Would you Believe 0-60 in 5.4 Seconds?
An optional GTP package delivered a muscular 240-bhp supercharged 3800, plus beefier four-speed automatic transmission, somewhat firmer suspension, stickier tires, modest decklid spoiler, and discreet identification. All models boasted standard all-disc antilock brakes and traction control, though the latter was denied GTPs until 1998, when a stouter system was adopted across the board. Topping the list were a zippy 0-60-mph time of 6.8 seconds, fine skidpad grip (0.79g), safe and predictable front-drive moves, a roomy and comfortable cabin with generally sound ergonomics, and lots of features for only about $25,000 delivered. Car and Driver had good things to say about the ’97 GTP sedan.
The division’s Pontiac, Michigan home plant, fully retooled as Fiero’s exclusive production center, happily cranked out nearly 137,000 of the ’84s. Fiero sales crumbled by more than 40 percent in the second model year, recovered to near 84,000 for ’86, then fell by nearly half for ’87. As it had with the X-cars, GM shot itself in the foot by selling a car before it was fully developed. But Fiero was flawed — heavy and thus sluggish with the standard 92-bhp, 151-cid Iron Duke four; little faster with the optional 173-cid V-6; low, cramped, noisy, and hard to see out of; hard to shift; stiff-riding; indifferently put together. Word got around quickly.
Chassis changes were equally extensive, though the all-coil suspension was much the same in concept. Unfortunately, those additions pushed sticker prices much higher. Given that, plus surprisingly strong, sustained competition from an aged yet seemingly ageless Ford Mustang, the brand-new Firebird was no sales smash. A base Firebird previously listing at $12,505 with automatic now started at $13,995 with manual. All 1993 Firebirds came with dual airbags and ABS, a sop to insurance companies and the high premiums that still dampened demand for many sporty cars. The factory changed too, with F-body production moving from Van Nuys, California, to a more modern GM plant in St. Therese, Quebec, Canada.
Firebird showed surprising sales strength in the ’80s, averaging some 100,000 per year through 1986. But that only reflected the renewed interest in performance cars that began around 1982, making that year’s all-new Firebird exceedingly well-timed. Though these ponycars were more alike than ever, Pontiac stylists under John Schinella maintained a distinctive Firebird look via a low-riding nose with shallow twin grilles and hidden headlamps — the latter a first for Firebird — plus full-width taillamps with a smoked lens on some models for a “custom” blackout effect. Inevitably, it shared a redesigned F-body platform with that year’s new-generation Chevy Camaro, striding a trimmer, 101-inch wheelbase.
The Trans Sport minivan was a peripheral player in the 1980s, generally drawing fewer than 30,000 yearly sales, a fraction of what the top-selling Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager achieved. Car and Driver likened the look to something out of “Star Trek.” Equally weird was a dashtop that stretched way ahead to a steeply raked windshield flanked by large, fixed triangular side windows ahead of the front doors. So, too, was the shared “dustbuster” styling, with a long pointy snout grafted onto a practical minivan box. All placed plastic-like body panels over a steel skeleton like the late Fiero, unique among minivans but debatable here. GM had missed the minivan mark with its new-for-’85 rear-drive Chevy Astro/GMC Safari, so it drew up a Chrysler-like front-drive platform for Trans Sport, a new Chevrolet Lumina APV, and a luxury-oriented Oldsmobile Silhouette.
