june 2015 - new england fiero association · 2015-06-01 · fiero pride june 2015 page 4 the fuel...
TRANSCRIPT
June 2015
Joint publication of the New England Fiero Association and Mid Atlantic Fiero Owners Association
Page 2
Table of Contents
The Father of the Fiero: Hulki Aldikacti.............Page 3
Fuel Pump Testing...........................................Page 4
Fieros at Watkins Glen Opening Day.................Page 5
Meet a MAFOA Member...................................Page 6
Fiero Pride June 2015
Ray Paulk, President & Membership
Hopedale, MA [email protected]
Andrew Virzi Treasurer
Milford, NH [email protected]
Jerry Antunes Activities
New Haven, CT [email protected]
Gwen Randolph Newsletter & Activities
Publisher Fiero Pride Newsletter
Coventry, RI [email protected]
Robert Aceto Activities
Wallingford, CT [email protected]
RogerCoulson Merchandise
Framingham, MA [email protected]
Brian Smith Webmaster
Warrenton, VA [email protected]
Tom Derr, President
Mechanicsburg, [email protected]
Bruce Walters, Vice President/Website
North Wales, PA [email protected]
Bruce Homeyard, Treasurer, Membership
Gilbertsville, PA [email protected]
Pete Bransky, Activities
Allentown,PA [email protected]
Dennis LaGrua, Assistant Activities
Joe Aponick, Assistant Activities
Dwane Jackson, Assistant Activities
Jen Goss, Communications
Staunton,VA [email protected]
The Fiero Plant Philosophy............Page 8
NEFA Member Spotlight..............Page 10
What's Happening......................Page 12
Classifieds................................Pages 13
Cover Photo: Watkins Glen Opening Weekend 2015 Photo credit: Gwen Randolph
Fiero Pride June 2015 Page 3
The Father of the Fiero: Hulki AldikactiBy Fred Bartlemeyer
On Saturday, March 7, 2015, Annette & I attended the memorial & celebration of life for Hulki Aldikacti. For this writing, I am not going to present a chron-ological history of his life & the countless accom-plishments & ambitions that consumed Hulki’s life, but more of an account of what Hulki meant to me &the people of the Fiero Community. It was a day of mixed emotions simply because the purpose of the day was so different for so many people. Naturally, there was the family in attendance who were griev-ing with the loss of their beloved family member. There were also an impressive number of former colleagues & personal friends who had come to pay their last respects & were filling the sanctuary of the church.
The service given by the Reverend was the first time that I heard a church service where there were so many automotive references made in relation to Hulki’s character. Also present was our small group of people, who only had one thing in common with Hulki & that was the Pontiac Fiero. Each person in the group wore something Fiero-related to identify why they were there. For me, personally, I went to say goodbye to one of my inspirational heroes. I wore the Fiero Crest lapel pin that Hulki gave me many years ago that he wore for meetings with cor-porate during the development of the Fiero. Since the purchase of my new 85 GT in the May of 1985, the Fiero has been a daily part of my life. It intriguedHulki as to what the car meant to me & to the num-ber of my life experiences that surround the car. Hulki not only designed cars, but also had a very keen sense of business & how it related to the hu-man character. Without Hulki’s perseverance & abilityto bend the rules to see his project, the “P-car”, all the way to production, our Fiero Community would have never had the opportunity to enjoy our special little automobiles. The two seat mid-engined plat-form met so much opposition throughout the
development that it took a very dedicated creative & somewhat non-ethical approach to carry through. The concept of “Intrapeneuring,” a non-traditional method of conducting business adopted by Hulki, was used widely by the Fiero design team. An Intra-peneur is defined as an employee who manages to skirt the corporate bureaucracy to introduce new products & create new markets. Hulki brought the “P-Car” to dealership showrooms in an era when GMwas busy losing market share by concentrating on profit & volume while neglecting the quality, styling & features of the actual product offerings.
