Mr. Gatsby

Autorama was this past weekend. It has been a long standing family tradition to participate in some way. I am married to a “car guy” and together, we’ve raised a pretty great “car guy”. Mr. Gatsby has always been a very equal mix of both Hubby and myself. Not only in appearance, but personality and mannerisms. I can honestly say, he is a very good human, even when he’s being obnoxious. Anyway, his first car, (and there have been many now), was a 1986 Fiero GT. Because I’m his Mama, I tried to talk him out of it, even though a 1985 Fiero GT was my first car, (significantly longer ago when safety standards weren’t as high). I tried to steer him to what I felt would be safer and more modern options. He came back with safety research and assured me that it was going to be ok and this is what he wanted and started a hunt for the perfect one.

The Fiero has really gone up in popularity in recent years. It has become very hard to find a low mileage one, and one in anything close to decent shape, especially at a reasonable price. So, because he is like Hubby, he scouted Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. He came across an ad for an 1986 Fiero GT with 30k miles, in a storage yard, that didn’t run. It was at some point rescued from a junk yard and then sat in this outdoor dirt parking spot to die. It was rough.

Pretty sure the seller was asking $1,000 for it. We went, we saw, I scowled, and told Mr. Gatsby to offer the guy $500.00 and see what happened. The seller countered, and $651.00 later, we rolled her onto a trailer and brought her home. By “we” I mean Hubby, Mr. Gatsby and a very good friend of mine. I prefer to serve in a supervisory role for these types of adventures.

Yesterday, Mr. Gatsby was awarded second place at Autorama. I’m proud, Hubby is proud, and I think Mr. Gatsby must be proud too because he actually smiled for a photo. He’s swapped engines, transmissions, interior and painted that car, along with a variety of other things. It’s been a sometimes painful learning experience, but always rewarding. I know hubby and I have really enjoyed watching him navigate the process and come into his own.

Congratulations Mr. Gatsby.