I'll be flying from Florida to Syracuse NY on Sunday , then going over to pick it up in Watertown NY
Fierofreak00 or PontiacJ8 who live near the area said they might be able to help get me over to cone sharks house.
Here's his beautiful 88 Formula.
Meet my RedHot88
After picking up the car, I'll be driving it to Lorton VA, 7 1/2 hours, where I've bought tickets for the AMTRAK Autotrain, which leaves at 4 PM Monday.
I'll be taking lots of photo's along the way of the adventure. I can't wait.
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 06-15-2005).]
After picking up the car, I'll be driving it to Lorton VA, 7 1/2 hours, where I've bought tickets for the AMTRAK Autotrain, which leaves at 4 PM Monday.
I'll be taking lots of photo's along the way of the adventure. I can't wait.
Like they have all said, "Nice Car"!!!!!
Autotrain, I've always wanted to try that sometime. Make sure you post pics etc. of that part of the trip too.
Archie
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07:00 AM
1MohrFiero Member
Posts: 4363 From: Paducah, Ky Registered: Apr 2003
Thats a nice car hope ya have a good trip and post some pics after ya get back
Thanks cone_shark did a nice job on keeping it in great shape.
quote
Originally posted by pavo_roddy:
Hi all,
Nice car, and I too hope you have fun on the way home!!
Thanks, the trip should be fun. I'm going to be grinning ear to ear.
quote
Originally posted by Archie:
Like they have all said, "Nice Car"!!!!!
Autotrain, I've always wanted to try that sometime. Make sure you post pics etc. of that part of the trip too.
Archie
Hi Archie. Yeah my sister came up with the idea of The autotrain. I'm excided about the trip. I contacted various transport companies, the prices ranged from 1500 to 1100 for door to door service. Terminal to terminal wasn't that much cheaper.
I thought about driving up the Suburban & trailer to pick it up, but the fuel estimate of $500 , the 2800 round trip miles , the hotel rooms, and the ware & tear on the truck & me would end up costing as much.
The drive to the 20th took a few days to recover from. A long road trip like this would wipe me out.
I also thought about driving the Formua the whole way, but not knowing the whole condition and history of the car worries me a little. From what cone_shark has told me, it's in very good shape.
I found a flight up for $114 bucks, and the Autotrain is $306 dollars, so $420 bucks ain't bad. And I get to drive a wicked 88 Formula !
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 06-16-2005).]
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07:39 AM
tesmith66 Member
Posts: 7355 From: Jerseyville, IL Registered: Sep 2001
Man, it took 18 years but you finally have the Fiero virus, Dave.
Dwayne
Ha, yeah, looks like I've got it bad !! I've been looking for a Formula for a few years now. The last one I checked out was an automatic. Glad I waited for this gem to come up.
quote
Originally posted by tesmith66:
It isn't blue. Are you feeling OK?
Ha ha. Yep, feeling great, Still keeping my Blue GT.
Once you have an 88, you'll never go back. I'm glad you got it. I was starting to seriously consider buying it myself, and I don't need a 2nd 88 Formula.
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10:16 AM
jscott1 Member
Posts: 21676 From: Houston, TX , USA Registered: Dec 2001
Yeah it looks like daily driving a Fiero has given you the bug big time. And once you drive that Formula you will put that rickety 'ole blue GT in the mall LOL
When I lived in Florida I wanted to do Autotrain, but back then the cost was prohibitive. With gas over $2.00 a gallon it's almost cheaper to fly anywhere nowadays. I never could figure out the route of autotrain...is there a big demand for transport from D.C. area to Sanford, FL? I could see NY to Miami, but Sanford? whats up with that?
Yeah it looks like daily driving a Fiero has given you the bug big time. And once you drive that Formula you will put that rickety 'ole blue GT in the mall LOL
When I lived in Florida I wanted to do Autotrain, but back then the cost was prohibitive. With gas over $2.00 a gallon it's almost cheaper to fly anywhere nowadays. I never could figure out the route of autotrain...is there a big demand for transport from D.C. area to Sanford, FL? I could see NY to Miami, but Sanford? whats up with that?
Sanford is in the center of the state. Plus its the celery capital of the world. How exciting is that. I'm from that area. Isn't that reason enough?
