The Pontiac Fiero Was GM's Mid-Engine 1980s Sports Car 

i don't care how boxy it is, that's got to be one of the cleanest, easiest on the eyes interiors I've seen

Ahhh yes,Finally the C8 Corvette everyone was waiting for

"Now I'm gonna floor it...not terrible actually" *gives Acceleration a 1*

I owned a 1986 Fiero GT many years ago. I loved it. It was faster than the HP would have you think. It could handle with most any car I have ever driven, and it just looked awesome. It definitely turned heads back in the day. I loved the pop up headlights, the sitting position, the way the front hood opened, and for that time the interior just looked so sweet. I still remember the lights in the backed lit up with PONTIAC and the PONT burned out. I had several people ask me what a TIAC was :). Speed wise an MR2 and RX7 would see my TIAC in bright letters when they challenged me. My biggest complaint was the tiny 10 gal gas tank that would run out at 9 gal, and I rarely got over 18MPG. To date one of my favorite cars I have ever owned.

20:51 "It turned Pontiac into GM's exciting brand". The GTO: am I a joke to you?

doug the type of guy to wear two shirts and complain about lugnuts on lugnuts

Doug... I've had my '86 Fiero for 13-years. I'm now 79 years old, and I love my Fiero. I drove it stock the first four years, then I did a 3.4 swap, and I could finally pass people when I wanted, and not have to drive in the trucker's lane when climbing a mountain pass...lol. I would have added a turbo charger kit for another 140hp, but it had piston slap, which got to loud and embarrassing, and I found I could actually swap in a 3800sc cheaper than overhauling my little 3.4 V6. I've been driving it with my 3800sc (pushing 300hp) for four years now, and I call it my little quasi-super-car, which it is. You really need to drive one like this. There are allot of really nice 3800sc customs in CA you can find, and maybe drive and review it...??? I know you would really be impressed. If you had tilted the steering wheel up and slid the seat back, you would have had an easy time getting into it. I do that every time I get in or out. There are 1m dollar sports cars that you have to do the same thing with...back in, sit down and swing your legs in last...! Your Doug score on that '87 would have been much higher, if you would have given it the fair appearance score she deserved, like about a six or better. The car your reviewed had never been buffed or even given a wax job, or lowered. mine is lowered just 1 1/2" which makes all the difference in the world. But even without that, that little car is the best, simple, smooth sexy lines and curves, that American cars have ever produced. Except maybe the C-1 Corvettes, and the '55 Chevy. If you had been more objective, and not started out, trying to make fun of the car, I think you would have viewed it in a much different light. You were all prepared to give it a bad score for interior, roominess, and handling, until you got into it and realized that you were actually in a well designed, fun, good handling little sports car, and I have to hand it to you, you actually admitted that your prejudice was not correct. I love the interior! It's exactly what one would expect in an 80's sports car...clean, simple, with everything you need without a bunch of over designed gobbledygook. The boxy interior has nice rounded corners, again simple and clean. The instrument cluster is very attractive, again simple and clean. I think the quality of the interior design is better than the same era Corvette or Porsche...! And I think they still are...!

The " loud" button on the stereo is a setting that increases the low end frequencies of tone at lower volume levels. Kind of like a bass boost.

“Incredibly annoying real people chevy ads” -Doug Demuro

I’m surprised there’s some left that haven’t been turned into Ferrari Kit Cars.

Those lug cover are functional; they protect the threads from the elements. Anyone who has had to change a flat on the side of the road appreciate lugs that aren't rusted in place. I guess GM could have made them look like pretty flowers, but I liked the subtle hidden look.

In older house stereos there was a loudness button, which at low volumes added bass to the sound making it more dynamic. Some car stereos had the same option. The buttons were many times just labelled loud.

I had this exact car. My dad worked at the factory. He took me in and I followed my Fiero as it went down the line during assembly. Fun car to drive. A lot of memories with this car. Thanks for showing it

There. You have reviewed all of my 3 favorite cars. -Pontiac Fiero -DeLorean DMC 12 -Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2

You’re wrong about the roof, I used to own an 86 GT with a removable sunroof, which made it close to being a convertible when removed. The glass would store in the front above the spare tire. I loved that car! I swapped in a larger V6, it was so much fun to drive!

