This Indy has come a long way as Chester and Elvira can attest to
Here is how it looked not long after Chester and Elvira picked it up late last year:

As you can see, a previous owner before Chester and Elvira had decided to repaint it. Unfortunately they did a bad job on the paint and even painted the ground effects. The paint was now badly chipped and cracked all over. BUT, it had potential.
As it was one of the rarer 4 speed Indy models (today less than 25 manual transaxle models are estimated to still exist) and it has the very rare 4:10 gears, this was an Indy needing some TLC. As Chester and Elvira had many irons in the fire allready, they were looking to move the Indy and the Wedgy (the Gold base model 86 with T-Tops).
After offering it to me, my Dad and I made arrangments to pick it up, promising that in return we would take real good care of it. The drive home was very eventfull, and I will save that story for another time.

[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 07-26-2002).]

Lietterally the night before the "FINE '02" show in Sturbridge we were adding the finishing touches to this sweet car. I will show some in process and during sanding and painting pics soon.
Here are some after pics:

now im confused, you said rare 4-speed. But theres another guy who has the rare automatic. I see the auto as being rarer because i always see 4-speed Indy's for sale

The manuals are extremely rare, as they converted a lot more automatics than standards as you can see from the article clipping below.

"Some of the behind the scenes information includes the fact that because the larger rear spoiler could not be manufactured fast enough, only 1,550 pace car replicas were actually produced, not 2000, of which only 200 were equiped with the manual transaxle. Manufacturing difficulties also prevented the polished aluminum wheels (containing 3" openings) used on the real pace cars from being used on the replicas. The front and rear fascia were unique to the pace cars in 1984, and then were introduced on the GT model in 1985.
All pace cars have a VIN between 236247 and 276509, but other 1984 Fieros are included in this groupe too, because the pace car replicas were produced by taking 10 or so white 1984 SE's off the line at a time and hauling them accross the railroad tracks to a building where the front and rear fascia were removed and replaced with the aero design package. Then, the custom interior, engine appearance package, special wheels, etc. were installed. When these cars were done and put in storage, another group would be converted.
Today, less than 500 1984 Indy pace car replicas are estimated to exist in good condition. (Of that only about 25 manual transaxle models are estimated to still exist in even good condition). Many have been wrecked, altered, or driven to high mileage and high wear, many times the 100,000 + miles.

This is the reason why I pick the 1984 Fiero pace car replica to be another collector car on a par with the 1953 corvette or the 1955 Thunderbird. - HH"

This article was done by Hoot Hooton, the curator of the American Fiero Museum back in 1995. Also keep in mind that since this article was done back in 1995, those numbers are now estimated to be possibly even that much lower as that was 7 years ago now.

Steve

Steve- First off, I do agree that the 4spd Indy's are far more rare than the Autos (that's obvious when you look at the numbers)- but as to there being only 25 or fewer manuals remaining... and maybe even fewer due to time? I think that's somewhat optimistic from a collector's standpoint. I think that easily 75-100 would be more accurate- and instead of the number diminishing over time, I feel that it would be the same- or even increase due to people (such as yourself) who take the time to fix and/or restore just such a car.

Nice work BTW... I'd like to see some more pics of the "work-in-progress" as well as hear more about what you actually did to restore the car to it's current condition!

I was thinking the same thing as you when I read that article. I wonder who may know more true accurate numbers at this point?

I will post the "in process" pics as soon as I get a chance

Steve

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http://kelleyfamilyfieros.50megs.com

Nice work! The car looks good!

Like a couple folks above, I also question the "200 of 1500 manual transmission Indy Pace Cars" figure. Does anybody know where this originally came from?

After hearing this figure over the past 10 years and watching the Indy market I don't believe it. Since the Indy is one of the Fieros I plan to own some day I keep an eye out for them. I see about half and half automatic vs. manual, about what you would expect for any model Fiero.

I don't know about HH's definition of "good", but I've probably seem at least a dozen or two manual Indies for sale in the past five years. That leads me to believe there are more than 25 remaining.

Does anybody have any more information about Indy production numbers?

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Doug Chase
Duvall, WA
'88 Fiero Formula 5-spd (autocrosser)
'88 Fiero GT 5-spd (daily driver)
'85 Fiero GT 4-spd (rally car)

Painting the center caps:

After painting the rims, I took a power drill with a metal polishing brush and polished up the outside rim:

I also added the red paint to the Pontiac logo:

Here are the other three ready to mount:

you painted it out in your yard? happy with the results? i'd love some tutorial on that procedure.

quote Originally posted by MinnGreenGT: Steve- First off, I do agree that the 4spd Indy's are far more rare than the Autos (that's obvious when you look at the numbers)- but as to there being only 25 or fewer manuals remaining... and maybe even fewer due to time? I think that's somewhat optimistic from a collector's standpoint. I think that easily 75-100 would be more accurate- and instead of the number diminishing over time, I feel that it would be the same- or even increase due to people (such as yourself) who take the time to fix and/or restore just such a car.

They can't be that rare. I own 2 manuals. My understanding is that the split was half and half.

Halfway through loading that page I was wondering.. HUGE! But well worth the wait, that is an extremely beautiful car.

JesterFox

It also has the 4:10 gears in it. I don't think ALL the manuals had that. I heard only like 200 did, but I don't know if that is true or not. Steve, you did an awesome job with it. No, we weren't the ones to paint it all white, that is just too tacky! If it weren't for all of the projects we have going on, we would have kept it, but we really want to start working on getting the 2+2 Fiero GT limo finished. Steve, if you want all of the pics we have of the Indy before, I will burn them to a cd, just let me know.

