This post had me in tears. I am the eldest daughter of Jim Sutter...the heart of IRM. He is still alive, but had a stroke in 1999.
I just saw a LetGo commercial with a yellow Fiero and did a double take, thinking it may have been dad's fastback...alas, it was actually an 88GT in the same yellow that dad used for his fastback. When it looked so good entered in the 1986 World of Wheels, Washington DC...it wasn't long before Pontiac stared selling that in your face yellow.
He was hooked on the Fiero from the word go. We had been a Pontiac family for several years...Ford converts, and in 1984 he was driving a TransAm. Then on Memorial Day weekend, there it was...the Pontiac Fiero Pace Car at the Indy 500. I think he stopped in to King Pontiac the next day. His 1st purchase was in fact a special edition Indy Pace Car. Then an 84 coupe, then another 84, then an 85SE and an 86 or two I mean we needed a couple GT project cars, and lastly he got an 88GT...you get the picture, we had A LOT OF FIEROs. Fieros were the 1st and in some cases the 2nd car of choice for me and my siblings. I was a teenager, so my memories are fuzzy and unfortunately now so are some of dad's.
Anyway, the fastback discussion came very naturally...the trunk of a regular Fiero simply was not big enough to put a case of beer (when they were sold flat) into the trunk. Dad and several of his buddies got together every weekend to decide what they could do with their project car. Mind you, in the 60s these guys built cars and raced SCCA at tracks like Malboro in MD on their days off from their "day jobs"...a couple were engine guys and a couple were body & paint men.
I beleive the 2nd 84 he bought is the same one to eventually become the yellow fastback. And I think the 1st turbo was in an 85, then the yellow fastback also got a turbo in about 86. Then when the first GT was released, dad was all over wanting to modify that one too, so the red fastback was born.
As I said previously, he took both cars and the turbo to 1986 World of Wheels in DC. I remember they were so low, there was no way to drive them so we used a trailer, but they were SO LOW and had the larger wheels also, you could barely turn them...and it took forever to get them into our booth.
Once the catalog business launched, most spoke to my mom directly. Once Pontiac stopped production, those who really loved the car were her loyal customers for 10 years. We had the Fiero Owners Club meeting at our house for several years. Anyone remember when the MD State Police helicopter landed in the yard? All the fun ended when dad had his stroke in1999...it was bad...we didn't think he would make it (but anyone who actually met him knows he has a bit of a stubborn streak)...a month in ICU...almost 6 months in rehab...and he was never really steady enough to even go down to the shop which had moved to our house in the mid-90s. So most of the inventory was sold, the cars were sold, eventually even the property was sold.
I can't wait to call him tomorrow and tell him about this thread and I hope to hear back from some of you as well. Pictures, posts, stories...I like to remind him of happier days.
I did want to address a couple items I read in the post... The Ferrari body was also a kit owned by one of dad's buddies (body & paint)...and yes, that is the GT fastback in the background. And the yellow fastback...I'm sorry to hear of the turbo issues, but the amazing fact about that car is that the T-tops held up...we all were worried she would "sag" in her old age.
Vroom vroom! Thanks for letting me vent this evening...apparently I needed an outlet.
This post had me in tears. I am the eldest daughter of Jim Sutter...the heart of IRM. He is still alive, but had a stroke in 1999...
Janet, thank-you for telling us about your dad. Please give him a big hug for us, and just tell him it's from fellow Fiero fanatics from around the world.
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