You, too, can relive the excitement!

[GTRS Fiero]

The Fiero is a fun car to see, but even more fun to drive.  There are Fiero owners and clubs across the US.  For owners who participate in club activities, there are meetings, cruises, shows, dinners, and many other activities.  I attended a recent Fiero event, and took a few pictures.  Unfortunately, I got caught up in looking at the cars, and eventually forgot to take pictures.

Now, a Fiero event isn't just one thing.  In this case, the event included several cruises, some meals, an activity that had nothing to do with Fieros or cars, and a car show.  There was also a preliminary show that included other exotic cars of many makes and models.

There were some prizes and announcements at the pre-show dinner, but I didn't stay for the awards ceremony after the show.  I'd probably have received the "Most Likely to Leave Early" award.

One of the club members I'd been wanting to meet had to leave for an emergency, but he really took his time to show me his Fiero, not so much as a prideful thing, but for my enjoyment.  He was simply sharing his excitement with me.

Without further ado, here are some pictures:

This is the only picture I'm including from the preliminary show.

There were many cars at the preliminary show, including Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Ford GT's, Porsche's, Grand National's, Austin-Martin's, and just about anything else you could think of.

Our post-dinner activity was a trip to a farm.  We toured their house.

Some moron drove his truck to the Fiero event...oh, that was me.




For the show itself, there were many Fiero owners, and lots of Fieros from many states, and Canada.




That's just a few.

Not many people get the opportunity to see this Fiero



Yes, he drives it with those plates.

This former race-car driver decked his Fiero out a bit


This Fiero is a turbo with suicide doors and a choptop.  The owner also has a V8 Fiero.



A perk of this show was the presence of a prototype Fiero, in this case the 2+2.  There was a presentation on this Fiero, and some pictures of parts we couldn't see without a lift.  This is truly a unique Fiero.  There are pictures of much of this car to be had elsewhere, but I'm including a picture of the power controls on the driver's seat.  I hadn't seen these previously.



This Fiero does not have power steering.  It does have the steering wheel stereo (but it isn't connected).  In fact, the rear radio doesn't even light up.  The "seat belts" are just straps that look like belts.  There is no power steering.  This car is really 2 cars that were cut apart, then tack-welded together.  All in all, this is a fragile joining that was meant to last a year or two, for display only.  While the car will move under its own power, the torquing of the frame is slowly breaking the car apart.  Think Herbie the Love Bug.  This is probably the only known existing factory '84 V6 Fiero, but I don't know that for sure.  I'm sure someone will correct me.  Anyway, there are many unique features about this Fiero.

[GTRS Fiero]

For anyone unfamiliar with car shows, the Fieros are divided into classes based on the number of entries and the variety of the cars.  Often, classes include some of the following: stock, modified, engine swap, project, low-mileage, notchback, fastback, rebody, and for fun.

This show had all of these categories, but smaller shows have fewer categories.  Some shows are judged shows; some are peer awards, and others are popular vote.  The idea is to encourage people to care for their car and show their appreciation.

At this show, there were a variety of mods, from engine/transmission swaps, to some rebodies, to a myriad of spectacular paint jobs, to a plethora of interior upgrades, to lighting upgrades, to sail panel upgrades, etc.  Shows like this are a great place to get ideas, and to see what you like and don't like.  The owners of these Fieros love to talk Fiero, and are happy to explain what they've done and how they did it.

[pgackerman]

Nice pics and report.
Thanks for sharing.

Oh, next time don't bring a truck to a Fiero show, unless you have a trailer.

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, that was my only transportation.  I'd said I'd be there, and so I was.  Trust me, if I could've taken my Fiero, I would've.

Since I was there, I participated in everything.  This was just an activity.  The president of the club drove a G6, one of the officers drove a SanteFe, and someone else drove a KIA, so it wasn't just me.

[Raydar]

...The president of the club drove a G6...

I'd have been in good company, then.

[GTRS Fiero]

Yeah, everyone was welcome.  Actually, the president went out of his way--at least once that I'm aware of--to make things better for my family.  As usual, I think my kids were generally more welcome than I was.