My overwhelming passion for the Fiero is what at-tracted Hulki’s attention that eventually grew in to a very special friendship. Hulki always commented thathe was simply amazed by how our Fiero group con-ducted ourselves in preserving the cars. What he meant by “preserving the cars” was that we have continued with the spirit of creativity & innovation that was the basis of the original car design. The subject of what was going on in the Fiero Commun-ity in terms of who was building something new & unique led to numerous lengthy conversations. I waswith Hulki when he saw his first Cadillac V-8 North-star stuffed into the back of a Fiero. He went speechless while studying the installation & later questioning the finer points of it’s construction while revealing history of why the spaceframe was con-structed the way it is.
Continued on Page 14
NEFA & MAFOA members send our sincere thanks to Fred Bartlemer, Heartland Fieros, for graciously sharing his thoughts & memories on the passing of his friend & mentor, Hulki Aldikacti.
Thank you, Fred!
Photo courtesy of Fred Bartlemeyer - Hulki, 2nd from right, & the people responsible for the first running concept P-car.
Fiero Pride June 2015 Page 4
The fuel pump circuit has several components that can fail. Be sure to test the system before pulling the tank and replacing the pump.
Circuit Description - The ECM (computer) will turn the pump ON whenever the ignition switch is in the RUN position. The pump will remain ON for
approximately 3 seconds or until you begin cranking. It will also remain ON as long as the engine is crank-ing, running and the ECM is getting ignition reference pulses. The pump will deliver fuel to the pressure regulator which will limit the fuel pressure to 34-46psi(V6) and 9-13psi(4cyl). Any excess pressure is sent back down to the fuel tank via the fuel return line.
Start with the Simple Things - Always start by checking the most simple and commonly overlooked items such as the fuses and ground.
The fuel pump runs on a 10 amp fuse and should be checked before going any further. Also check the 5 amp injector fuses. If the fuses are good, then check the gound. The fuel pump ground are located in the center console, just forward of the computer.
Just a reminder that The Fiero Store has a techarticle section on their website?
www.fierostore.com.
Digging into the tech article section once again, thismonth we will showcase
Fuel Pump TestingThe Fiero Store is not only a storehouse of
information, but also a go-to-place for items weneed to keep our Fieros on the road.
Fiero Pride June 2015
Fieros at Watkins Glen Opening Day
April 17 – 19, 2015
Submitted by: Gwen Randolph
Fieros owners from FL, MD, MI, NY, RI & Ontario came together for a fun-filled weekend, which for some has become an annual event. The Fiero community is a great group & no matter what club we belong to, we all have the Fiero passion & when we get together for an event, we have a great time.
The weather once again this year was delightful. In fact, those from NY asked those from FL to keep coming up every year because they seem to bring great weather.
Most of us arrived on Friday afternoon & settled in, enjoying the area & maybe visiting a winery or two.
On the agenda each morning before heading to the track was a stop at the Classic Chef restaurant to take on nourishment to tackle the track. After breakfast it was a cruise to the track where for a $25.00 donation you had three laps on the track, the donation money going this year to the NASCAR Foundation & local charities.
Saturday night we all gathered at The Decoy Restau-rant with lots of discussion. For those who knew the Dobson's, it was really nice to see Shirley Dobson, whowas joining her son AC, II & his wife, Brandy, for din-ner.
And, of course, any car activity is always fun when youend the day with a little ice cream. Phil & I & the Murads stopped for some ice cream back at our hotel. What more can you ask for, but a hotel that has an icecream parlor & some really yummy creations.
Check out the video of on track fun on Saturday taken by Dwane Jackson.
For those reading the hard copy version of this issue,this is the link. http://youtu.be/Z_U-QqlO3AU.
Page 5Photo credit: Larry Wheeler
Photo credit: Larry Wheeler
L – R: MAFOA members Garry Dammons, Dwane Jackson & Larry Wheeler & NEFA members Turid & Greg Murad & Phil & Gwen Randolph. Garry's 86 GT in back.
