PVPPI

Those are some interesting creations... I suppose you could do that sort of thing with any car. Here are a few of my favorite Fiero modifications...

There were a few recalls to the later models, more so out of overreaction to the early fires trying to prevent any more mishaps, basically PR damage control. One of which was to remove the rubber seal from the forward edge of the trunk lid under the rear glass. You can see the seal in the trunk photo at the top of the page, there are clips that hold it in place where those little red squares are. They were afraid the seal would become detached and fall down onto the exhaust manifold. But that did more harm than good in most cases, because without that seal leaves could fall between the rear glass and trunk lid onto a hot exhaust manifold after the driver parked. The other issue with removing that seal is that rain water or when washing the car, water would get on hot exhaust manifold and eventually crack over time, which is a common problem on the inward manifold for these reasons. Many Fiero owners feel its best to leave the seal in place and just make sure it is secured properly. Personally I left my seal off because without it more engine compartment heat can escape, was conscientious where I parked, and didn't use it in rainy weather.

Great story, thanks for sharing, I was never there but have talked to people like yourself who were. When I went to tech school in the early mid 80's we had to learn every inch of that Fiero, ugh. From what I gather there was a lot of pride at that factory (Fiero means Proud) despite the bad media press. Just like anything else in life when you play the "what if game" things might have been different for the Fiero had there never been the early 4-cylinder engine fires, and or if Back To The Future used the Fiero instead of a Delorean, lol. Your Cadillac guy back in the day was probably referring to the Cadillac 4.9 V8 which is a very popular engine swap over the last two decades, the Cadillac Northstar V8 is a less common engine swap, with the Chevy V8 and Buick 3800 SC being the most popular.

That luggage kit is slick, I never knew that existed.

Funny that you would bring that up, when I had my Fiero's about 20 years ago our washing machine broke so I took my wife to her mothers house to do the laundry. It was such a nice day I wanted to take the Fiero, but she said "you will never get all that laundry into the Fiero" and I accepted her challenge. I still have a photo of everything I fit into the trunk compartment that day, below is that photo and another photo showing what an empty Fiero trunk looks like, its amazing what you can fit in there!

That doesn't surprise me, plenty of car enthusiasts not knowledgeable about certain cars, and those two cars being from the same era and both being a mid-engine sports car with similar lines and proportions. Here is a GT parked next to a 308, as you can see they are approximately the same size and wheelbase...

