V8 Archie helped in mating the Chevy to the Fiero transaxle
Mirage is an apt moniker for Euro-Works' car, since what you think you see is not really what you do see. This exotic looker represents what the lowly Pontiac Fiero aspires to be. Euro-Works modified a stock Fiero chassis and suspension and wedged in a 350-cid V8, with the help of V-8 Archie hardware, then attached the hand-laid fiberglass panels to achieve the basic projectile.
V8 Archie helped in mating the Chevy to the Fiero transaxle
In addition to being able to build on a stock Fiero chassis, the company also offers a beefed up, rectangular-tube spaceframe for a stouter undercarriage. It features reworked strut towers to maintain proper suspension geometry but otherwise uses the stock Fiero rearend, spindles, brakes, A-arms and such. Euro-Works adds a Neal dual master cylinder and proportioning balance bar. The front suspension is stock Fiero, lowered to provide a hunkered-down look, with fat Yokohama rubber at all four corners - 255/50-15s on 10-inch wheels up from and 295/50-15s on 15 inch wheels out back.
On its demo car, Euro-Works wanted an engine that would put folks back in the seats rather than an all-out top-end twister, so the relatively mild 350 Chevy is a 1975 vintage with stock bore and stroke. The company estimates 290 hp thanks to the addition of a Crane cam, hydraulic lifters, an Edelbrock performance manifold and a Carter carb. A set of block-hugger headers helps the engine breath easier. The Mirage maintains a stock '84 Fiero five-speed tranny helped by a custom Centerforce clutch from V8 Archie.
The interior on this demo car was also massaged to disguise the Pontiac heritage as much as possible. Custom black doe-skin materials with red piping by Craegar Auto Interiors cover the fiberglass bucket seats. Instruments are all VDO, fed from a custom wiring harness.
Like a Swiss Army knife, all the Mirage's doors and lids scissor-open with precission
Although the interior is comfortable and allows drivers of virtually any height good seating positions, as on most cars with such wind-cheating contours, rear visibility is limited. This is a sacrifice you learn to live with for the sake of getting noticed.
Euro-Works does a great job of fit and finish, and we applaud, atleast on the demo vehicle, its attention to the door hinges and latch mechanisms. Everything worked well with no fiddling necessary.
The numerous options and upgrades available will ultimately determine the individual cost. Euro-Works does offer a budget version to put the Mirage USA into an affordable category. A complete turn-key car on a stock Fiero chassis will run around $30,000 (not including the donor car) and a body kit containing all the fiberglass panels and hardware, including the wing, sells for $4995. And those prices are no illusion.