Originally published at: Take a ride down memory lane in the Pontiac Fiero | Boing Boing
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Ah, the Fiero; Crazy Jimmy’s vehicle of choice.
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I have to find out a way to send it back to 1982 and have a cool and fun afternoon with my brother and friends.
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“We build excitement… PONTIAC!” took on a whole new meaning when the Fiero engines started bursting into flames.
Edit: this link does a better job of explaining the issue.
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The Fiero was a fun car to drive. I never owned one, but on a work trip to the Phoenix area, I rented one for the week and had a blast driving it up the switchbacks of South Mountain Park.
The next year I rented a Corvette and although it was lots more powerful and a smoother ride, it couldn’t match the handling and excitement of the Fiero.
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Fieros were really popular around here (North Alabama) back in the day. That might explain this place:
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My step-brother rolled one of those babies on two separate occasions. Certain cars attract a specific type of driver.
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Yeah! I’m not the only one who loves 3d Bot Diecast Racing League! 
I’ve enjoyed these Hagerty “Revelations” videos. The host (Jason Cammisa) is able to be a little dad-joke funny while keeping the story interesting, and they often do the more unusual car choices rather than the familiar super cars and muscle cars. Like the Fiero here. I’d subscribe to the channel for this content, but they have a lot of other car stuff I don’t find nearly as interesting.
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My dad was a cop and this is what I heard every time he saw a Fiero. They were basically guaranteed death in his eyes.
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I was a little kid when these came out but, aside from how cool they looked, what I remember most about the Fiero was the buzz around them. the kids were talking about them, the adults were talking about them; not just car guys, everyone was talking about them. it was definitely the hot car of its time, although it was only after watching the video that I now know I just made a pun.
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When I was in high school I drove a 1974 Vega station wagon with genuine imitation wood grain panels.
It had a “feature” that shut the motor down if it got low on oil, it leaked so much oil I carried a case of oil in the back. That sending unit or sensor is where most of the oil leaked from, occasionally it would catch fire from all the built up gunk.
One fire we poured beer on it, the last fire we were filling up Mickey wide mouth bottles from a puddle to put it out, we finally got it out using the floor mats to smother it.
That was the last fire before I junked it. Memories light the corners of my mind…
A freind had a Fiero that caught fire, it wasn’t bad but he didn’t keep the car after.
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I had a '71 GT hatchback.
Maybe that has something to do with why my oil light would come on.
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Occasionally I look on Craigslist for an early 70s Vega, Pinto, or Mercury Capri (German version), Pintos pop up occasionally but people think they are gold mines. 74ish Capris pop up but never in good enough condition to interest me.
Vegas on the other hand especially those GT ones that have been restored with after market race engines are a pretty penny, cool stuff but not what I’m looking for.
The other one I look for is early 70s Ford Maverick, had one of those with a straight 6, I inherited it from my grandma, it was a great car.
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I once car-sat my friend’s Fiero for a week, letting her keep it at my place rather than pay for airport parking. It was fun to drive but difficult, as I’m 6’4" and it was a tight fit! She soon sold it and got a '98 Mustang GT.
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I was a kid when the Fiero came out, and I loved the looks but always heard they were a horrible car. After watching that video I understand why. Still, I’d love to get a nice looking one and convert it to electric. Maybe when I retire…
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They looked at the design of the Fiat X1/9 and threw away the really good bits. The Fiero wasted trunk space by not storing the spare tire behind the seats and numerous other small sins.
My X1/9 was sorely underpowered but was a blast to drive. Anyone that’s driven a mid-engine car hard has fond memories of taking corners at stupid speeds with a big grin on their face with a terrified passenger gasping beside them.
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Mid-engine cars are a lot of fun, if you remember to keep your foot on the accelerator through the curves.
ETA: I was letting a friend drive my '85 MR-2, and explained the cornering to her. We zipped off down a windy country road. After a few zippy curves, she commented “When I really like driving, I get a little teary at the edges of my eyes. This car is totally doing that for me.”
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Back in high school, before the impulse-control parts of the brain were fully developed, two friends wanted to go for a ride in a third friend’s Fiero. It’s a two-seater, so one had to catch a different ride, right? Not to this group (a group of teenagers can a be a lot dumber than a single teenager; I speak from experience).
One sat in the passenger seat, and the tall skinny one rode in the trunk. It wasn’t big enough for all of him, so his arms dangled out the back. Hilarious.
After a few minutes of driving like this, a cop noticed the arms dangling out the trunk (cops notice stuff like that), and pulled them over. The tall guy got out and waited with the cop as his friends drove off, fresh ticket in hand.
Ten minutes later the Fiero was rear-ended and the trunk was crumpled. Lucky fellow, that guy.
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1974 Vega wagon, 2 people up front, 3 in the back and 2 in the cargo area with plenty of beer.
1974 Capri, 2 in the front 3 in the back, tapped Oly 55 or 1/4 barrel sticking out the trunk. Had to slide it in through the split fold down seat tap it and hold down the lid with a bungee cord.
1969 4 door Caprice was a dance hall.
Teenage determination.
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Not speaking directly to the Fiero, but I’ve heard it said that it’s much more fun to drive a POS car as fast as possible, than to drive some exotic supercar slowly.
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