Nice looking formula. Sounds like a heck of a deal.
my friend really wanted that and was wating for a reply about it - then we hear that someone from florida is going to be picking it up and driving it back..
hope you enjoy it - looks like a steal
[This message has been edited by Kohburn (edited 06-15-2005).]
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11:45 AM
CoolBlue87GT Member
Posts: 8463 From: Punta Gorda, Florida, USA Registered: Apr 2001
my friend really wanted that and was wating for a reply about it - then we hear that someone from florida is going to be picking it up and driving it back..
hope you enjoy it - looks like a steal
Yeah, that was me. I almost sent you a PM message to let you I'd bought it when you made that last PM to cone_shark. Can't wait to pick to up.
Where is Lusby Md ? I lived in Wheaton then in Walkersville, near Frederick Md.
That sure looks sweet. Congrads and wlcome to the formula club!!! I have to ask....because ive seen your rides...any plans on what you plan on doing to her? John
That sure looks sweet. Congrads and wlcome to the formula club!!! I have to ask....because ive seen your rides...any plans on what you plan on doing to her? John
Plans ? Oh, enjoying it to the max. Doing the repairs and replacing the items it needs. Taking it on the run to the Keys are some of the things I can think of right off the bat.
I'm sure going to take care of it, Lee's done a great job of keeping it looking great, I'm going to also.
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11:01 PM
KissMySSFiero Member
Posts: 5544 From: Tarpon Springs, FL USA Registered: Nov 2000
Plans ? Oh, enjoying it to the max. Doing the repairs and replacing the items it needs. Taking it on the run to the Keys are some of the things I can think of right off the bat.
I'm sure going to take care of it, Lee's done a great job of keeping it looking great, I'm going to also.
Yeah, that was me. I almost sent you a PM message to let you I'd bought it when you made that last PM to cone_shark. Can't wait to pick to up.
Where is Lusby Md ? I lived in Wheaton then in Walkersville, near Frederick Md.
lusby is down south of DC on the bay -- I've lived all over MD been here most of my life. how much is the amtrack shipping? My dad is thinking of buying a Florida car.
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08:09 AM
CoolBlue87GT Member
Posts: 8463 From: Punta Gorda, Florida, USA Registered: Apr 2001
lusby is down south of DC on the bay -- I've lived all over MD been here most of my life. how much is the amtrack shipping? My dad is thinking of buying a Florida car.
I was born in MD & lived there for 32 years. Love the area. Don't miss the snow or I-495 & I-270.
Amtrak breaks it down like this, The train ticket for the person, 124 and the car is 182 for a total of 306 dollars. Not bad at all.
I think it's a good idea when buying a car with an unknown history. I'd rather break down close to home, than thousands of miles away.
Good luck to you.
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08:33 AM
Gordo Member
Posts: 2981 From: East Guilford, NY, USA Registered: Mar 2002
Taking the train because of the unknown history of this car. It might make the whole trip, but why take a chance ?
But aren't you still driving the car from NY to Virginia? That means if it breaks down it will be very far from home. I would have bit the bullet and taken the Suburban the whole way...But that's just me. I towed my car from Houston to Chicago just to have the roof lowered three inches.
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09:51 AM
Jun 18th, 2005
CoolBlue87GT Member
Posts: 8463 From: Punta Gorda, Florida, USA Registered: Apr 2001
Well, almost time for bed, as I need to get up at 3:30 am, for a 5:20 am flight !
Special thanks to Fierofreak00, he's meeting me at the airport in NY.
I'll be taking plenty of photo's along the way. Post them when I can find a "wi-fi" spot to get a few on line. I'll be on the train for about 12 hours on Monday.
... The adventure begins soon ...
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05:26 PM
Jun 21st, 2005
CoolBlue87GT Member
Posts: 8463 From: Punta Gorda, Florida, USA Registered: Apr 2001
Okay, here's more information for those interested in what I've been up to.
Sunday 3:00 am Got up at 3 am to start the day. Boy am I tired.
5:20 am The airplane flight took off at 5:20 am
7:00 am. The flight was good, arrived in Atlanta. Was pretty cool seeing all the lights of the various city from the plane. Wondered if it was like the view astronauts would see from space. Of course they’d be a lot higher.
