FOCOA Visit by Jim Hallman
On September 16, I had the pleasure of visiting the World
Headquarters of the Fiero Owners Club Of America (FOCOA) in Anaheim, California
while on a business trip to Los Angeles – about a 45 minute drive away in heavy
LA traffic.
As my co-worker and I entered the storefront style, small business
park door, walls of pictures of FOCOA member’s Fieros greet you. Several
pictures were recognizable as my own and of fellow NIFE members and friends.
Walking to the back of the building, Fiero Phil and Gloria greeted us and welcomed
us to the museum. A row of eight Fieros were lined up in front us. Included in
this line were: two Pace Cars (one with only 11 miles on it), the famed yellow
T-top 1988 Formula which has signatures of all of the Fiero assembly plant
employees, a hand made chop-top Fiero, a skinless Fiero, a Fiero based kit car,
a red Fiero coupe and a Fiero convertible which once had a rare hydraulic lift
top kit.
Unfortunately, due to the recent move back to Anaheim, much
of the Fiero memorabilia was still packed away in boxes. However, the unpacking
process has begun and numerous unique items were already on display thanks to
Phil and Gloria’s efforts.
A unique, recent addition to the collection is a set of
engineering drawings of the assembly plant layout. These drawing depict the
production process of what it took to assemble a Fiero. Mera advertising signs,
banners and other memorabilia decorated the walls all around.
Up front, along with the FOCOA business offices and
computers, is the toy collection which included every Hot Wheels car, Match Box
car, plastic model kit and friction push car you could imagine. It is hard to
believe there were so many things produced that were related to the Fiero.
A still growing collection of newspaper clippings, magazine
articles and obviously a picture gallery already cover or will be covering
every square inch of wall space in the not too distant future.
The FOCOA Museum is always looking for contributions of
anything related to the Fiero that you would like to donate for other Fiero
owners to appreciate.
Thank you Fiero Phil, Gloria and Max (their pet bird) for
staying late into the evening so I could experience this Fiero treasure!
|