Nathan James

Email: nathanjames@netslinger.com

I first fell in love with the Pontiac Fiero back in 1988. I was only about 3 years old at the time, but my Dad owned a 1984 Pontiac Fiero SE 4-speed, with an aero nose. Into my teens my Dad would tell me about his old Fiero and I had fond, if faded, memories of it. When I was 17 I finally started getting interested in cars when I got my license and my first car, a 1989 Suzuki Sidekick. The Sidekick was good as a A-to-B car, but it really wasn't fast or nice to look at. While looking around for a sports car to buy, my Dad reminded me of his old Fiero. After some searching, I found out that they came in fastback body styles, and I had to have 1. In January 2004 I went up to Chicago with my Dad and picked up a mint 1988 Fiero GT with 34,000 miles on it, with factory medium red metallic paint, automatic transmission, and most options. The car may have been overpriced, but when I got up there I fell it love with it. It looked so exotic, even next to the yellow Corvette also sitting in the guy's garage. Getting into it, it felt so low to the ground, and it accelerated much better than anything else I had driven up to that point in my life. Soon after I got the car, I found out about the Georgia Fiero Club, and I think I attended my first meeting in either February or March 2004.

Here's my '88 GT when I got it:

So far I've been committed to keeping this GT stock, but its been hard to do. When I was having the car aligned I found a bad shock, so I had the shocks replaced with KONIs, and I had some 1" lowering springs put in the front. At the same time I got some nice Exel 007 gunmetal 17x7.5 wheels that really helped compliment the car, I think they remind me of the stock black honeycomb wheels. Here it is now:

In 2005 I was driving a 2000 Camaro Z28 to school and leaving my GT in the garage, and I yearned for another Fiero, or at least a car with a manual transmission. While out of the country in November 2005 my Dad found a nice 1986 Fiero SE V6 with a 4-speed for sale. What was strange was that the car was exactly like my Dad's old '84 SE, right down to the body and almost matching the paint, except it had the more sought-after V6. It even had the headrest seats I wanted so badly. When I got back home I had a nice present sitting in the driveway, a '86 SE! This is my daily driver and possible project car, it's got somewhere above 132,000 miles on it (odometer is broken). So far I've had a rear swaybar put on by Don Hulse, a Cavalier Z24 brake conversion on the front, a 120 mph speedometer, '84 glass sailpanels, decklid-opener w/ '85 decklid, Pioneer stereo, 1" shorter shifter, black honeycomb wheels off my '88 GT, and R-134a A/C conversion done to the car. Eventually I'm hoping to get a 3800SC in the back with a 5-speed manual, KONI shocks and struts, 1" lowering springs all around, and a Corvette brake upgrade done. Here it is now: