• Fall 1978—Product planners at Pontiac Division propose a two passenger sports car.
     The First Fiero                   
  • January 1979—Under the direction of Pontiac engineer Hulki Adlikacti, a project team begins developing a two-seat commuter car with high gas mileage.
  • August 1980—Development of the code-named P-car stalls as Robert C. Stempel departs as general manager of Pontiac Division.
 The First Fiero
  • Feb. 25, 1983—Pontiac announces pilot program to build the P-car, to be sold in the 1984 model year and called Fiero, an Italian word meaning "very proud."
  • July 18,1983—Production begins at the former Fisher Body plant in Pontiac.
 The First Fiero
  • Sept.12,1983—The Fiero goes on sale.
  • 1984—The Fiero is a hit. Pontiac sells 101,820 units in the 1984 model year and adds a second shift at the Fiero plant.
  

 
Designers gave the car a sporty look by placing the engine behind the passenger compartment and sharply sloping the nose. But the earliest Fieros were powered by cast-iron, 4-cylinder engines that lumbered from 0-60 mph in 12.5 seconds. "The car was not in harmony with itself," said Jay Wetzel, Pontiac's chief engineer from 1982-84 and now Saturn's vice-president of engineering. In its first two years, Fieros success surprised the industry.

Its 1984 model year sales of 101,820 were twice those of any previous two-seat sports car in America. That caused GM to ratchet up Fieros annual production target from 50,000 to 100,000... they underestimated. Hog Lund conceded, Pontiac had to make design compromises because the Fiero was developed on a shoe-string budget of $410 million

 

        

 
Back To The History Index