Had breakfast. At the airport. The next flight takes off at 9:06 am. The Atlanta airport is quite large, has a subway system that gets you from terminal to terminal.
The anticipation is growing. Hoping there won’t be any problems. I have until 2 pm on Monday to get to Autotrain in Virginia
9:00 am. The 2nd flight was quite bumpy, and we had the addition of having a small kid on board, that screamed most of the time. Luckily, he was in the rear of the plane, and I was in the front. I managed to sleep most of the way.
11:15 am. When I arrived, Jason (fierofreak00) was waiting for me & drove me over to Lee (cone_sharks) house.
Along the way, it was funny, Jason got a phone call, with one hand on the wheel & one hand holding the phone. The hills & curves demanded the gears to be changed. I took over the shifting duties with out being asked! He hit the clutch & I shifted the gears. It was two Fiero guys working one car ! I knew when he wanted to shift, as it was the same as I would had done.
We had a great time talking about Fiero’s & people on the forum. We found out we both have the same situation with the people we work with. When we start talking about our cars, the guys at work get those glassed over eye’s and they just don’t understand the fascination we have. We had a good laugh over that.
1:20 PM Reached cone_sharks house, he opened the garage door, there sat two very nice Formulas. His white one has one 49,000 miles ??? When he started the red one, it sounded great. The photo’s he posted were just like the car. There were a few rock chips on the hood, but those are to be expected of a car with 94k miles.
We introduced everybody, then I sheepishly accepted Lee’s offer to test drive the car. By the time I’d hit 2nd gear, I was sold. It drove great, no rattles or anything bad detected. The deal was at hand. My huge grin must have been a dead give away that I wanted the car.
As a joke, I handed Lee a 1,000,000 dollar bill, wondering if he’d accept it. Of course, it was a fake bill. Needless to say, I gave him the real cash and made the deal.
Afterwards, cone_sharks father showed us a photo album, he’s a Corvair fan, has had many award winning cars. We had a good talk with him.
4:00 pm Jason had to go finish up a project he was working on, so we left heading down I-83 with his beautiful fiero in the lead. I followed, falling a bit behind, as I was having a little computer problem, getting the GPS to work. It’s hard to troubleshoot a computer & drive at the same time. Finally got it working after rebooting the computer. Jason cracked me up when he saw the computer & GPS, called me Inspector gadget ! lol
I pulled up along side, with the camera and took few shots of Jason. He took the next exit.
I headed to Virginia. I decided not to trust the fuel gauge, as I’d heard the 88’s gauges are off more than the others. A friend told me this, he said his 88 is empty at ¼ tank. The 1st fuel stop, I went 295 miles, added 9.91 gallons. (up to the top on the filler pipe) That's 29.7 mpg. Not bad for a V6 !
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 07-07-2005).]
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10:44 PM
CoolBlue87GT Member
Posts: 8463 From: Punta Gorda, Florida, USA Registered: Apr 2001
10:00 pm Got to Lorton VA, decided to spend the night in the car, as the few hours at a motel would cost a mint. Boy, these things aren’t meant for sleeping. I had all my computer & camera gear in the passenger side seat, being 6+ feet tall, you can only get in two positions, neither are good. Some how, I made it through the night. Only waking up every hour or so. It had to be the worst nights sleep I ever had.
2:00 pm Monday, Checked in with Autotrain, the person checking the cars in, took a magnetic numbered sign, proceeded to stick it on the door. Of course, it fell off, I had to laugh, as she said, “oh, this is one of those cars” She put it inside, behind the dash.
One of the kids loading the cars, came over and said, Ah, that’s model / year to have. That V6 won’t be catching on fire. I watched as they drove it over to the loading racks, he revved it up bit, then took off slowly, driving it up inside the train. I snapped a bunch of shots.
3:00 pm Loading the train with people. I got to my seat, then realized I’d forgotten batteries for my GPS unit. I went back to the gift shop in the station, bought pack of 4 “AA” batteries. Got back on the train, then realized, aw crap, I needed “AAA” batteries. Once again, I went back to the gift shop, bought another pack. Then they announced last call for boarding. I made it back in time. After all that, I now find the GPS won’t work, even though I have it next to the window. Maybe it will start working when the train starts to move.
The people next to me must think I’m crazy, because I’ve now set up & packed up the laptop three times now. Must look pretty stupid. I guess I’d be Inspector gadget to them !