Photo credit: Bob Holtz, Capitol City Fieros
Page 6Fiero Pride June 2015
A familiar face has resurfaced on the Fiero scene, with a new zipcode & a new baby. Jennifer Goss is happy to become re-involved with MAFOA after a fewyears away. After serving five years as club presi-dent, Jen stepped away from Fieros to help her sisterrun a 45 acre horse farm, focus on finishing her Mas-ter’s & building an interesting career. In 2012, she & her husband, Matt, relocated to Staunton, VA & with the construction of a new garage started this month, she looks forward to hopefully attending more eventssoon.
Jen still owns her Blue 85GT, nicknamed “The Blue Demon,” that has captured many awards both locally & nationally. The car is known for its eye-catching blue color & silver ground effects as well as the sub-tle & obvious custom effects engineered by Jen, her father, Jim, & Matt. The car was truly a team build &its creation was chronicled in many earlier editions of FieroPride. The car is currently in storage, but shouldbe arriving on the Goss farm in the near future, as soon as its home is constructed. Jen hopes that it will then receive a needed brake up-grade & tune-up so she can get it back on the road & enjoy the curvy roads of their new home in the Shenandoah Valley.
MAFOA Meet A Member This month we meet Jennifer Goss
Jen lives in Staunton, VA
Continued on Page 7
Jen's Blue Demon
Jen, Matt & Ashleigh
Page 7Fiero Pride June 2015
The silver 88GT that Jen has owned since joining MAFOA is also still in the Goss stable. Matt drives this car to work most days as he has the longer com-mute & is in need of better gas mileage than his 8.1LSuburban provides. Jen also typically has “day-care drop-off” duty for their seventeen-month old daught-er, Ashleigh, who was born on New Year’s Eve 2013. Ashleigh already enjoys cars & Jen hopes that she will learn to turn wrenches growing up, just as Jen did from her dad & long-time Fiero owner, Jim.
Most interesting to learn is the adventures Jen has undertaken during her time away from Fieros. Manyknow that Jen is a high school history teacher, but do not realize that she is a national expert in Holo-caust education. In 2010, she was named a TeacherFellow for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC & in 2012, she became part of their elite teacher training group called the Regional Education Corps. She has also received many other honors related to her work in Holocaust history & education & has traveled abroad to Ger-many, Poland & Israel to study the topic further. In
Continued from Page 6.......MAFOA Meet a Member
2009, she received her Master’s in Holocaust & Gen-ocide Studies from West Chester University. Her work currently takes her around the country to work with teachers on this difficult topic.
In 2012, a documentary Jen produced with a col-league & students at Fleetwood Area High School debuted to a large crowd in Reading, PA, before be-ing shown worldwide at film festivals & institutional screenings. The film, Misa’s Fugue, has also been distributed to schools worldwide for use by high school & college educators to teach students about this difficult topic. To date, over 4000 copies have been distributed & in 2014, the film was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards, production & screen-writing. Jen was a nominee in both categories as she also served as one of the screenwriters for the project. The film also led to a ground-breaking artifact dona-tion to USHMM.
Jen still maintains her love of horses & has her horse, Charlie, at home on their new property. The Goss’s have six acres & an 1839 farmhouse that theyare working to restore. Jen rides when she has time& hopes to do some competing this year. January 2015 Jen was inducted into the US Pony Club's Academy of Achievement for accomplishments while a USPC member & her post-Pony Club professional life.
Although Jen’s parents, Jim & Cyndi Gilbert, get to see her less frequently, the family still maintains the Fiero connection. Jim still has the black 85GT that he won in 1985 in the “Mac Again, Back Again” sweep-stakes. Jen is hopeful that perhaps we can hold another tech session there in the next year as those were always great times for MAFOA members.
Jen is hopeful that she will be able to make it to more Fiero events soon – she’s currently trying to figure out how to be two places at once for Carlisle, as her sister is getting married that day. In the meantime, she’s looking forward to continuing to editthe newsletter & work on the club’s website.
