no it was the Banshee , which wound up being the firebird styling cue . http://www.motortrend.com/classic/features/12q1_1965_pontiac_banshee_xp_833/ the fiero body was a clean sheet design using already available drivetrain parts . Pontiac R&D was the fore runner of alot of the items used in Gm engines . if you look at the O/T Ls motor you can look back into pontiac R&D and find the same style design of blocks they were working on in the 1960s , now used today .
GM started on the downward slope with the introduction of the 1971 cars. Vega debacle comes to mind. The full size line with common suspension was the beginning. Chevrolets started having components designed to carry a Cadillac in suspension. Increased costs for Chevy, probably lesser for B-O-P-C lines. Commonality of engines due to emissions, less money to certify one engine vs five. Then came the cookie cutter cars of the late 70's-early 00's. Not to mention the reign of Roger Smith, a financial guy all the way. Bob Stempel was the last car guy until Bob Lutz came along, see how short Stempel's term was. I could go on a whole new rant about the short sightedness of Smith, just to say that he decimated a large and diverse corporation involved in many facets of transportation. To say in a few words, GM went along for over a century, two World Wars, The Great Depression, countless Recessions, the freewheeling times of William C. Durant that made GM precarious in it's early years only to be brought to it's knees by a combination of events including the final "rescue" by the Federal Government. And now it's coming out that the Federal Government wanted Pontiac to go away as part of the rescue.
I'm convinced the Fiero was a consumer driven test mule to try out the plastic body cladding on a steel base form so they could "make it right" before coming out with it on the Saturn cars. Also, Dealers didn't want anything to do with Fiero because they only had a lousy 6% mark up over cost. Hell, the State made more profit in sales tax than the dealer did on the sale!
When I was a kid my dad bought Pontiacs...a 'black 48, a black 50, a white 52 and a pale yellow 55 catalina hardtop. I grew up with 'em and I loved 'em. I've had 11, 55-57 Pontiacs and a few 40s Pontiacs. My 34 ford coupe has a '57 Pontiac engine bored 1/8th inch to 1958 specs...370 cu. in. Jahns pistons, big valve heads, lumpy cam, dual quads, 5 speed, quickchange rear...should be a fun way to carry on the Pontiac name. Wish I could have found a nice 33 Pontiac 3 window coupe body but the 34 ford [converted to 33 front sheetmetal] is lighter and good lookin.
firechicken got sold toa guy in chicago,likes my work much better car than the one he got screwed by getting it from e-bay.between the two pontiac will live on.
I'm tyring to keep a few of them alive. These are the ones that are driveable. Got four more that are still projects.
@truckpoint ya I just wento to firechicken and bought a reatend he has some nice 70 trans ams Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!