GUYS! WICHITA OPPOS REPORT!

"Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen" (sportwagen)
11/07/2014 at 16:15 • Filed to: Central and West, Wichita, Show

As always, I am still wondering whether or not tonight is an ideal night for an Oppo meet up at the car show at Central and West... it should be really nice (albeit windy) night to do it... Should we?

1988 Fiero GT to keep it theme related

DISCUSSION (22)

ACESandEIGHTS > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 14:03

That's about the finest GT I've ever seen. And sure to be a hit among the purists because it's unmodified. Finally a car besides a Ferrari that looks absolutely impeccable in red.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > ACESandEIGHTS
11/07/2014 at 14:04

LOL I got off google images...

mr2gud2u > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 14:06

One day I'm gonna bring the grocery getter to one of your meet and greets.

ACESandEIGHTS > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 14:07

Well, where would this site be without pretty pictures?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > mr2gud2u
11/07/2014 at 14:07

You in Wichita?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > ACESandEIGHTS
11/07/2014 at 14:07

Deadspin for racing?

ACESandEIGHTS > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 14:10

Wouldn't know. F'ing Gawker/Kinja's super contraction has kept me from clicking on any of their sites anymore. Why would I go to a blog I can't post on? <—- rhetorical

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > ACESandEIGHTS
11/07/2014 at 14:12

LOL I was joking that basically Oppo would just be a Deadspin sub blog ;)

ACESandEIGHTS > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 14:13

Did I mention that was a nice picture?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > ACESandEIGHTS
11/07/2014 at 14:15

Yep lol :P

gordonbombay > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 14:53

Wishing I still lived in the Wichita area, up in Topeka now... Damn.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > gordonbombay
11/07/2014 at 15:10

You should come down some time!

mr2gud2u > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 15:13

I'm in the KC area

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > mr2gud2u
11/07/2014 at 15:14

YOU SHOULD COME AND VISIT!

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 16:45

Hey sportwagen do you have a facebook?

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/07/2014 at 17:02

No, why???

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/07/2014 at 17:57

Jake?????

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 18:02

Just how some of us are communicating now.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/07/2014 at 18:04

Ah, I might make one specifically for such purposes... but car show tonight? Yay or nay?

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 18:07

That's the stuff, right there...

T-Top Fiero GT fastback...

Monochrome bodywork, rather than the ground effects kit being contrast-painted. (dates the look to the 1980s more than the actual shape of the bodywork)

Those traits suggest that this is an '88 Fiero, although it is possible that it is an '87... The '88 Fiero had the suspension and brake upgrades intended to keep Fiero relevant, but GM killed the car anyway.

Auto industry Rant:

Pontiac often seems like GM's whipping boy... they try to be the enthusiast brand, but kept getting kicked back down by GM brass... but Pontiac has great history... the GTO, the Firebird, most of the line having Sprint package options with an overhead cam smooth-running Inline-6 engine, like many european cars, and the Japanese cars that followed european trends...

The original '64 Banshee concept car, that pre-dated the Mako Shark Corvette and Opel GT concept cars by at least a year, but GM kyboshed it for Pontiac, so not to interfere with Corvette.

The G8 and Solstice had merit, and could have done well, if GM and the government hadn't just killed Pontiac as a brand... and Pontiac wouldn't have been in that position if GM hadn't been starving it for good product for so long before that... Camaro had come back... but no Firebird. No mid-engined runabout at all after 1988, because it gave C4 corvette a run for it's money, for a lot less money... even after C5, C6, and C7 have moved up-market and gotten more advanced... the Fiero remained extinct, as did the Firebird after the demise of F-body.

The Fiero itself... an affordable mid-engined runabout sports car... built with composite-body on space-frame construction technology, with affordable platform-shared FWD-car running gear in an alternate arrangement... swap out the bodywork to upgrade the car... paint the panels off the chassis... dent-resistant surfaces, but still a strong steel structure underneath...

Why that doesn't happen a whole lot more now, I don't know... modern manufacturing and digital development and prototyping, and an industry almost entirely composed of transverse-layout passenger car drivetrains... longitudinal driveline cars are the rare exception anymore.

Almost every automaker could build a car like that from existing parts, on a relatively easily developed chassis, yet none do. Most recently, BMW's MINI could have made the Coupe and Speedster actually really interesting, if they had put the engine in the back... and made them much more than just an also-ran sidebar model along side the 2+2 Cooper and Cooper convertible....

Honda could have done something far more interesting than CR-Z ended up being, with or without hybrid assist.

Toyota could have built a new MR2 with a Subaru boxer and transaxle in the back like a junior Cayman, which would be a better car than FR-S/BRZ. It is not like Lotuses are sold in the US with Toyota engines anymore.

Hyundai/Kia could have built anything other than the hideous-looking Veloster.

VW could have built their Bluesport concept, with a gas-turbocharged engine, and converted TT to mid-engined as well, further away from it's similarly expensive A5 sister, and less expensive than Porsche Boxster.

Nissan should have built something other than the Joke, er, I mean Juke with that 1.6 Turbo engine.

Ford, could do anything from a Fiesta or Focus ST based mid-engined runabout, to a beastly SHO Ecoboost V6 powered mid-engined monster, above Mustang, but more available and affordable than Ford GT ever was intended to be.

GM... well, I've covered that.

Chrysler, and others... all have FWD platforms to donate components...

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen
11/07/2014 at 18:29

Nah, I'm barely going to make it to FSAE as it is.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/07/2014 at 18:33

Okay, understandable...

Jake, Gabe, and Jay didn't respond at all... so I guess I'm not going :/