Posted on 07/31/2012 1:56:11 PM PDT by AFreeBird
The following is from a link I followed from a Wired article regarding a 12 year old girl wanting to buy a car and restore it by her 16th birthday. I spent the better part of the afternoon catching up on the threads and thought it was a great story that FReeps would enjoy.
04-18-2011 04:37 PM
So we have been working on the car now for about 3 months, but as I have been prowling the forum I realized I should probably post the story, and some of you might be interseted in it.
A few months ago our 12 year old DAUGHTER came in and said, "Dad, Mom, can we talk for a minute?" We agreed, and she presented us with something she had been thinking about. She said that she would like to buy a car with her babysitting money. We were like, you are only 12.
Now I should tell you that she is 12 going on 22, but she presented these arguements to us. 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 milage 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.
Hmmmmm, the wife and I look at each other, and go ok. So the search was on. In the end we found a good deal on an 86 SE 2.8 and 4 speed. Lots of miles, but solid chassis and a few spare parts. So she has been stripping it out and working on repair, replace, fix, etc. for a few months. The interior is out and she has started on refinishing the wheels.
I just thought a few of you might be interested in this....if so let me know, and let me know how to post pics and I can put up some of her progress and her doing the work.
Is it just me, or do I have a really cool daughter?
-MH
If anyone wants one, let me know........ I know where to find one....... cheap.
bkmk
Some guys over at the forum have already suggested that. That, and a few other engine options. Her Dad wants to limit her to 200hp, but might crack from the pressure and allow more.
One guy suggested several engine options she could label “Daily Driver”, “Vette Killer” and “Track Only”. LOL!
Suggest a radical engine for her that’s lightweight and better than the stocker on gas...A turboed Suzuki Hyabusa.
There’s a couple You Tube vids with one in a VW Rabbit or something like it. 14,000RPM redline and about 300ish HP.
Of course that may not be the best option for a young driver ;)
It's not just you. I think you have a very cool daughter. She reminds me of my 14 year old girl. Same drive and initiative.
And yes, she's also verrrry persuasive with her parents :-)
Wait, what?
That car wasn’t good when it started (supposedly, that was supposed to be Shinoda’s shining achievement), and his enemies at GM deliberately crippled the project. The early blocks cracked because of the distance between the radiator and engine (the fluid got too cold upon return). The last model year was actually a great car (they got the bugs out of it). It was also one of the safest cars on the road when it was made.
There is an interesting article on the Internet where a guy made an electric car (that actually works as designed) with one...and to top it off, he showed it to the Illinois Secretary of State, and got a check for 4 big ones. Not a “tax deduction”. A check. So, he got a practical (within limits) electric car for cheep! You should read it because there are very low-buck upgrades you can bolt on (i.e., brakes) from other GM cars.
I have a 4.9L Caddy V8 in my ‘88. It’s a blast.
Don’t even *ask* what she did with the soundhole on her Martin.
I think I would like to introduce her to my youngest grandson who will soon be 12. Since age 6 his entire life has been consumed by automobiles. Wants to be a designer. Can rattle off information on almost every car ever made. Is an excellent artist but everything looks strangely like a car. Can understand and apply mathematical calculations used in the design of a car but has trouble with math used for other basic things, like making change. Owns every XBox game made on cars and can tell you which cars will not win a race or perform well and their design and handling flaws. Would rather go visit a car lot than do anything else. Plans to learn at least three foreign languages because he wants to be able to converse with designers in other countries. His mother insisted he at least attempt to play some musical instrument so he chose the piano and ended up writing a song he calls “Ode to the Audi”. Sometimes just drives me crazy.
Easy there big fella, only one ‘r’ in her Fiero.
I once had to ride in the trunk of a Fiero and have hated them ever since. Awesome story though which is helping me to get over it.
And what prey tell we’re you trying to sneak into to end up in the trunk of a Fiero?
I recall once putting six people into the trunk of my ‘65 Skylark to sneak them into a drive-in.
My landlady just bought a new Fiero and was showing it off and gave me a ride in it and we ended up at her Brothers who was on foot. We decided we should go to the bar but the car only fit 2. We tried to squeeze all three of us in there but they were both quite large. I was about 140 lbs at the time and stupidly offered to ride in the trunk. It was not as much fun as I imagined it might be.
Some of you on here know that I’m into air cooled VW’s. I would LOVE it if my daughter came to me wanting to restore herself a Beetle or Karmann Ghia.
Sadly, she wants one of the new Dodge Chargers. Well, she’s 11, maybe she’ll change.
The front end was wrecked, so I bought an entire front clip for $25. Talked the guy down from $35.
Couldn't afford to paint the car for a few months, so it had a red front end and a yellow body. Oh yeah, the guy I bought the front clip from was a Drag Racer. He had painted “High Performance 327” on the fenders, so guess who got pulled over by the Cops the first week he drove it? It had a 265 V-8 and a two speed Powerglide. A real racer that car was.
The day I finished repairing the car my Dad said, good job, now give me $200 for the Insurance and you can drive it.
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