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Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda; 1984 PONTIAC FIERO INDY PACE CAR EDITION.(Escape Roads)
Byline: ERIC TEGLER
With a proper budget and corporate support, the Pontiac Fiero would have been reliable from the start. With the right performance parts earlier, it could have rivaled the Chevy Corvette and outshone the imports. Had General Motors properly followed through, the Fiero should have sold in numbers to rival the Mazda Miata.
In a poignant way, this 1984 Indy Pace Car Edition owned by R.C. Sherman of Frederick, Maryland, represents the Fiero's lost promise. The Fiero actually beat the new C4 Corvette for the honor of pacing the Indy 500 that year. (It remains the only mid-engined car ever to pace the race.) With its aero nose and bored-out four-cylinder, the actual pace car made 232 hp and lapped Indy at more than 136 mph-but the Indy edition, like the debut base and Sport Fieros, couldn't hope to do so.
Instead, it received GM's 2.5-liter "Iron Duke'' inline-four developing a pedestrian 92 hp. The choice reflected GM's vision of the Fiero as an economical commuter that would help GM meet CAFE standards. Enthusiasts within Pontiac had longed for a sports car since losing out to Chevy and the Corvette in the 1950s. Finally given the green light for a two-seater in the late '70s, they tried the best they could to produce a fuel sipper with real sporting potential.
They began by selecting a mid-engine layout, the foundation of which was a nifty 600-pound, stamped-steel spaceframe. Impressive though this core was, a meager development budget dictated pairing it with existing parts for a "corporate kit car.''
The engine-bearing rear subframe ...
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