Ever since Chadman posted this question on May 21, it has haunted me.
"Incidentally, every year, the Indy 500 winner gets the roadgoing equivalent of that year's pace car as part of his winnings. I know Bobby Rahal still has his '86 convertible Vette...wonder if Rick Mears kept his Fiero?"
I know others have asked the same question. Last week I started searching & surfing. Man, it's hard to find anything on Rick Mears!
Today the SCCA email'd me his home address, so I wrote a letter and gave it to the snail (USPS) to deliver. Besides giving him my email addy, I told him we would be thrilled to have him come here and talk with us! Cross your fingers.
hey, call (what ever area code he is in, (???) 555 1212 and ask for his #, and they will give it to u as long as it is not unlisted.... hope this would help, THanx Jason
------------------ We all have dreams, but not everyone gets them...
my brother in law is very good friends with roger penske so i have met rick mears on several occasions and always got pit passes for the cart races. also got to sit in a champ car! was his address in florida? if so what town? i believe he used to live on jupiter island.
Well if he lives on Jupiter island he's doing very well! That is the most expensive place to live in the U.S.A. If he wants someone to go visit at his house let me know.
Yes it was Jupiter Florida. I checked penskeracing.com already. He has a page called "Rick Mears sightings" which is his descriptions of all the tracks they race on. But there was no "contact us" link. I am almost certain he drove for Penske in 84. I don't remember a time when he didn't drive for them.
Bobby Rahal has or used to have a Fiero GT. I even have a pic here somewhere. I got a gazillion Fiero pics. Will see if I can dig it up and scan it... _
How ironic...the answer came in the mail today in my latest FOCOA magazine.
Another Fiero nut named Ron Treichel had the same question and investigated. Here's what Ron found out:
"Many thought that (Mears) was given one of the original pace cars...Rick told me that he received a replica just like many of us own. After the victory celebration, Rick was given the Pace Car and his parents drove it back to Backersfield, CA. His car stayed around in his garage compound for several years, but today it is living at Roger Penske's Michigan Speedway storage/museum."
The article features a photo Ron took of Mears' Fiero, and claims Mears' car has 6000 miles on it.
Ron also tracked down two of the three original Super Duty pace cars. #1 is in an Indianapolis Motor Speedway warehouse (NOT on display in the infield museum); it has 1455 miles on it.
#2 is in "the Pontiac mothball fleet" and was used at "other racing venues." (Wonder where the Pontiac mothball fleet is?) Witzenberg's Fiero book claims an SD pace car was used at Pikes Peak - this is probably that car. #2 has 4636 miles on it.
#3 is missing. Ron is still digging for its whereabouts.
Does anybody know who Ron Treichel is? I owe him a debt of gratitude...while I'm saying "one of these days I'll have to contact Indy," he actually did it.
IP: Logged
11:44 PM
PFF
System Bot
Aug 31st, 2001
OcalaFiero Member
Posts: 152 From: Ocala, Florida, USA Registered: Aug 2001
[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChadMan: [B]How ironic...the answer came in the mail today in my latest FOCOA magazine.
#2 is in "the Pontiac mothball fleet" and was used at "other racing venues." (Wonder where the Pontiac mothball fleet is?) Witzenberg's Fiero book claims an SD pace car was used at Pikes Peak - this is probably that car. #2 has 4636 miles on it.
#3 is missing. Ron is still digging for its whereabouts. [B][QUOTE]
#2 or #3 may be the PPG pace car that was used in the mid 80's as a CART pace car. The mothball fleet (or part of it) exists at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. I had a friend whose father worked there when I was in high school (all those years ago...). They used to have some pretty interesting things stored there, including the Olds Aerotech. I'm not sure if the Fieros are at the Tech Center, but they might be. Or, they could have been "destroyed" (i.e., sold to some GM exec or his friend).
Mike
[This message has been edited by OcalaFiero (edited 08-31-2001).]
IP: Logged
08:11 AM
Hartz Member
Posts: 1511 From: Plymouth, MI USA Registered: Jul 99
Ron is a member of the Michigan Fiero Club. He talked to us about this last Monday at the club meeting. As an aside, he has supposedly arranged with the folks down at Indy to get pictures of his '84 Indy (with nifty scoop and strobe lights) on the track with the real Indy pace car.
He also is working the Pontiac general manager for information about what GM might have stored away in their archives.
Man, this is cool!!! Working together, you guys can find anything!!
------------------ Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com 1988 Red Fiero Formula - 1st Place - Stock Coupe - FOCOSEVA 2000 - 3rd Place - Stock Formula - FOCOA Nat'l 2001
IP: Logged
04:27 PM
rockcrawl Member
Posts: 2528 From: Lehigh Valley, PA Registered: Jul 2000
Hey, one of you guys in Florida might want to check out the auto museum in/near Daytona. I don't remember the name or exact location, I was there about 6 or 7 years ago. I think there were two Fieros there and one was an Indy. I don't have any pics, only memories.