Pretty cool review, one quirk you didn't mention was zero cup holders! Also all Fiero's could be ordered with a "vista roof" which was a giant sunroof almost the size of the roof!!! T tops were done after assembly by a company called corporate concepts until 1988 when they could be ordered factory. This car has a ton of potential with the gm parts bin at your disposal. Ls4 v8 with f40 6 speed is a newer popular swap. I have modernized my Fiero with heated leather interior, back up camera, bluetooth, auto dim mirror, led headlights, and a few other things to make a fun retro daily!

“The unlatching of the front compartment is also unusual” proceeds to open latch under dash like EVERY OTHER CAR!

Come on Doug, they were right about the black lines, that shit was cool af back then. Do I have to remind you that even Ferrari had it on the Testarossa?

These are insanely underappreciated. Unique and beautiful design, especially considering how the majority of 80s American cars looked. LS1 swap into a GT roller and you have a sleek, cost-effective (and dangerous) beast.

My best friend bought a 2 year old '85 Fiero SE with the V6. We both owned '73 Formula Firebirds with the 400 cid V8, which were reasonably fast cars, but we were both still impressed with the Fiero. True, with the original parts bin suspension, the handling lacked refinement, but the sticky Goodyears made it seem like we were driving a slot car, and the 2.8L V6 felt faster than its 140 hp would suggest. It happened on more than one occasion that we would look down and realize that we had been cruising on the freeway in 3rd gear (of a 4 speed transmission), so clearly the car was geared tall, but it never felt 'doggy' off the line or through the gears. And the Fiero's exhaust really made that V6 sound like a European exotic. The interior was very typical GM 'plasticky' and the graphics on the gauges looked cartoonish, but it had plenty of legroom and my buddy's particular car never caught fire or left us stranded. In the mid 80's, if you were a 20-something guy looking for a fun car that looked good and performed well and had a car payment that was compatible with our modest wages, the Fiero was on a short list of choices. They actually sold really well for the first 4 years (averaging over 85k/yr in sales), but somehow GM managed to both improve the car in its 5th and final year (to what it should have been all along), while only selling 26k in its final year. It's too bad that you evaluated the 3 speed auto - the manual trans cars were a more fun to drive. The Fiero was definitely a better car than most people thought, and it deserved a better fate.

This was my first car. I blew two motors and it caught on fire once. It was then known to all my friends as the "Fire-o." It was the laughing stock of high school since it caught on fire in my school parking lot.

Failed to mention the speakers in the headrests, that he was so excited over in a current car he reviewed.

Going from the Iron Duke was quite an upgrade, these are genuinely fun to drive, when you can find one that hasn't been abused.

7:15 All Fiero's had an opening in the roof superstructure to accommodate a sunroof, which was a factory option. So the composite roof panel would come solid or could come with a manual pop up and removable sunroof. The front cargo compartment even had pads for the top to rest on with other pads on the inside of the hood to secure it above the spare tire and GM provided a vinyl bag to protect the top. in 1988 T-tops became an option and those are fairly rare.

Pop up headlights are not a quirk, they are AMAZING!!! Also yes the lines in the tail lights did look good

Koenigsegg Agera: "It has the insignia everywhere. That's really cool." Pontiac Fiero: "It has the insignia everywhere. That's really gaudy."

Had the Fiero lasted another year or two, Pontiac was looking at putting the new Quad 4 DOHC engine into it, with up to 180hp. Those plastic body panels were a big selling feature in the Northeast since they wouldn't rust.

My dad bought a 1986 & 1/2 Fiero GT off the lot, mid-year release of the original "Fastback". 5-speed manual, 140hp on a car that was just less than 2800lbs. At 16-18 I had the fortunate of driving it on occasions and to this day it might be my favorite car of all time. There is nothing like a mid-engine car and with this one the handling, the sound of the dual exhaust, the beautiful red topped V-6 and the off-the-line performance...I wish I could find one today. Unfortunately the car came to an end in a rather violent accident. Sitting at a stop light, my dad was T-boned by a driver a high rate of speed that was racing someone who clipped them. Sent the car right into the drivers side door. He spent about a month in the hospital and made a full recovery but the car was totaled just after it's 10 year anniversary. Fortunately it was the design of the Fiero door that saved my dad's life. It had 3 cross-beams welded across for structure, basically a prototype for modern side-impact beams. If I ever come across one for a good price in decent condition, I'm buying it instantly...as long as it's a stick-shift.

