Ken Shadlak of the MFC arranged to have the club and any Fiero owners that were interested, in to see the display of Fiero prototypes on display at the GM Tech Center. We had a nice showing of about 20 Fieros and approx. 35 - 40 people on hand to see these wonderful cars. Parki was also in attendance at this event. I never had a chance to talk with him, but others did. They allowed us to take photos of the cars as long as we did not take shots of any of the other things in the building. I had my 2 sons there with me and they had a great time.
A hugh thank you goes out to GM for allowing us to come in and see these awesome Fieros!!!! A special thanks to Ken Shadlak for setting this up. I'd also like to say thanks to Fred Bartermayer (sp) for posting the details here on PFF and for coming up to the display. A thank you also goes out to Parki for being on hand to answer questions. If I have forgotton anyone, a thanks goes out to you too.
The cars on display were the Blue PPG car, The # 55 Huffaker GTU, The 90 Prototype, The 2+2, The #2 Indy Pace Car and the Yellow and Black Formula Drag car.
Edit: I have more shots I will post later. It's just too late to do more. I just got my digital camera and I'm learning how to use it so some of my shots are not the best.
[This message has been edited by WingNut - MD (edited 09-03-2004).]
Woooowwwwwwwwww... awesome shots!!! I wish I could have been there!!!!!
Thanks for posting these, those and the more to come!
EDIT - in one of the pics on the MFC page, the center console of the 90 Prototype shows a second set of rocker switches sitting in between the standard window switch placement... anybody know what the second set of switches is for? Relocated power door locks, maybe?
------------------ Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com 1988 Red Fiero Formula Convertible
[This message has been edited by LZeitgeist (edited 09-03-2004).]
EDIT - in one of the pics on the MFC page, the center console of the 90 Prototype shows a second set of rocker switches sitting in between the standard window switch placement... anybody know what the second set of switches is for? Relocated power door locks, maybe?
When I was looking at them, they looked like power release switches for the decklid. On the 90 prototype, the decklid actually opens 2 ways, you can open just the part over the engine, or you can open whole thing (I'm not sure if you can open just the part over the trunk...I would imagine so, in that case it would open 3 ways... But there are two switches to release the decklid in between the two window switches.
CRAP!!! I missed it!!! I meant to be there, but I forgot about it!! I didn't get to see under the decklids or sit inside them when I went the other day. I'm jealous!! Did Ken have any info on the GM Heritage Museum? Good pics Mark!!
Kris
EDIT: BTW, did you notice the badge on the front of the 90 actual was a "Trans Am GTA" badge? Crazy engineers
[This message has been edited by shop_rat45 (edited 09-03-2004).]
WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS ?@?!? grrrrr You can see the pl switches in that pic, so the other rockers must be for something else, but it seems an odd place for a decklid release. I LOVE that 90 rear end next time tell me guys
OMG!!!!! OMGOMGOMG!!! You guys owe me a new office chair, 'cuz I just wet myself after looking at all those AWESOME pics of the 90 prototype!!! LOL!! Geeze, I love that car!!!
Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: You can see the pl switches in that pic, so the other rockers must be for something else, but it seems an odd place for a decklid release. I LOVE that 90 rear end next time tell me guys
Believe it or not..... The 2 middle switches are for the decklid and trunk. I know because I opened them at the event. You can open one, the other or both.
OMG!!!!! OMGOMGOMG!!! You guys owe me a new office chair, 'cuz I just wet myself after looking at all those AWESOME pics of the 90 prototype!!! LOL!! Geeze, I love that car!!!
Go to our website www.michiganfieroclub.com and click on "members" at the top of the page. Then click on "join" on the left side of the page. OR You can come to our next meeting. It is always the last Monday of the month. We have them at Leon's returant in Wixom, MI on Wixom Road, North of I-96.
not to start anything, im just curious about this. You said: Believe it or not..... The 2 middle switches are for the decklid and trunk. I know because I opened them at the event. You can open one, the other or both.
I find this odd, because you can clearly see the battery is unhooked in one of the pics. im just bored, its late, im sure theres a easy explanation
not to start anything, im just curious about this. You said: Believe it or not..... The 2 middle switches are for the decklid and trunk. I know because I opened them at the event. You can open one, the other or both.
I find this odd, because you can clearly see the battery is unhooked in one of the pics. im just bored, its late, im sure theres a easy explanation
Good Eye!
I pushed both of them. I heard a click on one and not the other. I thought this was strange. I got out of the car and went to the back and opened both of them. Maybe they were already open, but there were little car icon on these buttons showing what they did as well. The deck lid stayed open on it's own, the truck lid would not. Someone had shut the trunk and we could not re-open it. Later I went back and it was opened.
what are the beney's of being in this club. DO we get any cool t-shirts or stickers?
The main thing is being around other Fiero owners and being able to absorb the knowledge they have as well as sharing your's with them. You get a window sticker, and a very nice monthly newsletter. Other swag is available for purchase.
quote
Originally posted by 84Fiero2M4:
well I looked over the site and how often do you guys go to Michigan International Speedway. How much does that cost or is it free with the club?
We have done the MIS run the last 3 - 4 years. It is a N/C event, we we're limited to 30 cars this year. One of our members, Barb Hack, lines this up and we are all very apprecitive for her efforts. Come out to our next meeting and give us a try.
Hi, who do I contact to see if my renewal ever made it? I have not recieved a newsletter for a couple of months now. I thought for sure that I sent in my renewal. Boy I miss the newsletter! Can you tell me who to contact. I would have loved to have been there.
------------------ I own an original yellow 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT, (wingless, currently purple) ....This is.....Driving Exitement! Matching numbers GT #17889 of 26,402 made in 1988, 1of 241 yellow GT's
I had a great time meeting up with the Michigan Fiero people. 13 hours, 47 minutes of drive time to spend a couple of hours with the Prototypes. Well worth the time. It was a nice surprise to be able to take pictures inside the Tech Center.
Thanks to Ken Shadlak of the Michigan Fiero Club for setting this up. The Fiero Community needs to know that Ken has been the Fiero Ambassador between us and GM. Ken did the final arrangements to get the nine cars to the 20th, continuously talks Fiero within the GM ranks, and proudly displays his beautiful Northstar 88 GT at every possible GM display. The nice thing is that GM is taking note and responding by letting us do stuff like the GM Tech Center viewing of the cars. While at dinner after the viewing, talk has started at the possibility of having a Fiero show at the Tech Center in the future. 25th show?? maybe?? possibly??? It would be nice would'nt it.
In addition to seeing the six cars, we met in the Conference room at the entrance. There was binders full of Fiero memorabilia on the table and the video "A Car is Born" playing. The Tech Center found this picture of the Fiero Plant for us to look at:
Also on display, was this exhaust tip for the 90 GT. One of the former Fiero engineers from upstairs heard we were going to be there and let us look it over:
Since Mark (WingNut-MD) did such a good job of posting pictures, I only need to post the specific pictures that I took...............
Example of the signs that GM had made up for the Indy Pace Car:
The paint on the 90 is pretty, but you sure can tell that this car was hastily put together. Most of the body panels are held on with hex headed lag screws and self tapping screws. I noticed that there was a few areas that were actually filled with putty to finish off the edges. This shot of the B-Pilliar exterior trim is a good example:
Since the carpet at the Tech Center was a lot softer than the hot asphalt parking lot at the 20th, I slid underneath the car to get some pics
The frame extensions for the stretch of the bumper in the rear:
The lead engineer of the 90 project, Wes Zaydel, has always talked about how they always looked for ways to make the car safer. This is a shot of the frame member that wraps the rear of the car behind the tail lights to each strut mount:
The rockers were what appeared to be 1" X 2" square tubing welded to the side of the existing rockers. Not only did the channel provide an extension for the wider body parts, but it significantly strengthened the rocker for side impact.
A heavy brace was added to the floor under the drivers footwell between the inner frame where the front cradle mounts and the rockers:
From the front this picture shows that the front of the floor pan was reinforced. Not only was the car stronger for crash impact, but it appears that the engineers were trying to box the frame for increased rigidity for better handling.
next time tell me guys 
