hey guys if no one knew this before I found out the rims on the 90 Prototype are made of like a High strenth plastic. Not aluminum. the President of the Cleveland Fieros gave me this info. And he got that info and also got to see one up close from a guy who has one of the extra rims from the prototype. I guess other car companies were experimemting with the plastic rim idea too.
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04:27 AM
tednelson83 Member
Posts: 1993 From: Santa Clarita, California, USA Registered: Jul 2002
------------------ 1985 Pontiac Fiero 2.5 SE, 214,000 miles and still runing!!! * 6x9" speakers in the dash * * 4 corner KYB * sequential turn signals * G/A brakes on rear only * Dodge Shadow Spoiler more pics of my 85 can be found here
1987 Pontiac Fiero GT, 131,000 miles! not running.....yet!
hey guys if no one knew this before I found out the rims on the 90 Prototype are made of like a High strenth plastic.
i have never heard of plastic rims before, but when you look at the second pick posted above, at the silver edge of the rim. it looks remarkabley like there is clear coat over aluminum with the tell-tale clearcoat crazing we all know and love
[This message has been edited by FieroMonkey (edited 11-06-2003).]
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10:45 AM
GTFiero1 Member
Posts: 6508 From: Camden County NJ Registered: Sep 2001
plastic rims? sounds like a stupid design if you ask me! plastic gets brittle and breaks. and on a sports car that will get thrown around i wouldnt want to be riding on plastic.
My 79 Camaroe(sp?) Berlinetta had aluminum/rubber rims. The rim was aluminum and it had a rubber webbing for the center. Still looked good after 20 years. Rubber is durable and wont rust. Also minor curb hits wouldent kill the rim because the center would flex.
------------------ 85 GT 4 speed 2.8L auto X'er
[This message has been edited by red85gt (edited 11-06-2003).]
[This message has been edited by red85gt (edited 11-06-2003).]
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06:23 PM
hyperv6 Member
Posts: 6090 From: Clinton, OH, USA Registered: Mar 2003
Ok here is the whole story on the Plastic wheel that I held in my hands last Sunday. First the wheels pictured here are not the plastic wheels. The plastic wheel is of a 5 thick spoke design with 10 thin spokes in between with Pontiac engraved on on spoke. They are silver in color. If anyone has pictures of the red clay GTP they are on it in some pictures. I have seen these wheels before in 1985 when a Goodyear tire engineer had them on his 1985 GT. The car is still around and the wheels are still on it as of about 2 years ago. If I can stop him I will buy them if I can. I beleive even though his are the same style his were aluminum. When I was told of a plastic wheel on the phone I assumed it was a mock up. Well when I got there I found it was a usable wheel. We know this much, they were looking into the wheels but we are not sure why. This wheel is not much if any lighter than an aluminum one but there is slightly less unsprung weight involved. Cost might be cheaper but we are unsure how much. Shelby was looking into plastic wheels in the 85-87 time frame for the Shelby CSX Shadows but they were never offered by Mopar. There is only one Plastic wheel that we know of and no it's not for sale. The gentleman who has this does not want to be Identified, Sorry! If I can post a picture later I will. I have a front, back and side view. Needless to say I was shocked and never imagined something like this was out there. by the way when I post the pictures the Front looks like an aluminum wheel. I had to knock on it to hear the plastic thud and the back has a plastic marbled look. By the way I also found from this gentleman and Jim Mattison from GM historic services that GM considers the GTP a 1989 not a 1990 as I have thought. They also as of 1985 were going to offer 4 models, a coupe, SE [which may have been changed to a Formula later], GT and a GTP. The GT was a stripped down GTP much like a Formula is to a Trans Am. I will post more on what paperwork I saw later.
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09:32 PM
hyperv6 Member
Posts: 6090 From: Clinton, OH, USA Registered: Mar 2003
No supercharger or turbo. At least in the 1989. The 24 valve 3.4 was what they were looking at and that is what is in the GTP. If the car had lived It is hard to say what may have been. The 60 degree 24 valve engine was a dud for GM and they droped it only after a few years. The Quad 4 was listed as replacing the Iron Duke. The I saw paperwork was dated Feb 5th 1988 and laid out different ways to save the car and the base line was kill the p car. They took the cheap way out to save money. I wish I could have copied it but I was not able.
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09:55 PM
Nov 7th, 2003
fierobear Member
Posts: 27083 From: Safe in the Carolinas Registered: Aug 2000
FYI, GM may have been calling the prototype, or model, by different names. In the buildup video of the prototype, they always refer to it as a 90. Maybe different departments, or maybe they changed plans from 89 to 90 for the introduction of the redesign.
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03:15 AM
hyperv6 Member
Posts: 6090 From: Clinton, OH, USA Registered: Mar 2003
Well as of today Jim Mattison who is the Pontiac historian said the GTP they have is called a 1989. The car is also now owned by GM Special Vehical division not Pontiac as in the past. I am ok with the 1990 date since that is what I alway thought it was myself.