"In keeping with GM tradition of refining cars and making them better until the end and then just canceling them" lol

Doug keeps it real. Pontiac Fiero: thumbs up Maserati Ghibli: thumbs down

I love how fun this car is. Could see it being a fun little weekend cruiser or a commuter car. Looks very comfortable too.

I bought a duplicate of that car in 1987, brand new, off the lot, and would have to say that Doug gave it a dead-on accurate assessment. I loved mine, dearly, and had a ton of fun with it. Sadly, mine seemed to be a magnet for bad luck, so I only had it for a few years. Very quirky, fun to drive, with a lot of charm, when it was new.

You missed my favorite quirk... That enormous center hump between the seats. It's a mid-rear engine... so there's no drivetrain components there. THAT'S THE GAS TANK! No joke

"but i would walk 500 miles and i would walk 500 more"

I currently daily a 87 GT in the same color way and it is amazing how well it drives/handles. Absolutely love it.

I personally love the boxy interiors of these 80s-early 90s vehicles. There's such a minimalistic charm to it.

Doug: *Hates on Fiero taillight grid pattern* Also Doug: *Gushes all over Ferrari 348 almost identical taillight grid pattern*

Almost unsubbed when you didn’t return the balance to centre right away

I've owned several Fiero's over my life... Each one had a sunroof. Just real fun cars to drive. Canyon runs were a blast, like driving on rails with the right set up

Doug will never be labeled as the Fiero loving guy, but as always, your zeal and love for automobiles shines through. Your Doug score gave GM's Pontiac Division their just due! 42/100 As a teenager in the late 70,s I could remember me and my brother helping some poor guy push his dream car down the street back to the dealership where he just purchased it. It was brand spanking new with the plastic still on the seats, but it looked sporty.

“Months without seeing one of these”, really Doug? I haven’t seen one in 20 years.

I loved my Pontiac Fiero. I bought a used one in 1994. Installed a little cd player radio system and was thumping to Ace Of Base, thought I was the shit. :D

A buddy of mine in high school had one of these. It was bright yellow and we loved it. At 6’5” I barely fit in it but riding in it was fun.

The “Loud” button on the stereo is short for loudness, which is a pre set EQ curve for lower volumes to make it sound louder, all it did was boost the highs and lows

I want to trim that little thread sticking out of the Fiero logo on the driver seat SO BADLY!!!

I find that kind of video far more appealing than reviews of the latest modern releases. I hope you keep posting content like that.

Love these videos you show a era of time that we take for granted as car enthusiast

I had 3 Fiero's, the 2M4 an 85 GT and the 88 GT. I loved them all. Wish i still had the 1988 GT!

"I'm gonna be known as the guy who likes the Fiero" no Doug, your gonna be known as the guy who assumed the Fiero was complete shit but then realized its actually a decent car.

Holy nostalgia! My friend's older sister had one of these for a minute, truly the poor man's Ferrari. Like what would happen if a 308gtb got wasted one low night and woke up in bed with a Trans Am, pregnant and full of questions.

My first car circa 1997. It was an 86. Loved it... absolutely loved it!!

The square interior actually looks futuristic to me.

The "loud" function boosts bass and treble to round out sound at low volumes. Road noise tends to kill those frequencies and make the music difficult to hear at lower volumes, so that is when you engage "loud". Turning on loud with high volume just screws up the EQ and will cause distortion from excessive bass on most speakers. 15:24

Ah the Fiero , the basis of almost every kit car out there.

Nice! Pontiac had some really cool cars. I had an 83 firebird with the 2.8 carb. Not a lot of power but handled very well and very stylish.

