Soapbox


It is a shame how the Pontiac Fiero has come to stand for a failure.
Too many people have been ignorant to the accomplishments of this little
2-seater.  Although the Fiero was not some ultra exotic sports car
with a super fast engine, it was a work of successful production engineering.
The car was built with standard features way ahead of its time.  No, these
things weren't exotic features but they were very rare for a production car.
The Fiero suffered because someone at GM got scared.  It was unfamiliar 
ground and the risk was unforeseen.  The Fiero's future became ambiguous and 
someone, (I'll bet not an engineer), pulled the plug.
Now it seems like all these Fieros out on the road today are shunned by 
Pontiac enthusiast (not all).  Pick up copy of the Pontiac magazine and
there is rarly a Fiero picture let-alone an arcticle.  Pontiac seems
only to claim this abandon car when something good is said or a perfect,
gorgeous GT is spotted.  When approaching the dealer about working on a
Fiero, they act as if they will contract some killer virus the minute the
wrench touches anything on a Fiero.  But when the dealer has one for sale,
all you hear is "Collector Car", "Investment", "Worth something someday"
bla, bla, bla.....
The Fiero is no world-class sports car.  Nor can it kick everyone's butt
on the road.  The Fiero IS a very nice sports car.  It IS different and
it differences is what make the Fiero a truely special car.  Its ability
to stand-out and not be just another car is what's so alluring about the
Fiero.  So when people put-down the Fiero, it just adds to the fact that
this cars is truely different and its differences is what makes it so 
special.

Brian K. Heston
bheston@sota-oh.com
1998