MACCAN – A total of 6,849 Pontiac Fiero GT’s rolled off the assembly line in Pontiac Michigan in 1988 and one of those cars is owned by Maccan’s Amos Perry.
“The car was bought here at Bordertown (car dealership) in Amherst by a woman from Sackville,” said Perry. “She sold it to a gentleman in Moncton when it had 20,000 kilometres on it.”
Perry bought the car five years ago at an estate sale and is the third person to own the vehicle.
“The car was never touched. It’s all original,” he said.
Perry had the Fiero on display during the 21st annual Cumberland Car Show Sunday at Robb’s Centennial Complex in Amherst.
The mid-engine, two-seater was built by Pontiac from 1984 to 1988. The first year of production was plagued with problems, including catching fire.
“I think it had something to do with the manifold being too close to the fire wall,” said Perry.
The car had several upgrades throughout its five years of production and by 1988 the GT had new suspension and a 2.8-litre, V-6 engine, which helped it gain respect in the sports car community.
“One of the reasons they stopped making them was because they had to put turbo’s in them and they were outrunning the Corvette, and GM said, ‘we can’t have that,’” said Perry. “It was a low-end car outrunning a high-end car, so they dropped the line.”
The car came off the assembly line with 145 horsepower but, “the gentleman who had it before, so I’m told, put a chip in it that gives it 75 more horsepower, which you don’t need,” said Perry.
Perry said it’s a fun car to drive.
“I like the performance,” he said. “It’s an excellent handling car.”
But the low-siting car can be difficult to get in and out of.
“It’s no problem for a younger person but for an older person, like myself, its not as accessible,” he said.
Perry takes the Fiero out for Sunday drives and displays it at car shows, and he said it always gets a lot of attention.
“A lot of people ask about it because you don’t see many of them around,” he said. “You see the odd one here and there but they’re not really common anymore.”
Perry has no plans to sell the Fiero.
“It will always be here,” he said. “My son will take it when I’m done with it.”
Fiero fact: Fiero means proud in Italian, and wild, fierce and ferocious in Spanish.
dmathieson@amherstdaily.com
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