I'm 19 my first car was an 86 fiero gt automatic but since then I sold it and bought an 87 gt 5 speed this is my favorite car in the world I love the feel and look of the car I get so many compliments from people and questions I've never had any problems with them besides older car stuff like window seals and such and if it did these cars are very easy to work on this is also my daily driver

I remember when this came out and I was in high school. I begged my dad to buy one. I told him... "THEY MADE AN AFFORDABLE FERRARI!!! YOU HAVE TO BUY IT!!"

the *LOUD* *Button* is "to boost bass frequencies when the radio is playing at low volume." (ref. Fiero owners manual)

"loud" is most likely the loudness button which boosts low and high frequencies at low volume so the sound is fuller. 😉my friend Dan had one of these back in 89, he was so proud of it we couldn't even touch it, lol. 🍺

I bought a '86 brand new when this body style first came out. The Fiero GT brings back fond memories for me. I drove mine from New Jersey to San Antonio TX with no issues. Wish I would have kept it. I'm currently waiting on one that I bought from one of my neighbor's relatives. It's identical to the one in the video, except it's going to need paint and other stuff done to it. It sat for four years, but it's all intact and original. Can't wait to get my hands on it and get it running. I think I'll hang on to this one for a long time.

If only they had the balls to put Buick's 3.8l turbo into this.

"Today's cars look so much more modern". Wow.

Brings back memories! especially seeing the engine bay. Back in very early 90's - had to pull the blown engine out of a Fiero that was exactly like this one. If I remember right - had a few bolts underneath, and the engine swung down in its frame? Wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be to work on if I remember right? I dont remember it being anything super special with the way it drove - but somehow it was cool to drive.

Love the video, I had a 1985 4 cyclinder with the manual transmission. Black exterior with Tan interior, loved the car I put over 150,000 miles on it. You forgot to mention the speakers in the headrest of the seats. Also, there was a sun/moon roof option from the dealers, which absolutely sucked, they had a bad habt of leaking if you got any kind of leaf between the glass and the gasket. The main reason I got this was one of my previous vehicles was a FIAT X-19, which the Fiero borrowed a lot of the design from.

The "Loud" button, is a loudness compensation control. You'll also notice the equalizer. A loudness compensation control has been used on quality home audio products for decades. Human hearing is less sensitive lowest and highest frequencies as volume levels are decreased. The "Loud" button boosts those frequencies to provide richer sound at low volume levels. As for the horse power, it was indeed the '80s. In performance, the Fiero was a really close match with a non-turbo Porsche 924 of the day. Four speed automatic transmissions, for all intents and purposes, weren't a thing yet, so the GM 3 speed with locking torque converter was as close as you could expect at the time.

Probably the biggest pile of “Would have, should have, could have” they ever built. Pontiac had a hot engine to stick in the back and GM killed that idea out of fear of dropping Corvette sales.

I sold Pontiacs in the 80's, drove Fieros and Firebirds as demonstrators. I was in my mid-20's, and loved driving them. Re: horsepower, I got stopped for driving 100mph down the highway out of the mountains in Southern New Mexico.

Fieros are a blast to drive. My Dads friend had a manual gt that I got to drive every now and again when he came over for service. I'm surprised Doug didnt mention the speakers in the headrests. Those speakers made the sound system incredible for the time.

The Fiero helped make Pontiac what it is today.

If Pontiac ever comes back, we need a Fiero and GTO.

In the late 90s/early 2000s I remember people swapping in the 3800 Series II V6s (the same supercharged engine from the Pontiac Bonneville) and made these very quick and enjoyable.

I had an '84 back in my teenage years. Loved it :)

I had a Fiero and it wasn't fast but it would corner and turn on a dime compared to other low budget cars back then. I was fun. Thank's Doug . My Fiero was a manual transmission :)

My dad has a 38k mile 88 V6 5speed Fiero Formula. Fun little car.

I owned one of these. Couple of things on the V-6...changing the back plugs was a total PITA just to get to them. After you hit around 80mph the front end wanted to lift up! Also the seats had audio tweeters in the headrests! :) Craziest thing is the coolant runs from the radiator IN THE FRONT thru rail tubes under the body!

I had an 1988 Fiero Formula and loved it! It was like a little go-kart!

On a real note I miss Pontiac. Nicer than a Chevy cheaper than a Buick or Cadillac.

9:08 "and when you're done... just close it" Excuse me while I pick my brain matter up off the floor

Learned manual in my dad's 85 Fiero. Recently we just got it repainted and put new wheels on it and refreshed a bunch of parts that were getting old

We owned a 1985 Fiero SE with the optional 2.8L V6. It was equipped with a 4-speed manual. I learned how to drive a stick shift in this car!

