Autoblog

It's hard to believe that it's been two decades since the Pontiac Fiero went away. The Fiero was a project that began with great promise and ultimately dissolved into the pre-Lutz era corporate politics that was General Motors in the late '80s. Early spy photos showed a hot looking little two-seat mid-engine sports car. Rumors early on had it powered by an aluminum block 2.9L turbo V6. Unfortunately, the prospect of a mid-engine Pontiac that would out run a contemporary Corvette did not sit well with the bow-tie boys. The result was the first production iterations of the Fiero being neutered to within an inch of their lives.

By the time Pontiac fixed what was wrong with the early models, its reputation was so bad that no one would touch it any more. Over time, surviving Fieros have undergone all manner of visual and mechanical transformations coming out looking like faux Lamborghinis and Ferraris. They have even been stuffed with heavily boosted small block V8s. The one missing project that we haven't seen is probably the one closest to the original vision for the car.

Take an original four-cylinder Fiero body. Add the upgraded suspension from the last '88 GTs. Then insert the 2.0L turbo direct-injected engine used in the Solstice GXP and other cars mated to a six speed gearbox. That engine is now available in front-wheel-drive form in the Chevy HHR SS, so it should be doable. A Fiero with 260 hp and 260 lb-ft peaking at 2,000 rpm, what a deal! Any takers?

Click on the image for more pictures of the Fiero Car Boat

Is there anything that the lowly Pontiac Fiero can't be turned into? We've seen Fiero off-roaders, Fiero Ferrari's and some Fiero conversions that completely defy classification. This latest find is not a driver, but a floater. Proving the phrase, "Where there's a will, there's a way," is the Fiero Car Boat. Judging from the pictures, somebody with some not-so-mad-fiberglassing skills has managed to make a Fiero watertight (at least we hope so!) and hang an outboard motor on the rear-end stern. The seller refers to his Fiero Car Boat as "The Best Advertisement Money Can Buy." Perhaps this is true... just so long as the amount of money being spent is very, very low. Some good news: it does come with a nice trailer. Thanks for the tip, Josh!


[Source: eBay Motors]