Jen & Charlie
Page 8Fiero Pride June 2015
Another installment from TomDerr's vast collection of Fiero
Information
Continued on Page 9
Fiero Pride June 2015 Page 9
Continued from Page 8.......Fiero Plant Philosophy
Page 10Fiero Pride June 2015
Almost Black finds a new home - "Almost Black", the 85 GT, was my half-brother's car & back then it was a nice black. He got it because his dad bought a Fiero & he knew that his dad did not buy anything without researching it, so if good enough for dad... My brother lived with us for a time in Maryland, but when we moved to VA, his commute into DC was going to be too long so he got an apartment in DC & asked if he could leave the Fiero "for a while" with us as parking was a pain in DC. We parked it out of the way, not knowing that that spot was a dry stream bed. After a large rain we found a river running thru the Fiero. We moved it to higher ground & it sat for three years.
At some point my brother bought a 1963 Ford Falcon convertible & started fixing it up, which was a shock as Scott had not been a "car guy," but after waiting years, he finally found a garage spot in DC. Four more years passed & I figured out that he was not interested in the Fiero anymore & bought it from him.By this time, the paint had faded/pealed off to a kinda interesting "cloud effect" that I actually kinda liked in a "Velveteen Rabbit" sort of way & "Almost Black" was born. I did not have to do much other than the usual things you would do to a car that had been sitting a long time. Fluids, tires, all new brake parts, battery, etc. The only "breakage" was a bad distributor pickup. Shortly after I got it running, my brother came out & looked at the Fiero. We popped the trunk & he pointed at the oil dipstick & says, "THAT is the one you never want to let run dry.” Un-fortunately I did on the highway & the engine threw arod, but I had gotten the extended warranty & the mechanic said, “These Fieros... their engines go bad. We'll replace it under warranty." My brother lives a charmed life. Later Scott moved to RI, then back to DC, but he had lost his parking gar-age spot. He asked if he could park the Falcon at our place "for a while." “Sure,” & now, more years than I want to think about, the Falcon sits where the Fiero used to.
“Almost Black" goes to the car show - Not long after getting it running I joined MAFOA & discovered that Jennifer Gilbert (now Goss) & I also shared in-volvement in United States Pony Club. Jennifer tried talking me into taking "Almost Black" to the next MAFOA event. I told her it was not in any condition togo to a car show. Jennifer said, "It's an informal, fun
little club show & the people are nice so come any-way." I told my brother I was going & he said, "You had better go to the library & get a book of comebacklines. Those things can be ROUGH."
I was one of the first ones there. I parked & then people started FIGHTING over parking next to me. Were they being friendly or wanting to park next to me to make theirs look better by comparison? :) Well,Jennifer won the fight & parked right by my side. Everyone was polishing their Fiero. Jennifer had a nail polish bottle of paint & was touching up her hood hinges. I looked at "Almost Black" & started to try to straighten the bent radio antenna & then I laughed & thought, "What the heck." Like Jenifer said, every-one was very kind, friendly & supportive. I had a greattime.
I remember Jen won the show that day & I think it was all from her choice of parking spot. I am sure it had nothing to do with all the work she puts into that beautiful blue Fiero :)
Note: Fast forward a few years & NEFA has thepleasure of having Brian, not only as a member of
NEFA, but NEFA's webmaster. Thank you, Brian, foryour contribution to the club.
NEFA Member Spotlight
This month we highlight Brian Smith, NEFA Webmaster
Page 11Fiero Pride June 2015
21 Years at Carlisle: Fieros at Carlisle 2015Hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Fiero Owners Association (MAFOA)
Saturday, June 27, 2015
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
7:00 AM: Carlisle show grounds open.7:00 AM - 6:00 PM: Participant judging run by Carlisle Productions. *10:30 AM – NOON: “Ask a Fiero Expert” Roving Tech Session with “FieroJon” Miller. Sign-up for your tech talk at the MAFOA tent.11:00 AM - NOON: Participant Judging for Special Trophies on MAFOA show field
NOON: Free hot dogs and bottled water for MAFOA Members at MAFOA tent
2:00 PM: Presentation of Special Awards and Chinese Auction at MAFOA tent
* Class winners will be posted at the grandstand at 9 AM on Sunday with trophies to be presented at 1 PM. Those not present can have trophies mailed for $10 or picked up by a MAFOA member for delivery at a future MAFOA event.
