These have got to be owned by the same guy. I mean, this car is not exactly known for its longevity. It has its fans I'm sure, but not enough that two guys on the same block would own one. Both of these are the 1984 or 1985 model. One's a stick, the other automatic.
Surprising to see this nearly forty year-old Corvette in immaculate condition on the street, especially since it's from the very first year of the C4. In 1982, GM decided to move the 'Vette to fuel-injection, but the system it adopted proved troublesome, and collectors strongly prefer the 1985 and later Corvette with new port fuel-injected engine. This car was nothing like its mostly rock-simple predecessor, the previous Corvette Stingray dating back all the way to 1968. And that was certainly reflected in the price tag. In 1976, a Corvette could be had for a little over $6,000. I remember quite well the first 1984 Corvette I ever saw at a dealership. The sticker price was north of $25K, or $72K today.
General Motors sold a lot of bad products on its long road to eventual bankruptcy, and the Fiero was certainly one of them. Despite being a very profitable company in the 1980s, GM's design philosophy went something like this: Thanks mostly to bloated management bureaucracies, our company's cost to develop new products is ridiculously high. Therefore, to be competitive with the imports, we'll insist that new cars use assemblies and parts from other cars, and in general focus on making cars as cheaply as possible rather than as high quality as possible.
From curbsideclassic.com: "To keep costs down, ...existing components and
assemblies were begged and borrowed, like the front suspension straight
out of the Chevette."
The engine used was, "the unloved Iron Duke 2.5 four, an engine as agricultural as ever was built in the modern era." "It made all of 92 hp @ 4000 rpm. How’s that for getting the juices
flowing?"
"Unfortunately, the Iron Duke brought some serious shortcomings
to the Fiero, beyond its modest output and crappy sounds. It leaked oil
from the valve cover gasket, which dripped on the exhaust manifold and
caused some fires. But the more common reason for a growing rash of
fiery Fieros was the result of a mind-bogglingly stupid decision: not
enough engine oil capacity."
"It’s a well-known phenomenon that was repeated with so many new GM cars
during the non-golden era: lots of PR buildup, fluff advance reviews
from well-fed and entertained “journalists”, sales have a great first
year (the Citation sold 800k in its first year), and then watch the
slow-motion train wreck unfold as the thrill quickly wears off. Engine
fires are quite exciting, but even they get old after the first couple
of hundred."
Bonus: Ford Ranger pickup from the same era.
In 1981, you couldn't buy an American convertible. Chrysler brought back the ragtop in 1982, and GM and Ford quickly followed. These cars were unfortunately not designed and built as convertibles. They were instead finished coupes that were then sent to third-party companies who cut the tops off and added a few pieces of metal to strengthen the frames. So cars like the LeBaron pictured here as well as the Ford Mustang and Buick Rivera convertibles were quite expensive and not very durable. To Chrysler's credit, the next generation LeBaron introduced in 1987 was factory-built as a convertible.
I've certainly never before seen one of these with an aftermarket "continental kit" on the tail.
Some things get better with age. Chrysler's Town and Country models of the 1940s, cars with beautiful wood bodies, are highly-desired collectibles. On the other hand, cars with fake wood paneling made out of plastic and vinyl? These are not cars that turn heads; at least not in a good way. This car wasn't attractive when new, and now that time has had its way with it, well, the results speak for themselves.
In the 80s, Chrysler attempted to gaslight the public into believing that it's K-car platform could be adapted to pretty much anything. For example, the goofy-looking Imperial of 1989, with a limousine body grafted onto a too-small front-drive platform.
