The Pontiac Fiero is one of those cars with a weird history. The Fiero was a product of mid-to-late ’80s, and was spawned as an affordable sports car, that was also economical in an age of oil uncertainty. Unfortunately, the Fiero had a short life span of only four years total in production from ’84-’88. Doomed by a design flaw with the fuel tanks, and while GM had remedied the problem by 1987, the PR damage was done and the Fiero was destined for the automotive graveyard.
However, hindsight is 20/20, as the car always had a lack of respectable horsepower in all forms. When the Fiero first entered into production, the only engine option available was a 2.5 liter LR8 inline-four cylinder engine, with the not-so-great 2.8 liter L44 V6 engine following a year later.
Regardless, the Fiero we see before us today is no longer plagued by a gutless, fuel efficient engine from its time. In fact, this Fiero hosts a fierce new engine. In the video above brought to us by 1320video, this turbocharged 5.3 liter LS4 swapped Fiero lays down a very respectable 560-plus rear-wheel horsepower. And the best part is, it’s all accomplished on a stock junkyard engine and transmission. Like the original V6 engine powering this Fiero, the new power-plant also uses a GM transaxle which is presumably a 4T65-E HD automatic transmission. While it’s not our first choice for a high-horsepower transaxle, we have to admit that it seems to be holding up pretty well in this lightweight Fiero.
And while the main contribution to this Fiero’s power output is a 72mm turbocharger, we’re actually more impressed by the fact that this car still utilizes a mostly factory suspension. For a car with a 30 year old chassis, a slightly modified suspension and rear-end, and a good set of Nitto tires, this car runs 10s all day with no issues – and presumably cost the owner less than $15,000 to build.