The Pontiac Fiero was originally a concept by the late John Z. Delorean. It was designed to be a low-priced alternative to the famed Italian sports cars from companies like Lamborghini and Ferrari. Even the name Fiero is Italian for "proud."

General Motors did not want to make this car when it was first presented to them. They already had a 2 seat sports car, the Corvette, and they didn't want another car to cannibalize their own market. That turned out to be less of a problem than they realized because the Fiero would be small enough to not be considered a true sports car by most enthusiasts. It also was the perfect fit for a market that suddenly cared about fuel efficiency.

The weight distribution on the Fiero was something that sports car owners dream of. With a mid-engine, the weight is closer to 50-50 rear to front than on most front engine cars. That makes cornering much easier and more fun.

For 1984 to 1987, the Fiero was sold in base, Sport, SE, and GT trims. In 1984 the SE trim was also called the Indy on some models that were marked with special badges indicating that the Fiero was that year's pace car for the Indy 500. In 1988 there was also a Fiero Formula trim, which included the features of the Fiero GT but had the coupe body.

There were some engine problems on some Fiero models. They had a tendency to catch fire, but the problem was not as widespread as some might think. It was unfortunate that the Fiero name is so close to the word "fire," as the jokes just wrote themselves.

The Fiero has come to symbolize the affordable sports car of the 1980's. As I mentioned before, these cars have a huge cult following. Some have called them the most underrated cars of all time. They also have a body shape and layout similar to Ferrari and Lamborghini roadsters, which makes them the perfect donor car to add body kits and make clones (often illegal) of these cars.

The Fiero is hot on the used car market, unlike many cars of the 1980's. You can find them on places like eBay, along with more parts than you could ever hope to install in one lifetime. There are just so many things that you can do with these cars.