The lug nut covers are actually there to protect the lugs and studs from rust and are very effective as long as you don’t break them.

Doug: "I love the glowing Pontiac logo" Also Doug: "Lincoln's that have a light-up emblem are stupid!!"

I also just want to call attention to a button I've never seen before, the CrO2 button under the "loud" button. CrO2 is Chromium oxide, a metal used in the formulation of higher-end cassette tapes (cassettes are usually made with ferric oxide - rust, basically). The biasing of the machine needed to be different to play back these different types of tape, so I'm guessing that button changed the bias, EQ (CrO2 tapes were usually brighter), or both. Fascinating!

I worked at a used car dealership in 87 when I was 23, and we had a Fiero I would take out and "Test Drive" as we did. It was like a Go-Kart. It wasn't super fast, but it was super fun to drive! We had a road paved in a new subdivision with no houses yet, a long sweeping loop about a mile long that connected back to the main hwy. I remember driving through those lots full of weeds, 80 MPH, 4 wheels sliding. It was the most fun you could have before sex.

I loved this car back in the day. I wish Doug wouldn’t evaluate old cars based on today’s standards for features. And, come on, this car deserves more than a “1” for acceleration.

Loved that taillight design, especially on the firebird/ trans am

I owned 2 Fieros in my life the first was a 1984 drove that for 1 year and wasn't that great at all but the second was a 1987 GT and I loved it, I put a CD player with a 10inch sub in it and it was so loud you could hear me from 3 miles away coming and all my buddies wanted to drive it all the time!! My wife but girlfriend then said watching me drive the standard would turn her on so that car help me keep my wife so to speak. FYI I gave my brother the car after I drove it 4 1/4 years straight even in the snow because we were about to have kids and my brother has it it since 2006 and yes I take it out a few times a year with the wife to keep the fire going in the relationship if you know what I am saying lol still a great car and so glad it's in the family to this day!! 19 years almost with the family! Crazy when I think about it

I had an '84 2M4 SE I bought used from dealership I worked at as a mechanic,and LOVED it!!

I always thought the lines in the back lights were cool :(

Cop: “License and registration.” Doug driving a Fiero: “Hold on a second it’s in my door pocket purse.”

My first car was a 1985 Pontiac Fiero. I bought it myself when I turned 15 and drove it until I was 19 when I gave it to my brother. LOVED that car.

My dad drove my brother and me to school in this. Yes, we shared the front passenger seat and he would scream “Duck!” whenever he saw a cop. I always loved this car as a kid and wanted to drive when I turned 16. Sadly, my dad kept it forever but said it developed all kinds of problems and wasn’t drivable. Too bad it had so many issues. I spent many summers washing this car by hand with a mitt and a toothbrush lol

The lines through the back lights make the car look exotic - Ferrari's from this era had the same and it looks super cool and exotic

My first car was an ‘87 Fiero GT and I regret selling it more than anything. Mine had a 5spd manual and removable glass roof!

My dad has a 1986 Pontiac fiero gt. It has only 50000 miles. I got to drive it all across New Hampshire. I got to learn how to drive manual in it and I stalled it like 20 times😂. But when I got the hang of it it was so dang fun 🤩

I was wondering for months why doug never did a fiero...now im satisfied

15:22 I'm sometimes amazed at the little things Doug doesn't know about cars (ahem). The "loud" button is the Loudness feature. This used to be very common in stereos, and it made sense. At low volumes, although the same amount of power is going to the bass and treble frequencies, the way the human ear works, it sounds like the bass frequencies are noticeably quieter than the treble frequencies, when the volume is turned down low. Hence if the sound is kind of tinny at the low volume you've got set, invoke the Loudness feature, and normal-sounding EQ is restored. Beats having to tweak the Bass and Treble controls just to keep it sounding normal with the volume turned down. As to why they called it Loudness, that's beyond me. Then for a while they labeled the button things like Mega Bass, and people left it on all the time, in boom boxes that sounded like crap with it turned off.

"LOUD" most probably stands for "LOUDNESS"... a common type of processing to compensate for the ear perception of low/high frequencies depending on level (or perceived level = loudness). You can find that feature in any (I bet literally any) car radios.

I had a buddy in high school with one of these. I actually really like it!

you are smoking crack on styling, I think those cars especially the GT are really nice looking cars!