I was getting my tires mounted and a hot rodder in town spotted the chopper. I was inside talking to the shop owner and he told me a guy is out there looking at your car. I walked out and shouted, "Hey you hippie-get away from my car." We laughed and shook hands. Apparently there's a hot rod group of guys in town that hang out at some fast food joint in town. He guy is retired and use to work for GM as a engineer. He went onto say that GM was way ahead of it's time when they created the Fiero and that some of the proto types with V8 was beating Corvettes on the track.
I let him continue since I was in the learning stages and wanted to take it all in. He toured the chopper going over ever detail. He knew it was chopped right off the bat and glazed at the body work. He then got on his knees to look underneath the car and notice that the suspension was modified. Everything else on the outside he knew since he worked on the Fiero, so all of the little body changes where obvious to him like brakes/wheels/tires, until I raised the deck lid. He was pleased to see that I had a N* and that the car is exempt. The gentleman was driving a classic 442 something. At the time of his viewing the car I had the HRE 547 on board.
Since a few people don't like me commenting about my choppers and that this is a construction section I'll add these pics for the haters.
I mounted a set of Racing Hart R7 19x9, 19x8 on the chopper for $80 bucks. I had a set of tires hanging around so I used them.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 03-15-2012).]
You hear stories about how non-fiero people flip out when they see a nice choptop fiero, well let me be. the latest to say you have no idea until you actually visually experience it.
Earlier this month i got the chance ! It actually happened after our monthly Central Florida Fieros club meeting and we were heading home. As luck would have it, we ended up just behind and beside fellow CFF club member Pedro and his gorgeous red choptop. I could not believe my luck, and i was armed and had my camera ready to capture it on video !
(uh,..more on that later ;( )
It was dark, but the streets lights were providing plenty of lighting and the choptop looked like a million dollar exotic rolling down the street. Well after the wife chastised me i was relegated to just being a spectator, but what i saw was amazing ! people were speeding up and or slowing down and basically doing anything they could do to get an eyeful of this rolling dream machine.
i witnessed near mishaps from people not paying attention to where they were driving trying to look at the car ! Peole were leaving like 6 car lengths in front of them at lights so they could stop and view the car,..it was crazy. Now i know what Pedro means when he says sometimes it is too much hehehe.
Now back to the video ! I had the camera all set and the record button ready, as we waited at the red light ! Right about that time the wife growls at me to turn it off and pay attention to the road. Are you kidding me,..this is a golden moment !
Then she reminds me that i am no longer just looking out for our welfare, but our unborn child as well. What could i say,...off went the camera, and i was reduced to spectator. But believe me when i tell you, the ride home was still a treat, even without the video !
[This message has been edited by exoticse (edited 03-16-2012).]
This year at Daytona (2012) i got the unique opportunity to pass the torch so to speak on to another dreamer.
I first picked up the baton back in the day when i first saw a picture of madcurl's #11, then i got to see his widebody choptop #15 at Daytona a few years ago. Those two encounters shaped my dreams for my car. This year i unexpectedly got the chance to help shape someone else's dreams.
While standing next to my car marveling at whodeanie's work a gentleman approached me and introduced himself ( i am terrible at remembering names), but he told me he was a physician, who had been living in Asia for the past several years, but who had just retired and was moving back to the states.
He is planning to launch himself into the fiero hobby now that he has free time, and what he told me next made me smile and remember back in the day when i was where he is.
First he was blown away by #4, whom even i have to admit, looked a lot better than i thought it would. Pictures are a joke. Anyways he went on to tell me that my car is exactly what he wants to do. His exact words were " That right there is my dream car".
Wow ! I almost couldn't believe my ears. It also made me realize how far i had come since drooling over other people's cars. I fully expect this guy to make a splash in the near future, but alas he is not on Pennocks, and we may only be able to see his work at shows, or in somebody's shop.
Still it was cool to be able to see someone dreaming like i dreamed, and hopefully his dreams like mine, will too come true.
[This message has been edited by exoticse (edited 03-31-2012).]
I haven't had time to drive #011 and as most know #020 is currently being painted and many people have been coming to shop with comments. Back in Feb 28th I dropped the Arch Rival at Trends in its primer state. The unique shop that Archie and Crew created for me causes many heads to turn, but since the minor tweaking and bright red paint the comments have increased from "What is it?" too "is that a Ferrari?" Granted there are no Pontiac emblems currently seen on the car, but due to the color chosen most think #020 is a Ferrari. The shop workers think it's due to the paint, the shape, and the fact that there's a V8 in the back.