Bring a picnic lunch & a chair
Water & soda will be supplied
Any questions, contact:
Jerry Antunes @ [email protected]
Bob Aceto @ [email protected] or
Gwen Randolph @ [email protected]
August 8, 2015 Save the Date!
Annual NEFA Swap Meet at
The Fiero Store 60A Progress Drive Manchester, CT
http://www.fierostore.com
Join us & “Share the Excitement”
A great day to swap, trade & enjoymeeting other Fiero enthusiasts.
The Fun starts at 11:00 AM
Page 12Fiero Pride June 2015
What's Happening – 2015 June 13, 2015 - 40th Annual Gettysburg Region AACA Meet at the Latimore Valley Fairgrounds about 7 miles south of Dillsburg, PA.
June 14, 2015 - 22nd Annual Buick, Pontiac, GMC Car Show at Anheuser-Busch Brewery, 221 Daniel Webster Hwy, Merrimack, NH. Hosted by Tulley Dealerships, Minuteman Chapter, BCA & Nor-Eastern Chapter Pontiac Club. Registration 8am – noon. $10 registration day of show. Tours of the brewery & the Clydesdale Hamlet are available throughout the day. Any questions call: Larry Legor at 617-913-8961 or call Hal Lund at 781-864-5665.
June 27, 2015 -Save the Date! Fieros at Carlisle @ the GM Nationals, Carlisle, PA Fairgrounds - For further info contact Tom Derr at [email protected] & check out page 11.
July 18, 2015 – NEFA Picnic – Again this year at Phil & Gwen Randolph's house, Coventry, RI. Flier to go out soon so save the date.
Just 25 & 26, 2015 – Autos of the World Car Show – Warwick, RI. Check out http://autosoftheworld.us/. A fun day in a beautiful park setting. This annual show brings in a few hundred cars of all makes & models. Bring your picnic lunch or buy from the many vendors at the show. Enjoy watching all the cars, talking to other car enthusiasts & listening to music.
August 8, 2015 – Save the Date! Annual NEFA Swap Meet - The Fiero Store, Manchester, CT. A great day to swap, trade & enjoy meeting other Fiero enthusiasts. Don't miss this fun day. Check out Page 11 for more information.
August 9, 2015 – Main Street Car Cruise, downtown Putnam, CT. 10:30 am – 5:00 pm. The streets shut down to accommodate hot rods, classics & antique autos. Stroll the streets. Check out the antique shops & have lunch at one of the restaurants. Enjoy the music. A fun day enjoying the car hobby with other like-minded car enthusiasts.
September 18 & 19, 2015 - Run For The Hills – The Georgia Fiero Club has invited all of us for their 20th anniversary cruise. This year they return to Helen, GA and a run at the “Tail of the Dragon.” All informa- tion can be found on this Pennock's link – http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/095037.html. September 19, 2015 - SAVE THE DATE - The Fiero Dutch Classic at Neffsville, PA. We will once again return to the Neffsville Rotary Car Show for the 2015 edition of the Fiero Dutch Classic. Stay tuned for more details!
September 27, 2015 - 32nd Annual All Pontiac and Oakland Fall Car Show – Wallingford, CT. Sponsored by the Nutmeg Chapter P.O.C.I. & Barberino Nissan at PNA Park, 171 North Planes Highway, Wallingford, CT. For more info check out their website.
September 2016 – Pontiac Celebration Show – Warwick, RI. A great weekend raising money for two children's charities – The Tomorrow Fund & Alex's Lemonade Stand. The three previous Celebration shows donated at least $8,000 each time. Plan to visit RI in 2016. More information to come as the date gets closer.
