Oddly enough, a site dedicated to my obsession with the Pontiac Fiero must start with a tribute to a Mazda. A green 1993 Mazda MX-6, that I called Midori (green in Japanese).

Midori was my daily driver for about one and a half years. Neat looking car, a peppy 2.0 L engine and 5 speed transmission. I had projects in mind for her … but in spite of a few bugs, she could be counted on to crank right up and take off for whatever destination.

Then … one dark day, we encountered a Ford Explorer in a parking garage (sheesh!).

Doesn’t look TOO awful, but you can’t see the ugly angle the wheel is actually positioned in. Also, high mileage 1993 MX-6s don’t carry a lot of book value. It didn’t take much tallying by the body shop to accumulate a repair figure that well exceeded the car’s book value.

Midori was deemed a total loss, and I was left searching for a new ride.

It just happened that I had been shopping used cars looking for a car for my daughter. The hand-me-down 1993 Escort that she had been driving had finally taken its last tow truck ride to the shop … after years of service.

Not that the prior shopping was a help. For what I had available to spend, the choices were pretty bleak. I’ll close this for now and continue in the next posting.

Why Fiero?

I knew about Fieros before the fever onset. Already being an X-Head (1977 Fiat X1/9 and 1984 Bertone X1/9), I am a fan of mid-engined sports carts … and no matter how nasty the arguments can get on BOTH sides of the discussion, there are definite similarities in the vehicles.

So, coupling that awareness with the need for wheels, I started doing some info gathering on the internet. Didn’t take long perusing discussion groups and such before I was told (several times) that the place I had to be was at the annual Fiero Swap Meet at the Fiero Factory in Toney, Alabama.

To be continued ….