As people passing by, they turn around and stop to see what type of car it is. I guess the color "red" is far better than black in attracting people, but it's the shape that makes them wonder. I'm not sure what the response is since we test fitted the Norm's C6 Flipper, but IMHO it really got my attention last week. I was 100% satisfied with the results for there was really nothing more to add to the nose for ever area is tweaked and no boring spots over looked. Truly, the MadArch kit makes a huge difference in the Fiero's appearance, but a tweaked Norm's flipper adds flavor and exoticness to the car. I hope to never have the front end wrecked for this is a one-off and it would be nice it came like this from the company.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 07-21-2012).]
Bought a house and moved to a new neighborhood at the beginning of this year, and slowly but surely have been meeting most of the nieghbors.
A few houses down from mine and across the street lives a police officer, who always has his cruiser parked out front.
On occasion i have noticed him eyeing the chopper while in civilian clothes and driving his very, very nice saturn sky.
Well today while i was out edging my lawn, i had the car out and he stopped to introduce himself and inquire about the car.
He knew it was a pontiac fiero, and commented that he had not seen one of those in a long while. He was blown away at how good the car looked.
I told him mine was nothing and that there were many others much better looking than mine, even in orlando. I told him about Pedro's choptop, and Central Florida Fieros.
He was extremely complimentary of the car and i noticed he could not take his eyes off the curves and the sleek roofline. He was impressed. Think i made a new friend,... with connections hehehe.
I sent off a few pics to various connections I've made over the decade or so. One of them was Jerry from XS Custom on Largo, FL. Jerry was blown away from viewing the pic of #020 and mentioned does it has a interior and if not could he do in FL? I said, "No, but I have a guy here in CA that's going to do it." Jerry's response was, "Already been to the best, good luck with the rest. LOL." We had a good chuckle. The pic I sent were this:
Maybe I might send him the Redux.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 08-24-2012).]
Originally posted by exoticse: A few houses down from mine and across the street lives a police officer, who always has his cruiser parked out front. He was extremely complimentary of the car and i noticed he could not take his eyes off the curves and the sleek roofline. He was impressed. Think i made a new friend,... with connections hehehe.
#020 is being cut, polished, and waxed at Trends Detail shop in town (that means the car is being worked on-thread haters here ). The car was parked on the corner when I arrived on Tuesday. I was able to observe the public glance during the entire day. The main street is a three lane road with plenty of traffic with a speed of 35-40 mph. The lane closest to the shop I notice mostly males rubber necking the car with a few close calls. There's traffic light at the next intersection and that's when the show really starts. I was able to see everything from the shop, across the street and witness a few people pulling over and stopping. There's a automotive shop next doors and the customers there creating foot traffic towards the chopper.
A few males knew what the car was do to the PONTIAC lights in the back. It was good that I was there at the shop because people were interfering with the work. They just pointed to me and I answered the questions. Only one person has been following the thread on the forum, but all others were clueless as to what the build involved. Since I was having my work car at the shop next door I was able to ask people what type of car is it? Some said they didn't know, others said it's a Fiero with some type of a kit on it. One guy came back twice to ask more questions. He said he once worked at a car shop and knew cars. Therefore I picked his brain. I think he guess two items on the cars from other makes, but even that answer was in general. The 350Z he thought it was from a Mercedes and as for the rest he had no clue. The good news he knew it wasn't a replica, but a custom built car.
Around noon time they finally started #020 and drove the car inside to get going on the polishing and details. I was a bit relived that they did for I kept thinking somebody was going to have a accident. Granted, I've seen way better looking cars on that same corner waiting to get work done on them, but I saw several near misses. Even people in the middle lane were rubber necking. The only thing that might have saved the day were women drivers for they didn't look. Anyway, it was a strange day.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 08-30-2012).]
He is coming by the shop in his orange chopper to view #020 today or this Friday. We spoke on the phone for several minutes taking about the SB100 and other CA scrap you must go through to get a simple Fiero. LOL. California, you gotta love them. Always making it hard for a guy to pass when the other 49 states just stick a sniffer up the tail pipe. However, I digress. Soap box off. Orville will be taking some pictures and he might post them or just send my the CD copy.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 08-30-2012).]
Ohhhh, I like those gunmetal wheels on the red choptop. What's the plan for wheels? I like the big, blingy wheels but those gunmetal ones give the car a much sportier look IMO.
Ohhhh, I like those gunmetal wheels on the red choptop. What's the plan for wheels? I like the big, blingy wheels but those gunmetal ones give the car a much sportier look IMO.
The gun metal wheels are nothing more than test mules for they've been used on several cars while in the shop for tweaking. Besides, they are only 19x7.5 and you can't used them for wide body Fiero's. They are other gun metal wheels with aggressive pattern and are wider. Car-Lo and Demancheno has a nicer pair of wheels.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 08-31-2012).]
