 |
|
Guy Fiero - Prologue |
Pick One: Prologue
|
|
This story starts like many others: Heartbreak. I mentioned in the Mr. Saturn page that he helped me through a breakup at some point, which is true, however he wasn't the only one. In times like these, a man may make some changes in his life to get his mind off things. Some will hit the gym, others may steal a decorative blue instrument from a restaurant... As for me, I decided the best course of action was to buy a really cool, completely impractical car from the 80s. Now, why a Fiero? Just to address the elephant in the room, yes, of course I watched Ronald Finger's Fiero Restoration, and it was indeed my introduction to the Fiero. However, before you label me a basic bitch & fake Fiero fan, I really do think the Fiero is quite an interesting car. In many ways, the Fiero is the "Proto-Saturn". It pioneered the same spaceframe construction and plastic body panels that the early Saturns became known for. It was also a car that shouldn't have existed. They were making some pretty major innovations on a shoestring budget (and it shows in many places). The Fiero was the only mid-engined car mass-produced in America, until the C8 Corvette came out at least. GM executives fought this car every step of the way (more evidence that GM is conditioned to kill everything good in the world, lest we forget the EV1). Despite everything, the Fiero managed to make it to dealerships, though not without some scars. Just about every shortcoming on this car is thanks to GM's meddling. In a way, you can hardly blame it. Enough about Fieros in general, what about my Fiero? After some searching on Facebook Marketplace, I found a car that was in less than perfect condition (typical for Fieros if you know them). However, it was well within my price range, so I decided to go for it anyways. That guy ghosted me BUT THEN I found an absolutely gorgeous example:
This is a 1984 Fiero SE, with the 2.5L "Iron Duke" I4, paired with the 4-speed manual transmission. Anybody who knows about these cars will recognize how uncommon this is. Just about every Fiero nowadays, especially the red ones, have completely destroyed paint. Those same people will also recognize this as the original Amazon Fire car, as this was the model that just loved bursting into flames, causing the famous mass-recall that killed the Fiero.
They even gave owners this super-slick sticker to place above the gear shift, just to remind you of the mortal danger you are presently in. If you're big into GM history, you may even recognize the Iron Duke as the same engine that powered the Grumman LLV, more widely known as the USPS Mail Truck. Obviously I had to have it. It was quite a bit more money than my first choice, but through the power of some Quick Math I decided that it would probably be cheaper than getting a crappy one repainted. Not only that, but the guy seemed pretty legit as well. He made a point to mention that he was a professional mechanic, so I was feeling pretty good.
|
|