Classifieds
Fieros:
1988 PONTIAC FIERO GT - Fully Restored - $8000. East Falmouth, MA. 115,300 miles. 10,000 on new engine. Blows cold a/c, p/w, p/m, sunroof. No rust issues. Never driven in snow/salt. Check out full description & pictures & contact information @ http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/cto/4677746302. html or http://fieropride.com/. 10/14
1985 Fiero SE - 59k original miles. Automatic. Located in York, PA. Telephone: 317-657-6777.
Parts:
Mirror Control Repair Plate - Reinforcement backing plate repairs broken-out remote control bezel on driver's door mirror. Kit includes easy to follow instructions, plate, extra bezel nuts, & two extra door panel clips just in case you break one. $9.00 covers kit & shipping. Tom Derr @ (717) 763-5748 or [email protected].
Coil overs & 2.5 alternator - a pair of rear coil over springs taken off a 88 Fiero. May fit other years. Manufacturer unknown. Great shape. $100 for the pair. Picture provided if interested. Also, 100 amp alternator for a 87-88 Fiero 2.5. AC Delco reman - brand new - in box with fan & pulley attached. Sells new for $125+. Will take $80. Contact Andrew @ [email protected] Milford, NH.
Koni adjustable Shocks & Struts – Removed from an 88 Formula. Struts & adjustment tool look great. They are probably 10 years old & have about 10,000 miles on them. The front shocks do NOT look as good. They are two different styles also. Pictures available. Make me any offer. Contact [email protected]. 2/15
Fiero Toys, Literature & Collectibles:
Fiero Toy Box – Ray has over 500 unique Fiero toys in his personal collection & tons of rare & hard to find toys for sale. If interested, contact Ray Paulk at [email protected].
Over 2,000 items cataloged - Dealer Brochures, Owner's Manuals, Workshop Manuals, Magazines, Pamphlets, Models, Die Cast, Pull-back Fieros, Slot Cars, Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Body parts, wheels, sunroofs, ash tray covers, many steering wheels, consoles. Tom Derr @ (717) 763-5748 or [email protected].
NEFA Merchandise & Apparel:
Polo shirts with NEFA logo embroidered on the left front. Nice quality shirts at a reasonable price. Several members have purchased these shirts. Go to TC Promos website & use the drop down button for colors & size options http://tcpromos.com/shop/private-store.
Check the NEFA website http://fieropride.com/ & click on the NEFA Merchandise button to view the NEFA T-shirts for size & colors available or the NEFA window sticker for your Fiero at $1.00 each. And don't forget the NEFA pint glasses. Just the right size for your favorite cold beverage.
Page 13Fiero Pride June 2015
Repair/Painting:
Do you have something Fierorelated to sell or have a Fierorelated service you want to
advertise? This is the place. Sendyour contact information to:
Gwen Randolph at:[email protected] or
Jen Goss at:[email protected]
This is a company owned
& operated by Andrew Virzi,
NEFA's Treasurer.
Page 14
Continued from page 3...............Father of the Fiero
Without the passion & creativity of the Fiero design team, Pontiac would have once again produced another watered down cookie cutter form of trans-portation. I had the opportunity, with the help of Hulki, to be in the presence of the original Fiero team on several occasions & the guys conducted themselves as a family, even after not seeing each other for many years. My ambition to encourage getting these guys together for a lunch meeting proved to be one of my most ultimate Fiero-related experiences. The beauty of the meeting was that it took place many years after each retired & they wereable to talk about events that happened during Fiero development that previously were protected by their GM confidentiality employment agreement.
It was after this meeting in 2005 that my relation-ship with Hulki went from a person I knew to a reallygood friend. I met Hulki in 1996 for the first time & the Michigan Fiero Club did a good job of invitinghim to their club functions. My numerous good quality questions eventually led to Hulki giving me his contact information due to the time restraints during the Fiero events that he attended. For a while, I had to have a definitive purpose for calling him simply because Hulki did not subscribe to idle chit chat due to his numerous time consuming pro-jects & most importantly his family commitments. It was at the 2005 Fiero team meeting where I finally got the invitation to stop by the house whenever I was in town.