On Friday I stopped by the shop thinking they had mounted the various parts on the car, but that didn't happen. However, I was able to go over the details of the polish job and people kept passing by and then turning around to park to look at the chopper. The dead give-away obviously were the PONTIAC tail lamps for most said it's a Fiero, but didn't know exactly what was done to it or how.
Before answering their questions I turned it around and asked them what items do you detect that are from other makes of cars. Off the bat, nobody said anything about the car being chopped. The 350Z they didn't even know it came from so as a black 350Z kept coming around the block looking I told the young couple, "It came from that car." Most of the people on Friday were 25-30 yrs old and were shocked that the car was the same age. The front windshield nobody could guess that either so I pointed to my Eclipse. Some didn't believe me so they had to go to my work car to compare, but still they said, "No way."
Evene the side Corvette marker lights nobody knew because they were flipped (facing backwards). It was a split as-to what areas they liked the best. Some were stuck on the front while others near the rear hips. Even a few liked the stock tail lamps in how it was tweaked along with the side vent. One girl asked was it functional and I replied, "It's like lip gloss. A girl doesn't need it, but it sure looks good on top of lip stick."
As usual most asked about where to buy the kit, but I didn't have any business cards so I told them V8Archie from IL. I didn't go into detail about the tweakness involved, but only that you can buy the kit. When I hit the switch to raise the front flipper they asked about that too and if that nose is offered. I said, "You can purchase the nose, but it's not exactly like this." I didn't go into detail as to what you need to do to get it as-is, but hey-you never bolt on any after market part anyway. You tweak it first and then you bolt it on.
The detailed guy at the shop told me somebody sneeked upon him as he was doing something between the door jams and the person startled him as the person face was right next to his when he turned. The shop guy jumped back! As they were polishing other cars people kept asking them about #020 and that continued throughout the day until I arrived. The shop guy arrived early that morning inorder to not be distracted.
While at the shop I notice a very nice poster on the wall. I called the shop and they let me have it!
Pardon the pun, but nice shoes.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 09-01-2012).]
I came by the shop today to see if they had installed the body parts. Nothing was done for the parts are at the main shop and will be installed on Wednesday. Anyway, the shop guy said he couldn't get any work done because people kept stopping by, asking questions if the car was a new 370Z. He said it was due to the rear hatch. A couple of older guys wanted to know when the car would be put back together and if they could take pictures.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 09-05-2012).]
I came by the shop today to see if they had installed the body parts. Nothing was done for the parts are at the main shop and will be installed on Wednesday. Anyway, the shop guy said he couldn't get any work done because people kept stopping by, asking questions if the car was a new 370Z. He said it was due to the rear hatch. A couple of older guys wanted to know when the car would be put back together and if they could take pictures.
That is cool you built a 370Z kit car. Will you be installing Nissan emblems soon?
The guy in the picture his name is Rey. He owns a F355 replica that he's been building for nearly 6 yrs or so. He seen me before on the hwy zipping by in a Silver Fiero. He tried to catch me, but I was too far gone. He wanted to talk to the owner of the red Fiero (#020) for some time, but Joe said, " He just pops in and there's no way of catching him." Well, today he caught me. He also remembers the Fiero with the Celica headlights at Trends. We talked for nearly an hour. In the picture he is taking down my number, because it was just too much info coming out of my mouth.
He had no idea that a Fiero could look so good. I told him, " I wanted something different. Something that Pontiac could've build." He had been stopping in seeing the progress, but today he really was taken back. He asked who made the kit, the engine, the brakes, and just about everything on the car. I informed him that the kit doesn't look like this, but V8Archie sells the MadArch wide body kit and hood was made by a person in Ohio name Norm. He wanted their phone numbers.
[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 10-10-2012).]
It felt good being back in #011 today. The intoxicating leather smell from Mr. Mike is still within the interior. The HRE needs a little spit shine, but other-than-that it's time to change the fuel filter.
I stopped by the shop to check out #020 and found a few people puzzled. One guy thought the car was a Lotus. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the shop to install the wheel liners and vent screens.
). The car was parked on the corner when I arrived on Tuesday. I was able to observe the public glance during the entire day. The main street is a three lane road with plenty of traffic with a speed of 35-40 mph. The lane closest to the shop I notice mostly males rubber necking the car with a few close calls. There's traffic light at the next intersection and that's when the show really starts. I was able to see everything from the shop, across the street and witness a few people pulling over and stopping. There's a automotive shop next doors and the customers there creating foot traffic towards the chopper. 