This was the second Fiero event I'd attended here.  Since I'm not a local, and only see these people infrequently, it would be easy for the regulars to exclude me, but that didn't happen.  Had the first Fiero event not gone well for my family (we do these things as family events), I assure you, there would never have been a second Fiero event for us, anywhere.  Fortunately, the first Fiero event we attended was at this location.  It was awesome for the whole family.  This event was still good, but not as much activity for the kids, and we had to deal with having a dog along, thus the need for frequent trips back to the hotel.  We didn't care for the host hotel, last time, so stayed at a different hotel, which was a bad decision.

For anyone who has planned or attended similar events, the event is based around the host hotel.  Our hotel was about 30 minutes from the host hotel.  As an example, drive the 30 minutes to the host hotel at 7am, then go for a cruise, then back to our hotel; an hour later, meet up for lunch, then back to our hotel; an hour later, drive 30 minutes to the host hotel, then cruise to the activity, then drive back to our hotel; an hour later, drive back to the host hotel for dinner; then drive back to our hotel for the night.  The event was planned with the hotel as the hub, which is good.  My thought beforehand was that we wouldn't be any worse off than the locals, and perhaps we weren't, except that the locals could let any dogs run in the yard.  Similarly, kids could play at home between activities.  Even had we had my Fiero as a second vehicle, things would have been easier.  I guess I learned my lesson.  Better the discomfort of the host hotel than that of the extra driving.  I also missed out on a lot of camaraderie at the host hotel.

I won't say what we paid for our hotel, but think half of the rate at the host hotel.  We stayed at the Residence Inn.  The host hotel was chosen for being inexpensive, willing, and having a large/roomy parking lot, as well as car washes all around.  Actually, it's a good choice.  My issue was that it was smelly, the staff wasn't helpful, and the room really didn't work out for us.  Maybe next time, we'll get 2 rooms.

[GTRS Fiero]

Other interesting facts about the 2+2:

• The extension is 16” of additional length
• It has the metal gas cap that all early Fieros had
• The front end was lowered by binding the coil springs
• It has about 60 miles on it
• The seats were a prototype for a proposed luxury edition Fiero
• There were only 3 known sets of those wheels
• To make this Fiero visually ”right”, the roofline was changed, and is about 1.5” higher at the rear window than a stock GT
• The roof is one piece from the bottom of the A-pillars to the rear tail lights
• The PONTIAC on the rear lights does illuminate
• The engine is a very early V6, so has many visual differences
• There is no cruise servo
• There is no VIN, or any VIN plate
• The tops of the fenders are bolted on with 3 different bolt heads, including several stock bolts
• It has the gold '84 master cylinder.  I've been told that all '84 MCs were gold, but I've seen Indys with black MCs.
• The oil filler cap is quite different.  I've seen one before, but can't recall where.

That's all I can remember, for now.

[GTRS Fiero]

In case you haven't seen it, here's a video from the event:

My wife and kids make frequent appearances in the first 6 minutes or so.  There is some footage of the 2+2.

[GTRS Fiero]

For Donster:
A perk of this show was the presence of a prototype Fiero, in this case the 2+2.  There was a presentation on this Fiero, and some pictures of parts we couldn't see without a lift.  This is truly a unique Fiero.  There are pictures of much of this car to be had elsewhere, but I'm including a picture of the power controls on the driver's seat.  I hadn't seen these previously.



This Fiero does not have power steering.  It does have the steering wheel stereo (but it isn't connected).  In fact, the rear radio doesn't even light up.  The "seat belts" are just straps that look like belts.  There is no power steering.  This car is really 2 cars that were cut apart, then tack-welded together.  All in all, this is a fragile joining that was meant to last a year or two, for display only.  While the car will move under its own power, the torquing of the frame is slowly breaking the car apart.  Think Herbie the Love Bug.  This is probably the only known existing factory '84 V6 Fiero, but I don't know that for sure.  I'm sure someone will correct me.  Anyway, there are many unique features about this Fiero.

More info here.

[GTRS Fiero]

I just saw this article about the 2+2.