Posted 04.18.2012 at 2:23 pm
5 Comments
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Drilling Rivets
Kathryn drills rivets out of her Fiero's door.
Pennock's Fiero Forum
When I was a kid in Buffalo, N.Y., the route back to my parents’ house passed a Pontiac dealership with a red Fiero displayed on the corner. I was years away from driving age, but I wanted this car. I was crushed when I learned Pontiac was discontinuing the model, and I told my dad we should just go get one and store it in the garage until I was 16. Get this! A 13-year-old Michigan girl actually did this. She bought a Fiero for the future, and she’s restoring the car herself. This girl is my hero.
Meet Kathryn, who is disassembling the driver’s seat track, rebuilding visors, drilling out door rivets, scrubbing wheel wells and replacing suspension bushings ... all while taking a break from soccer. Her dad, who posts about their project on a Fiero forum under the name Michhiker, is proudly sharing her progress and DIY attitude as she restores the car in her uncle’s barn. I won't add to the the OMG-she's-a-girl narrative here, but suffice to say a lot of people on the forum seem pretty impressed, even wistful that their sons are not as handy.
Here’s her argument for the car, recounted by her dad:
1. She would like to buy a Fiero because she saw one at a show and thinks they are cool (we are Corvette people, so she has been around a few shows). Fair enough I like GM products and remember the Fiero fondly from my youth.
2. She makes the arguement that it gets reasonably good gas mileage .
3. It is relatively inexpensive, so she would be able to afford it.
4. She could completely restore it in the 4 years until she turns 16 .
5. She would learn about how cars work, it would be a cheap education for the money.
6. She would only have the capacity to take one friend along with her, so there would be less distraction.
7. She wants a manual so she would learn how to drive stick .
8. When it is done it would be a cool historic sports car.
9. She would pay for it all herself.
2. She makes the arguement that it gets reasonably good gas mileage .
3. It is relatively inexpensive, so she would be able to afford it.
4. She could completely restore it in the 4 years until she turns 16 .
5. She would learn about how cars work, it would be a cheap education for the money.
6. She would only have the capacity to take one friend along with her, so there would be less distraction.
7. She wants a manual so she would learn how to drive stick .
8. When it is done it would be a cool historic sports car.
9. She would pay for it all herself.
The family proceeded to buy a Fiero for $450, using Kathryn's babysitting money, and she set about dismantling and restoring it. She’s been working on it for a little more than a year now, according to her dad’s and her own accounts at the Fiero forum.
Kathryn said this winter that now she’s considering getting another beat-up car to actually drive, just so she can preserve this one. “After all this work, especially on the body work, [if] someone even scratches my paint they will meet my wrath!!!” she writes. “Just kidding but seriously I love my car and it isn't finished yet.”
You can follow her progress here.
[via Jalopnik]
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This is a really cool deal. As she seems to be a s well. Way to go!
Dunno how safe it is but in 4 years, she ought to be able to look at every part close enough to make it like new.
Might be able to update a few things too.
Good for her. Be careful.
The seeker of knowledge who seeks to reach beyond the stars to go where no mans gone before to see things no man has seen and bring these experiences back for the whole world to hear and see.
I hope the car just completely falls apart when she first starts it and she realizes she just wasted 4 years of her life on a old #$%# car . Then ill show up and point and laugh at her like a heartless bastard until she crys then slap her father with a glove and challenge him to a dull witch ill when then laugh at him then go home and eat some pizza come back laugh at him and her some more then go home
TrulyVisionary…what a misrepresented user name! I personally applaud this young lady. Bravo to you Kathryn and your father. She’s taken the initiative to learn and build.
TrulyVisionary based on your comments, you apparently are jealous. One thing most people with class are taught and learn is to keep your comments to yourself if you don’t have something nice to say. Especially if this experience does not affect you in the least! Your glass must be half empty all the time. Dude you need to grow up!
tek6404 its much more likely hes or it is drunk and her or its only true vision is looking into his her its next drink. What a louse.