Don't feel so bad, man. My dad has a 35th Anniversary Camaro SS. 333hp, well over 300lbft of torque, 275/35/17 rubber, the works. I'm not a big fan of it, but it's a FAST car, you have to at least give it that.

The other day we were in it, and got spanked by a Neon. The guy just walked away from us. I don't think my dad *really* cracked the Camaro, but still, he pushed it reasonably hard, and the fact that a Neon was still able to pull on it is pretty darn impressive, IMO.

Have you seen those new Neon/SRT-4s on Dodge's website? Turbo I4, supposed to do 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. They look pretty nice, I must say.

 

Knock Fieros all you want. But it is a Top-5 car in my list of "dream project cars"

 

What are the other 4?

I had a friend in high school whose dad was REALLY into cars - he had an old '69 Super Bee he bought new, a '92 Talon Tsi/AWD, an old Hemi just sitting in the garage, and I think a Type SH Prelude. But interesting, he also had a Fiero, and really liked them. We all (the car people) used to listen to him wax poetic about the '63 Corvette, or Ferrari 308 GTSi, or etc. etc. etc... but when someone asked him "why the Fiero," his eyes would just glaze over, and he'd just say "I don't know, it's great." He had huge plans for hooking it up, but I think the insurance on all his various cars added up fast and he was forced to sell it. So it's not that I knock Fieros, per se, but just noting the various problems he had with it - and others too - while owning them. The best part, almost, of Hondas/Nissans/etc. is that they are incredibly reliable and well-constructed cars. Pontiac just never seemed to acheive that level of quality with the Fiero. But enough of my Fiero-explanation.
What *are* the other 4 cars on your list? That could almost be a separate topic...
Best

 

I was talking to some people in a parking lot and a guy came up trying to sell me his Fiero

 

Here is my Top 5 in no order.....

1) 1962 Chevy Nova II Pro-Street. Build up big block, tub out the read end, ect. Something like THIS is a perfect example. Still streetable, yet powerfull as all hell.



2) 1992-1995 Honda Civic hatchie. Fully built turbocharged B series block, gutted interior, the whole 9. Build it to run in the PRO FWD class. No street legal ride here. Trailer queen



3) 1986 Buick Grand National. There are a lot of people out there who do not know the potential of these cars. Kids nowadays see it as an old person's car. But build up the block, upgrade the turbo, do some head work and these cars are super sleepers. Another good eBay EXAMPLE



4) 1991 GMC Syclone. Turbo V6 AWD fun! Pretty much anything you would want to do can be done. They have a decent aftermarket, and working on one isn't too tough. I don't know how much I would do to one, or how far I would go, but the speed potential is quite nice.



5) 1987 Pontiac Fiero. Forget the stock engine. They make swap kits so you can drop in a V8! The car pictured below sports a 1995 GM LT1 I wouldn't go for the chop top. But with the V8 your power potential is huge! Plus, a 400hp. rear engine, rear wheel drive car would be an awesome street or track racer. Fieros are lightweight too. Of course I would repaint a stock one. They are all ugly colors. They also have kits to drop in the Northstar V8 from a Caddilac Either engine would make the Fiero fun as hell





I based my choices on a few things. Availability of parts for each car. Power potential. Difficulty of performing the modifications I would want to do. I also chose cars that were not extremely expensive to buy. Out of all these cars listed, any one of them can be bought in stock form, and in good condition for $15,000 or less. By keeping the price of the vehicle down, it leaves more $$ to spend on the mods.

 

Mike, you and I have VERY similar taste in cars! I'd get a grand national in a heart beat!

 

Just north of Damascus, where I live, is a long stretch of country land before Ashton and Olney, MD. In the middle of this stretch a man was selling a car on his lawn this summer - his race-ready Buick Grand Nation (88K on the frame, 15K on the motor) with beefed up internals (rods, pistons, etc.) and huge turbo... he said it ran low 12s, I didn't doubt it. The strange part was, the guy didn't seem at all interested in the car or racing or anything - just a very "blah" attitude. Maybe he was a relative or something. His price was $20K firm - my range at the time was $8K tops.

Here are my top 5 in the sub-15,000 category:
1) early-mid 80s Porsche 911 Turbo S. Can be had for under 15K, and with some work they can put out the power of the 996 and GT3 of today. Plus - that classic look.
2) fully decked out Del Sol with turbo B-series, but with no hints on the outside - no stickers, 3-piece rims, anything like that. It would be difficult to dounder 15, but possible... just barely. Seeing as I have a Del Sol now, makes me wish I had 15K to spend ...
3) 1968 Dodge Charger R/T with the 426 Hemi. I wouldn't even mess with it, just stock would be enough. In black, though. Has to be black, just like the car Dennis Hopper drives in the movie Blue Velvet.
4) GMC Typhoon. Very similar to your Syclone, but with a little more room, more passengers, more creature comforts, etc. 4.3L turbo V6 can be easily pushed up above the 400hp range... with some good tires, it could beat most cars out there.
5) One of the early 80s, 1st gen torpedo-shaped Rx-7s (cheap!) and then drop in a 3-rotor Wankel engine with hardy apex seals, supercharged, and painted white. It would push 300hp, in a super light-weight body with a look which nobody would immediately recognize.

lastly, here is a page that deals with dropping huge engines into little cars, like your Fiero plan:
http://members.tripod.com/~grannys/