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Elvira
President, New England Fiero Association (NEFA)
Blue 87GT 5sp (my Baby!)
Black 86GT 5sp (Chester's)
86SC t-top 58k miles (For Sale)
87 4-seater (2+2)
88 T-top Formula!
85 GT autocrosser!

[This message has been edited by Elvira (edited 07-25-2002).]

Thanks Elvira

Gee, I hope in my little build up about how I got the Indy, no one thought that I had suggested that it was you and Chester who had done that crappy paint job on it That is why I stated it the way I did about "a previous owner"

Anyway, pics of it on a CD would be great.
The more before pics the better, as I am sure we will have a lot of after pics very quickly

The 200 number you had heard was the total number of manuals Pontiac converted from SE's to Indy's. I do not know if all the manuals were 4:10 or just some of them.

Steve

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http://kelleyfamilyfieros.50megs.com

[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 07-25-2002).]

I'm interested in the paint also, how did that work for you being outside and all, Everytime I have painted something outside, I've gotten bugs and dirt and everything else in the paint?

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85 GT 4 SPD
Accel 8mm wires
Accel 300+ Ignition box
Blaster Coil
NGK UR5
K&N
Short Shifter
Coulee Region Fieros member

The painting outside was fine. That is what wet sanding and buffing is for
Murphy's painting law states that any part of the car that is still wet or even sticky, is the exact spot a bug will happen to decide to land

Steve

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http://kelleyfamilyfieros.50megs.com

it's to bad i can't access this thread,being a fellow indy owner myself,i would of liked to have seen your pics,but web tv can't handle your pics iguess,cause i can't access it.
84 Indy 4 speed
86 GT
89 WS6 GTA 350 TPI

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Except for about 7000 econo coupes with the 3.32 ratio all of the other 1984 4 speeds had the 4.10 ratio. The 3.32 is relatively rare, unless of course you get an X-body trans mission which has the 3.32 but with the 0.81 top gear like the 4.10. (the 3.32 ratio Fiero had an extremely tall 0.73 top gear).

Oops, sorry got carried away. BTW both of these transmissions are 1984 only, the 3.65 ratio was used in the later V6s.

I found this web site: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Factory/4567/classifieds.html

And I saw this listed:
>>>>>>
For Sale: 1984  Fiero Indy Pace Car

Automatic pw, pl, tilt cruise, sunroof, white/gray
A must have for any collector. Located near Columbia, MO one of 1550 made.
needs a little work but runs great. Low book $5500 make offer
(car is in better than poor shape)

Call for more details (Mike) (573)682-1453
>>>>>>
Note that this person also mentions the 1,550 pace car production number as well, and not the 2000 that many thought was the number.
Also of interest is that this is an automatic

Steve

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http://kelleyfamilyfieros.50megs.com

I still believe that there are more than 25 manuals today. I originally thought they were all manual trannys until a few months ago when i checked out www.fierowarehouse.com . Im sure if you asked the forum who owns a manual indy you'll come over 25 with just the people here not to mention the people that arent on the forum

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--Adam--
1987 Blue GT 5-speed
IM AOL: GTFiero

Ok, what if there are actually around 50? Maybe 75? Even a 100 possibly?
That would still be a very low number of that Indy model still around wouldn't you say?

Given that this model is now over 18 years old, give it another 5 years or so and the 4 speed models at least are going to be even that much more difficult to locate in any kind of a reasonable price range for most of us. As certain Fiero models slowly become harder to come by, the prices will not only continue to go up on the low mileage near mint models, but they will also continue to go up on the lesser quality examples as well. I am starting to see that even now, as a search on the internet is already proving. That is great for those who are in a position to selling one, but for those looking to buy that is becoming another story. It is funny how we grumble about the current values of some cars, as we put a lot of time, effort and money ion them, and the return on investment is always a lot less. Though that is usually true in most cars in general, it seems to be even more true in the Fiero world. I think in some ways, seeing the values of some of the Fiero models starting to get up there a bit more now is a nice sign.

I would say that if anyone in Fiero land who is on any kind of reasonable budget (like most of us) and is seriously thinking of picking up a nice 4 speed Indy, you might want to not wait too much longer.

Just a few additional thoughts.

BTW: GTFiero1, where on the fierowarehouse.com site is the info that mentions anything about the Indy? I took a quick peak and didn't see much id anything

Thanks

Steve

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http://kelleyfamilyfieros.50megs.com

fiero5.

Glad to hear that i'm one of the elite 50 - 75 that have a four speed. these how many have the original tires on them (egale gt) with a second set of otiginal door and window stickers.

What kind of money would this car be worh today. I bought it 7 years, only drove it home (about 250 mi) and its been stored ever since.

later
Jimmy B.

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I would have to guess that those that still have the "original" Goodyear sneakers on them would be a very few low mileage models that may still be out there.
I take it yours may still have them?

I just found out that Firestone has aquired the rights to make an authorized Indy 500 white lettered tire. They are just becoming available to order as we speak.
I am going to buy a set as soon as I get some extra cash
What would be cooler than an Official Indy 500 pace car with Indy 500 tires on it?

Do you have any pics of your Indy you can send me to look at?

Steve

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http://kelleyfamilyfieros.50megs.com