I work nights and coming home at midnight I needed gas so I stopped at the gas station I always stop at thats right off the highway. As I pulled in I saw cars parked everywhere and a bunch of kids just hanging out all over the place. Not wanting any trouble I pulled up to the end pump and got out to pump. A group of the kids started to walk over and I was thinking this wasn't good. Then one of them came up to me and said " wow really cool car sir, mind if I take a picture of it?" I said sure and started talking to them. They wanted to know all about the car, what year it was, did it have a V-6, etc etc. They asked if they could look it over I showed them the car. They complemented me on how clean it was and couldn't believe it had 163K on the clock. (my car is not that nice, I drive it every day, but I took the compliment). I finished pumping and got in and started it up and put the lights on and got out my calculator to figure out my mileage and reset the odo when a couple of them came over and asked if I could wait there for a couple of minutes. no problem I was still figuring out the mileage. next thing I know there is a bunch out front with their phones out taking pictures. they said thanks and I pulled forward and saw what the pics were about. they had a couple RX7's and I think a nissan 200 pulled up to the pumps next to me that all had pop up headlights. They all said good night and Thank You "sir" as I pulled out. I was a little nervous when I pulled in but it was a lot of fun talking to them and they were a great bunch of kids. Very uplifting for me. I thought that was great. I really enjoyed that. didn't much care for the "sir" part though, I'm not THAT old.
Awesome story! When I saw the title I was expecting the same thing you first were. Goes to show there are still good kids out there. Don't hear enough feel good stories like that much anymore.
I wouldn't worry about the 'sir' part lol. I'm 31, and take that as a huge amount of respect when I get called that. Don't hear that much anymore either lol.
no problem, glad to share it. I guess I should have put it in the story that I was driving my yellow 88 fiero 4banger. just to clarify the pop up thing.
Good story man... A lot of kids don't know what these cars are... Guys my age get blown away when I tell them it's a Pontiac. Ironically, the only people that give me grief about my Fiero is the older guys... for example, whenever I bring it to my old shop where I used to work I get roasted for having it, every time. It's been two years since I got it, and every single time I go over there they always tell me it's gonna catch fire any minute... Haha
------------------ "Discord" Red 1988 GT under restoration!
I was working in the garage when the newspaper boy (probably about age 10) walked up the driveway and tossed our paper over by the door. When he saw me I said hi and he said hi, then stopped and said "nice cars".
Great story- My Gf lives on Redwood road in Castro Valley- well known back road known for curves(Although they are letting maintenance slid to deter fun)...As I backed out of her driveway a early model WRX-STI (Blue with gold wheels) comes over the rise and down towards me, so I nailed it thru 2 gears to get moving- They followed me all the way over to Lake Chabot road- As I turned on to the part that actually runs along the lake, I took off and ran a few turns hard- then pulled over...I actually wanted to ask them how it looked thru the turns- They drove on by but driver & passenger both gave me a thumbs up- That's something from a lowered STI.....Most of the time I get the "That must be the only Fiero that didn't burn up!" kind of stuff....Or the "It's american- crap!".....
When I was a kid, a 30 year old car was something from the *'50s* and was a real treat to see. It's probably hard to reconcile is from you're in that age group, but seeing a Fiero in 2016 is like seeing a Packard in 1986. That, to me, is absolute madness. Anyone who is genuinely into cars has got to appreciate seeing something that old on the road at all, much less something that's damn special looking and a pretty solid drive to boot. A few weeks ago one of my more aloof and wealthy coworkers approached me and asked if that was my Fiero in the parking lot. He said he'd always wanted one when he was a kid (we're about the same age) and asked if he could drive it. As he'd previously tossed me the keys to his Maserati I couldn't say no.
I can't speak for elsewhere, but one thing I've noticed about car culture around here is many of the boundaries have been ripped down. You don't have to be Ford guy or a Chevy guy, or a muscle guy or an import guy, or a vintage guy or a modern guy - you can just be a car guy. I have a lot of '80s icons (Merkur XR4Ti, Saab SPG, the Fiero currently) and they all get appreciation from a variety of people. Although there are a lot of laws that bring us down, I think it's a pretty good time to be into cars in general. Lots of good people working hard to keep the lifestyle enjoyable. A Fiero owner getting appreciation from a group of import owners is cool if you ask me.