The New York Times
November 26, 2014
NOTE: See Slide Show at link.
Article Quotes:
“I love Ferraris, but I didn’t think I’d be buying one anytime soon,” he said.
Mr. Taveras grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx, where his first car, a Pontiac Firebird, was stolen. While shopping for a new one, something else caught his eye at the Pontiac dealership.
“I saw the Fiero GT on a brochure and knew that was my car,” he said. “To me, it was like a semiexotic.”
The Fiero shared its midengine layout, with the motor between the rear wheels and the cabin, with exotic cars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. But it was closer in stature to the Toyota MR2 and Bertone X1/9 — originally known as the Fiat X1/9 — two other relatively affordable midengine runabouts.
The Fiero was in its final year in 1988, and with inventory scarce Mr. Taveras had to settle for a car with an automatic transmission rather than the 5-speed manual he wanted. He paid about $17,000 for a red GT, the top-of-line model with a V6 engine and a fastback roofline distinct from the standard car’s notchback design. It was his first new car.
When his Fiero was stolen six years later, Mr. Taveras replaced it with a 4-cylinder version, but that car proved unsatisfying. “It was slow, and the transmission was horrendous,” he said.
He then bought a 1988 Fiero Formula, a model that packaged the GT’s V6 engine and performance upgrades in the standard body. The last-year versions are the most desirable Fieros, he explained, because they gained a new suspension that addressed criticisms of the car’s clunky handling and harsh ride.
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“Pontiac designed that suspension for the first year, but G.M. wouldn’t give them the money to build it,” said Mr. Taveras, who is immersed in Fiero history.
In his view, General Motors’ internal politics blocked Pontiac’s plans to make the Fiero a more capable sports car. As Mr. Tavares tells it, Chevrolet lobbied to preserve its Corvette as the company’s performance-image leader, and those efforts kept Pontiac from giving the Fiero anything more powerful than a Chevy-designed, 140-horsepower 2.8-liter V6. The standard engine, a coarse Pontiac 4-cylinder known as the Iron Duke, made some 45 fewer horses.
Mr. Taveras next showed off his large two-car garage. He called it a main selling point for the house that he and his wife, Noemi Galloza, a nurse, bought five years ago in a quiet suburban pocket of this city. The couple spent spare time over three years converting it into a workshop for the Fiero — or Fieros. Mr. Taveras owns two.
Parked next to his red Fiero Formula, which is undergoing a restoration, is a red 1988 GT nearly identical to the one stolen from him two decades ago. This one, too, has an automatic transmission, but also the bonus of the optional T-top roof with removable panels. He bought the GT eight years ago and restored it, doing all the mechanical work himself.
November 26, 2014
NOTE: See Slide Show at link.
Article Quotes:
“I love Ferraris, but I didn’t think I’d be buying one anytime soon,” he said.
Mr. Taveras grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx, where his first car, a Pontiac Firebird, was stolen. While shopping for a new one, something else caught his eye at the Pontiac dealership.
“I saw the Fiero GT on a brochure and knew that was my car,” he said. “To me, it was like a semiexotic.”
The Fiero shared its midengine layout, with the motor between the rear wheels and the cabin, with exotic cars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. But it was closer in stature to the Toyota MR2 and Bertone X1/9 — originally known as the Fiat X1/9 — two other relatively affordable midengine runabouts.
The Fiero was in its final year in 1988, and with inventory scarce Mr. Taveras had to settle for a car with an automatic transmission rather than the 5-speed manual he wanted. He paid about $17,000 for a red GT, the top-of-line model with a V6 engine and a fastback roofline distinct from the standard car’s notchback design. It was his first new car.
When his Fiero was stolen six years later, Mr. Taveras replaced it with a 4-cylinder version, but that car proved unsatisfying. “It was slow, and the transmission was horrendous,” he said.
He then bought a 1988 Fiero Formula, a model that packaged the GT’s V6 engine and performance upgrades in the standard body. The last-year versions are the most desirable Fieros, he explained, because they gained a new suspension that addressed criticisms of the car’s clunky handling and harsh ride.
Continue reading the main story
“Pontiac designed that suspension for the first year, but G.M. wouldn’t give them the money to build it,” said Mr. Taveras, who is immersed in Fiero history.
In his view, General Motors’ internal politics blocked Pontiac’s plans to make the Fiero a more capable sports car. As Mr. Tavares tells it, Chevrolet lobbied to preserve its Corvette as the company’s performance-image leader, and those efforts kept Pontiac from giving the Fiero anything more powerful than a Chevy-designed, 140-horsepower 2.8-liter V6. The standard engine, a coarse Pontiac 4-cylinder known as the Iron Duke, made some 45 fewer horses.
Mr. Taveras next showed off his large two-car garage. He called it a main selling point for the house that he and his wife, Noemi Galloza, a nurse, bought five years ago in a quiet suburban pocket of this city. The couple spent spare time over three years converting it into a workshop for the Fiero — or Fieros. Mr. Taveras owns two.
Parked next to his red Fiero Formula, which is undergoing a restoration, is a red 1988 GT nearly identical to the one stolen from him two decades ago. This one, too, has an automatic transmission, but also the bonus of the optional T-top roof with removable panels. He bought the GT eight years ago and restored it, doing all the mechanical work himself.