4:00 pm The train is now moving. I spoke to one of the engineers, he told me the train makes one stop, to change out crews, but the fuel on board is enough to make the whole trip. That surprised me. He saw my camera, asked if I wanted him to take head on shot of the train. Told him sure, the first one is his.
6:30 am. Monday. I used my GPS on the train to keep track of our position and speed. Was pretty cool, at times we were traveling at 75 MPH. The ride is, well, in a word BUMPY ! Much more that I would have thought. At times, walking up the isles made you feel like a drunken sailor
Dinner was served in three groups, 5, 7, & 9 pm. I was seated with a nice group of people, we each had a good time talking about were we traveled from & where were headed. I told them about my two day trip to buy the car. They seemed interested.
The rest of the night I watched the GPS until going to sleep around 10:30. Trying to get comfortable with these train seats, reminded me of the night spent in the Fiero. It took some getting used to hearing various people snoring and the sounds the train made. I tried about 6 different positions before finding the right one. I woke up a few times in the night.
Had a light Breakfast, bagel , banana and orange juice. Sat & Spoke with another couple, they were from NY, were very different than the dinner group. We didn’t speak much, felt like they didn’t want the time of day from me.
8:15 am. They just announced we will arrive and 9 am, that’s not to far off schedule. Overall, it’s been a nice trip, if I’d driven the whole way, I’d be very tired now. And I wouldn’t be in Florida now.
Should be interesting when we arrive to see how long it takes for the Fiero to be unloaded. It was the 19th car to be loaded in Virgina. Wondering how the car did with all those bumps the rails provided. Hope I do not find any damage from the trip. I took before photo’s just incase.
Should be okay, when I saw the cars unloaded in VA, I watched & listened to the car owners to see if there were any complaints. The only thing I heard was one women couldn’t find her trip map she’d left on the car seat. No one noticed any damage from there trip up north.
After unloading, I have another 3 ½ road trip, then I need to take a shower and go to work until 9 pm. It’s going to be a long day.
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11:05 PM
Jun 22nd, 2005
Master Tuner Akimoto Member
Posts: 2267 From: South Florida,USA Registered: Jul 2003
Yeah no doubt this could be a nice alternative for some would be fiero owners.
I went to their site once, albiet several years ago, and could not figure out what the heck was what ! I hope they have changed it to make it more easy to understand what areas they service.
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01:13 AM
PFF
System Bot
CoolBlue87GT Member
Posts: 8463 From: Punta Gorda, Florida, USA Registered: Apr 2001
I noticed on the hood where something dripped. I had the agent look at it, he said he didn't see any damage as he was rubbing away the dried spots which had bits of rust that also fell on it. I had to yell at him to stop rubbing it off like that, it would scratch the clear coat.
He told me if I left with out showing any damage, then I'd never be able to claim it. I asked for a bucket of water or hose so I could clean it away to check. He said none were available. I had some cleaning products in the trunk, I got those out, and carefully cleaned the area. To my relief, it was okay. Just the fact that he rubbed at it with his hand, really irks me.
Another couple pulled their car up, it had a fresh scratch in the lower rubber bumper cover. It was about 7 inches long & fairly deep. He reviewed the shots of the car that was taken in VA before the car was loaded. They will take care of them.
Here's a few shots I took while waiting for the train. The lighting was perfect for showing off the color.
The drive from where the train ends and my home was nice, the car rides very nice, no rattles. I hated to go into work today.
Thanks for letting me post my story.
Well time for bed for me. 1:15 am - yikes !
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 06-22-2005).]
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01:18 AM
Silicoan86 Member
Posts: 1614 From: Savage, MN, USA Registered: May 2004
Nice tale to tell, Dave. It looks like you got a real nice car. Did you have temporary Florida plates for your drive home? If you did, how long are they good for?
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08:53 AM
sonic50 Member
Posts: 3873 From: All over the USA Registered: Aug 2004
Nice tale to tell, Dave. It looks like you got a real nice car. Did you have temporary Florida plates for your drive home? If you did, how long are they good for?
No, I actually used a friends "transporter" tag. It's for his business .
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06:45 PM
Dragon Member
Posts: 1352 From: Space Coast, Florida Registered: Jun 2001
