Our hopes of one day seeing a new Pontiac Fiero aren't all that good, but don’t tell that to the man behind the @wb.artist20 account on Instagram. The account is full of automotive renderings, specifically modern interpretations of classic vehicles that are no longer around. There’s a lot of impressive work in that account, but one, in particular, caught our eye — and made us long for the Fiero’s return.
What was the Pontiac Fiero like?
Unfortunately, production quality couldn’t keep up with the number of models that were produced. Despite its popularity, the Fiero suffered from a myriad of issues, particularly to its performance — a no-no for a “performance” car — and all-around reliability.
Pontiac decided on continuing with a second-generation model and the Fiero has been largely lost to the history books until the last few years when the model started evolving into a classic piece of American sports car history.
The rendering looks impressive, doesn't it?
The front section is a good example of that. The knife’s edge nose — a design hallmark of that era — remains intact, as does the sloping hood that became one of the Fiero’s most distinctive design attributes. Conspicuous by their absence, though, are the pop-up headlamps. They’re gone now, replaced by thin LEDs that are encased in a slit-like headlamp setup.
That’s a familiar design approach these days. The front grille is also a staple of recent design methodologies, and putting them all together creates an impressive front end design that doesn’t scream for attention, but captures it anyway.
The angular roof is another design staple of 1980s performance cars, and, lo and behold, the rendering features the same design. That’s a hat tip to the Fiero’s OG design. The sloping C-pillar stretches to the back where the truncated rear end hosts a spoiler, as was the case in the original Fiero.
Will we see the Pontiac Fiero return?
We’ve learned that the saying “never say never” applies far more often in the auto industry than we think, but it is hard to see the Fiero make a comeback anytime soon.
There’s no way that General Motors will buck that trend and bring back a model without doing all the proper procedures to ensure that it will be a successful model. Besides, you can argue that before GM brings the Fiero back, perhaps it could bring the Pontiac brand back first. We know that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, so drop those hopes of ever a new-age Pontiac Fiero in the foreseeable future.
As exciting as the thought is, it doesn’t make a lot of sense from a business perspective, especially for an auto brand that has been hit hard by the pandemic. For now, enjoy this rendering as much as you can. It’s likely the best we can hope for at the moment.