Junkyard Find: 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula

by Murilee Martin

Published: April 8th, 2015

junkyard find 1988 pontiac fiero formula

Ah, the Pontiac Fiero. So much potential, but ultimately a disappointment for The General. I see the occasional Fiero during my wrecking-yard wandering, but it takes a special one to inspire me to shoot photos. This screaming yellow ’86 Fiero GT was one, and today’s final-year-of-production ’88 Fiero Formula is another.

GM saved money on the original Fieros by using a parts-bin suspension (Chevy Citation in the rear, Chevette in the front) and the not-so-sporty Iron Duke four-cylinder pushrod engine, instead of the Fiero-only suspension penned by the engineers and the bespoke aluminum V6 of their dreams. By 1988, though, the Fiero finally got the suspension intended for it… just in time for the end of production.

This car looks to have been picked over by junkyard vultures, but it’s still possible to see that it has all sorts of options. Air conditioning!

Is it possible that we’re looking at a 419,807-mile car here? The off-centeredness of the odometer numerals may indicate mechanical troubles rather than an incredible number of miles.

#1980s #1988 #1988PontiacFiero #California #DownOnTheJunkyard #Fiero #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #Pontiac #PontiacFiero

Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.

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5 of 96 comments

05lgt on Apr 08, 2015

I saw a pristine MR2 on the highway last weekend. Still see them on the road a bit. The Fiero would have killed its marketability off with quality issues, but the MR2 couldn't have helped. There was just no reason beyond loyalty to a logo to buy a Fiero over a 2 year older MR2.

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- PonchoIndian on Apr 09, 2015
  
  The Fiero sold better than any of its competition each and every year it was in production. The only reason the MR2 and others were still around is because they were sold globally so they had a larger market to sell to allowing them to have a business case to keep them going for a while longer, although not all that much longer.
  
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- PonchoIndian on Apr 09, 2015
  
  LGT, the same could be said for the MR2 as far as buying preferences. Unless you've owned one or both I'm not sure you can really throw that net and expect it to catch anything.
  
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- FreedMike on Apr 09, 2015
  
  @PonchoIndian The MR2 actually was sold until 2005 in the United States, so it hung on for quite a while. But, yeah, all of the other Fiero competitors around the same time (Nissan NX, Honda CRX/Del Sol, Mazda MX3, Geo Storm, etc) all died by the mid or late '90s. Setting the Fiero's design issues aside, I'm sure GM could see the handwriting on the wall, and decided not to spend more money on any re-designs. My theory is that the Mitsubishi Eclipse / Ford Probe killed them all.
  
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Engine_block on Apr 30, 2015

hi im just wondering although i doubt you'll read this but im collecting the badges/emblems from cars and i was wondering if you could help me out because i see in your posts cars that i would never see in my area

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