeah I doubt anyone would take this to heart. That's sad cause this makes so much more sense to me than any other facelift. What would a 2002 Fiero look like?? It's anyone's guess...
Fugly.
