Today's car of the day is Ertl's 1984 Pontiac Fiero 2M4.
The Pontiac Fiero was a mid-engined sports car that was built by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1984 to 1988. The Fiero—meaning "proud" in Italian and "wild", "fierce", or "ferocious" in Spanish—was designed by Hulki Aldikacti as a Pontiac sports car. The Fiero was the first two-seater Pontiac since the 1926 to 1938 coupes, and also the first mass-produced mid-engine sports car by a U.S. manufacturer. Many technologies incorporated in the Fiero design such as plastic body panels were radical for its time. Alternative names considered for the car were Sprint, P3000, Pegasus, Fiamma, Sunfire, and Firebird XP. The Fiero 2M4 (2-seat, Mid-engine, 4-cylinder) was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1984. The 1984 Fiero was the Official Pace Car of the Indianapolis 500 for 1984, beating out the new 1984 Chevrolet Corvette for the honor.
370,168 Fieros were produced over the relatively short production run of 5 years; by comparison, 163,000 Toyota MR2s were sold in its first 5 years. At the time, its reputation suffered from criticisms over performance, reliability and safety issues. Today however, compared to less adventurous attempts at two-seaters such as the Ford EXP, the unique style of the Fiero compared to other American cars has left it a cult following as a collectible car. It remains a popular chassis for rebodies and even electric conversions.
For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Pontiac Fiero
I apologize for the poor photo quiality. My camera does not like red or black cars, I've noticed (and the lighting apparently was not up to normal standards, either). This well-worn example is a recent purchase from old442dude (thanks Eric!) and marks the first example of this casting in my collection. Having recently written an article on Fieros for the Collector's Corner portion of the site, I felt it needed to join my collection (and these pics will join that thread, momentarily). Overall, however, there are better Fieros in small scale. A few years back GreenLight had a series called Pace Car Garage and I was really hoping it would continue. They never got around to the Fiero, but if the series ever makes a comeback I hope they do it!
1984 was the first production year for the Pontiac Fiero, beginning production in August 1983. In an effort to sell the car as being economically sensible, GM equipped and sold the Fiero as a commuter car; however, the marketing build up leading to initial release indicated anything but a regular commuter. The car also proved uncomfortable for some drivers because of the lack of power steering.
1984 was the only year in which the Limited "Indy Pace Car" edition, consisting of an Indianapolis 500-themed option package on SE-model vehicles, was offered (excepting 1985, in which the package was specially reissued). Approximately 2,000 of these vehicles were sold. The Indy had aero body cladding and new front and rear fascias that would be used on the 1985 GT. Only the underpowered 4-cylinder engine was available, though a few prototypes could be seen driving around the Greater Detroit area with a unique periscope-style inlet sprouting from the engine compartment and curving up and over the roof. This "periscope" style inlet was used on the actual Indy Pace Car Fieros that appeared at the 1984 Indianapolis 500. This inlet scoop, and the 2.5 liter Super Duty engine that they fed, were not available on the production model pace car replicas.
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