1986 Pontiac Fiero review from North America

Its important to note here that I bought this car from a junkyard and the engine that was in it at the time was blown. I also did all of the work myself, so no labour cost is factored in. All price estimates are in CDN.

Replaced engine with another Fiero engine. $200 and my time.

Replaced all of the brake lines, not because they needed to be replaced, I just felt better if I did them. $40.

Replaced brake pads, rotors and calipers all the way around. $500.

New fuel pump: $150.

Replaced clutch slave, installed new one to replace 19 year old original. $70.

Replaced lower outside transmission oil seal. $20.

Like I stated above I purchased this car from a junkyard as it was going to be scrapped.

When I hit the 10th grade I gained this affinity for Fieros. I don't know why or how, just one day that's all I found myself talking about.

I finally bought one in my final year of high school and stored it in my grandfathers garage while I fixed it up. My intentions originally were to modify it and make essentially an older car with brand new parts, a new high performance engine and some kind of modern styling. By the time I was done I had nothing close to that.

My grandfather passed away about 2 years into the project and I was forced to move my car out of his garage. With no where else to store it I had to rush to get the car road ready so I could drive it. I purchased a used engine and all of the parts I felt would not allow it to pass an Ontario Safety check and quickly replaced them.

I took the car in to get it safety checked and it passed first time through. I got insurance and drove it home that day.

This car has been my daily driver for 2 years now. I couldn't have asked for a more reliable vehicle. It has never once broken down and left me stranded on the side of the road. Which for being 20 years old I'm quite impressed.

I abuse this car. I constantly am flooring it, revving it into the red-line, taking hard turns and braking quickly. It has never once whined for me to stop. Which brings me to the engine. This car is so underpowered it is ridiculous. I get beat at stop lights by school buses. They whiz past me in a blur of yellow and black.

Because the engine is so underpowered I get great gas mileage. I hit at least 37 mpg on most tanks. I find I get about 40 on higher octane gas.

This car is good looking as well, for being 20 years old it still turns heads. Most people, and I honestly don't know how, mistake it for an Italian super car. I don't know how many times I hear "nice Ferrari" or "nice Lotus" in a week.

The interior is terrible by today's standards, but back then it was probably top notch. The seats are comfortable, the cloth tears easily, so I bought new leather seat covers for them, which fit snug and look beautiful. The speakers suck, so does the stereo, but I can live with that. The worst thing about the interior is the throw distance on the manual shifter. The distance between 1st and 2nd is at least 6 inchs. Which after a lot of traffic causes you to develop tennis elbow.

This car handles very well. I can hold tight turns at 60kms without feeling like the car is going to spin. The only problem comes when you do actually lose control. I took a corner hard in the rain once with older bald tires and I lost it. The car spun a full 540 and ended up on the other side of the road, facing the opposite direction, one tire in the grass and the other 3 on the shoulder. Luckily no one else was on the road at the time. So a rule of thumb, do not drive like an idiot in the rain.

Since I have been driving the car I have only replaced the clutch slave cylinder, the brake pads and a fan belt. That's it. A total of maybe $300.

Overall, this may be one of the best cars I will ever own. I don't intend to sell it any time soon, but I do intend to resume to original project once I have some storage space. If you have a chance, pick one of these up just as a fun weekend car. They are very cheap and if you can find the right person to work on it, they are easy to take care of.