This thread is a perfect example of how urban legends and car myths are created over decades, and the Fiero is one of those popular misunderstood cars that fall into that category. While I'm not a Fiero Ambassador and don't want to spends hours defending the car or its creators, but because I'm familiar with the Fiero and other mid-engine sports cars since the 1980's I do feel obligated to briefly point out some common misperceptions. I will respond directly to the comments first then elaborate on the car in general at the end... There were many cars in the 80's that were junk out of the gate by many manufacturers, but the Fiero isn't one of them when you understand the specifics. The majority of engine fires were due to defective connecting rods in the 1984 four cylinder models. During production the defective rods were sent back to the foundry twice, yet some still made it into production. If the owner neglected oil changes that defective rod could fail and eject through the oil pan or block, resulting in oil onto the hot exhaust system and sometimes catching on fire. The other isolated fire cases that were not related to the 1984 defective rods were the same as any other car fire you see today, owner neglect and stupidity (dry leaves on engine, oil leaks, parking a low clearance sports car on dry grass, and so on). The issue that most people overlook is you can't give the general public an affordable mid-engine sports car and expect them the follow the same safety rules and maintenance as an exotic car owner does. Even with the 2.8 L44 V6 with 140 HP and 180 TQ which was decent NA specs at the time, because the car was so heavy it was still sightly under powered. But comparing apples to apples, the majority of 80's cars were also under powered. Look at the Delorean for example with its similar 2.8 V6 powerplant, yet the Fiero design was superior compared to the Delorean's stainless steel clad/veneer panels on a fiberglass body, not to mention the fit/finish, safety, and reliability factor... but this is not a Delorean vs Fiero thread. The Lotus story is a myth, but you are correct on your second statement... Chief designer Hulki Aldikacti wanted to build a rival to the Corvette but the GM Execs never wanted it. His concept had to be sold as a mass produced commuter. So what most people don't know is they designed the important structure and foundation correctly out of the gate, then to stay within budget constraints they used off the shelf suspension components (Chevette front suspension and Citation front cradle reversed and modified for the rear). This is often used as a punch line by those who don't understand the Fiero, but what is funny about that is many auto manufacturers around the world used off the shelf parts with their cars. So the Fiero budget suspension was 1984 to 1987, then GM gave them the green light to spend about $30 million dollars ($60 million is today's money) on the 1988 model year redesigning the entire suspension giving it the true sports car suspension it deserved and was supposed to have in 1984. That consisted of a coil over front and tri-link rear similar to a Porsche. Since 1988 is the final year for the Fiero its the only one with that completely different suspension, that is why they are more desirable and worth more than the 1984-87 years. Generally speaking there were no design flaws to contribute to overheating. Just like any enthusiast does to any hobby car, there is always room for improvement on the cooling, so what many Fiero owners do is take out the 195 stat and and install a 180 stat with a 210 fan switch so the fans come on earlier than factory. Another big mistake that leads to overheating is when individuals or garages change the coolant using traditional front-engine methods by using the radiator cap in the front of the vehicle, where actually you have to have the vehicle facing nose down using the coolant cap on top of the engine where the push-in thermostat is, because that is the high point and ensures there is no air is the system. There were a few cases were the cooling fan was backwards, but 99% of overheating cases were owner neglect, or general auto repair garages unqualified to work on mid-engine sports car, or by denting the coolant tubes under the car when putting it on a lift. (same as exotic mid-engine sports cars) A few other tidbits to note... The Fiero design had many pioneering greats including a space-frame chassis, impact resistant Enduraflex panels and laser-guided body panel alignment. The super strong space-frame chassis consists of 275 pieces of steel held together with 4300 welds weighing 700 pounds. The space-frame went through a 2.5-story Gilman mill-and-drill machine where it’s chassis was gauged at the tops and leading edges of both doors and centered cross-car, then drilled with 39 mounting points for the external body panels. This precision allowed panels to be fitted within 0.50mm, the process is a worldwide industry first. Following the mill-and-drill procedure, the frame was dipped into an electronically charged primer called cathodic elpo uniprime. After dipping, the Fiero chassis was never drilled or pierced again. The exterior body panels are not for safety and weigh only 175 pounds, yet total vehicle weight of a fully loaded 1988 GT with a full tank of gas with it driver is a whopping 3000 pounds. Exterior panels are one of the last things installed during assembly. Three types of Enduraflex body panels were used on the exterior: RRIM (fiberglass reinforced reaction injection molding), SMC (sheet molding compound) and TPO (thermoplastic olefin). All the exterior body panels were painted off the car as a set in proper relationship to each other to ensure paint consistency. Unlike most vehicles it is a running, driving, safe automobile without its outer skin. NHTSA crash tests gave the Fiero a 5-STAR frontal and side impact rating. As of 2005 it was the safest domestic car ever tested without an airbag, had one of the highest ratings ever recorded in GM barrier safety tests, and it was the only American car that passed strict Swedish rollover tests. With its space-frame construction, multiple crumple zones and side impact beams its basically a steel-caged tank. Like the original poster pointed out it does have a weakness, if T-Boned hard from the side at the rear, the rear section can detach from the occupant cage, but what automobile doesn't have a vulnerable spot in a world of unpredictable physics, most antique and classic cars are death traps by comparison. The team had big plans for the Fiero, prototypes were built with light weight aluminum space frames, turbo V6 aluminum engines were tested and V8 engines were on the drawing boards. That resulted in quicker performance than the Corvette with better handling and safety, at almost half the price. If the Fiero had a very bright future, why did GM stop producing it? Several reasons... 1) When the Fiero evolved into a true mid-engine sports car by 1988 as originally envisioned by Hulki with turbo V6 and V8 engines in the near future, the Corvette was on life support with dwindling sales. The GM Execs could not allow the Fiero to outperform its flagship sports car for almost half the cost. 2) Bad media press from the 1984 four-cylinder engine fires killed its reputation. 3) Insurance skyrocketed in the late 1980's on 2-seat automobiles. Even though GM spent $300 million ($600 million in todays money) to produce the Fiero, they forcasted a potential loss of $20 million between 1989 and 1995, thus claiming there was no future market for it and wanted to focus on the Corvette, Firebird and Camaro. The Fiero made a profit every year it was sold and was a success, its construction was revolutionary and it was the only mid-engined production sports car ever built by an American manufacturer until the recent FordGT came along. Carroll Shelby said "the Fiero is the ultimate modern day hot rod" because with its mid-engine layout, strong space-frame construction, and affordability. Some of the popular engine conversions for the Fiero include Chevrolet small block, Cadillac V8, and Buick 3800 Supercharged V6. With these engines it can produce 12 to 13 second quarter mile times and tear up a road course. The Fiero is one-of-a-kind and an affordable alternative to the expensive mid-engine sports cars.