My first trip to his home left me wide eyed & feeling somewhat insignificant in comparison to what the man had done & was doing to occupy his time. In hisbasement, Hulki had on display on his den wall of all of the awards & token recognition from GM & the Automotive Industry. A majority of the numerous items were from the conception of the Fiero. Most important was the patent certificates issued from theinvention of the plastic panels attached to a space-frame. Twenty-six other manufacturers were cited
Photo courtesy of Fred Bartlemeyer – Hulki & his wife, Ayla, with one of the pre-production/pre-pilot test cars during an unveiling ceremony.
Continued on page 15
Fiero Pride June 2015
Page 15Fiero Pride June 2015
ments, we started reading down the application as to the presentation & the public exposure of his life & ac-complishments associated with the acceptance of the induction. Hulki looked at both of us & simply pro-claimed that this part of the induction was not in his interest & did not reflect the kind of person that he was. His immediate remark was ,“ I am the person whowent to work everyday & diligently worked at what I believed was right in my mind & ignored the rest,” and that was the end of pursuing the application simply be-cause he felt that the fanfare associated with taking onthe induction was not in his eyes, a fitting tribute to hisaccomplishments within the automotive industry.
The most important thing Hulki did for me was openingdoors to communicate with the other people who parti-cipated in bringing the Fiero to market. Even though Hulki is gone, those opportunities are still valid & it is up to me to chase & research the remaining stories & information that is still undiscovered. The most fitting tribute to my friend Hulki is to continue on exploiting his work by showing off my Fieros & making the historyof the car available for everyone to see. For those wishing to read the reflection eulogy given by Hulki’s son-in-law at the memorial, I posted the entire contenton Pennock’s Fiero Forum at http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/095221.html.
to pay royalties to use this patent. Everything that he was involved in exhibited a passion & attention to de-tail that was more of a life lesson than observing what he was doing. Hulki was more of an artist than a craftsman. Everything, from his hand carved furniture & house woodwork, self engineered handmade 24’ mahogany Chris-craft style boat, model train layout & garden exhibited a tremendous effort to make things perfect & very unique.
Many hours were spent sitting on his back deck over-looking Sylvan Lake in Michigan. The Sunday after the 25th Anniversary Show, Annette & I were invited over tothe house to spend some time with Hulki & his wife, Ayla. Conversation was in abundance & I got a very candid review of how much involved Hulki’s family was in his career. No matter how many hours Hulki put in atthe worksite, family time was always a priority. Ayla had the most interesting Fiero related stories as ob-served from an outside, second hand point of view. A good portion of her conversation evolved around nam-ing the “P-Car” & all the people involved.
The evening involved several bottles of wine & lord only knows how many bottles of beer when we realizedit was 3:30 am already. This night I experienced the way Hulki thought. He discussed in great length how he was able to read the personalities & mannerisms of his co-workers & later used the observations to mani-pulate his “business.” In a nutshell, he was convinced that his Fiero team of employees were so close knit simply because he was able to exploit the good in peo-ple & focus on the positive abilities of each person & ignore the rest in a large corporate environment.
At this time in 2008, there were several of us within theFiero Community that decided that Hulki was an ex-cellent candidate to be submitted as an honoree of the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, MI, for his ac-complishments in the automotive industry. I went through the process of obtaining the application for theinduction, which was a fairly involved task as the or-ganization pre-screens the applicants. I drove up to Michigan to meet with Hulki to fill out the application.Sitting at his kitchen table with his wife Ayla, listing outthe accomplishments that were relevant to justifying the reasons that he would be a valid applicant, I once again had the feeling of insignificance while in his company. After the lengthy listing of his accomplish-
Continued from page 14...............Father of the Fiero
Photo Courtesy of Fred Bartlemeyer – Hulki's full signature on Fred's Fiero from the 20th Anniversary show.
Bruce Homeyard2776 N. Charlotte St. Gilbertsville, PA 19525