FTFY. The orange is glorious.
You know what? It was my 3rd Mk. 1 Fiesta in a row. The first and third ones had been given up
on, not running, "As Is, As Shown" on the bill of sale. (The 2nd car was a NH commercial pilot's
Logan Car - "Always started, never stolen.") No kidding, it was too homely to steal -- that car was
too many different yellows, and the only solution was to camo the thing in gray primer. (See attached.)
But I digress. By the late '90s the well-used buy it for a song '78-'80 Fiesta supply chain was drying up.
My 2nd Fiesta's powertrain & suspension was strong like bull, but bad structural rust was winning the race.
A buddy, sensing my impending separation anxiety, spied one hiding behind a semi-abandoned
Winnebago. More eyesore than yard art, both had seen better days.
At first the owner seemed incredulous that I wanted to buy the car instead of the 'bago, but they
had a clean title for it, and after a little back & forth the car was mine for $350. (They emphasized
that it hadn't run in years, so at first they didn't want to sell it, only to have it come back a few days
later with me demanding my money back. {More on this later.})
I had to actually promise them that I wouldn't come back with the car no matter what. To the casual
observer it must have looked like a computer geek begging to buy a craptastic ride. What can I say?
I had a rep for being deep into the cheap thrills groove back then, and I didn't want to disappoint
my friends, coworkers, & neighbors. :0)
****
Anyway, I managed to get it running, plated, inspected, and on the road again. And after driving
a white one and a primer one, I decided that the third time's the charm, and I was going to paint
this one a genuinely nice, non-preschool color. Maybe even have the new color clear-coated so that I
could wet-sand it to the next level.
At the time, I was seriously considering the Corvette Steel Cities Gray -- I had seen a couple of these
in person in that color, and I really liked the understated look. (See attached) Enough that I willing to
go through the extra aggravation to color change the car. I know, kinda Ridonkulus.
So, after a quick buff to remove all the heavily oxidized factory paint I drove it to work for the first day,
fully ready to excuse the look with my plans to paint the car a real color. Now this was at a computer
system manufacturing plant that had maybe 600+ employees at the time. When I went into the
cafeteria for my morning cuppa joe I remember looking out the windows and seeing the car
standing out as the only bright orange car in the entire parking lot, like a subcompact exclamation point.
Well, that entire day there was a steady stream of people who stopped by my cube and told me
that this was the ugliest car that they had ever seen in person. I spent that morning explaining
that it was slim pickings out there, I took what I could find, and that I planned on color changing it.
By the afternoon, I was telling people that "Not to worry, I'm repainting it." And given everyone's
reaction, the only thing I could do was to take it to the guy in VT who painted the FFR Cobra replica,
and asked him if he could paint this car the factory Signal Orange, with plenty of clearcoat so that I could
wet-sand it?
He replied, "Sure. But are YOU sure?"
You must be registered for see images attach
(For comparison purposes, go back to the Fiesta/Ducati shot, where the car was still sporting the PO's Yellow, Brown, & Maroon Winnebago stripes on top of the tired factory Signal Orange paint.)
The camera that took this photo couldn't do justice to the sheer orangeness of the repainted machine. Other people's
kids seemed to like it, even though my own daughters were at the age where both their dad and his Signal
Orange car were very embarrassing in public. (By the way, I had upgraded from the skinny stock 12" donuts to
sticky 185/60-R13 Yokohamas on the car. Went from 0 to 19mm euro rally rear sway bar, full suspension upgrade,
and had even lowered the engine with 1" thick spacers in order to flatten the halfshafts and further improve the CG.
Between all that and a Formula Ford-ish engine build, this thing would haul the mail. Way quicker than it looked. Like
a Rabbit GTI back in the day, but with the wheels neatly tucked in under the stock sheet metal.
Apologies for the length. I've owned everything from warmed-over EF Civic
hatches to a Fiat Spider and
even a Peugeot 405 Mi16, but these welterweight Mk. 1 Fiestas with a hot crossflow 1600 Kent engine
was the closest I ever got to driving a gokart on the public road with a legal license plate.
Q: How much fun were these cars?
A: They are the
only cars that I never installed a radio in them. My best buddy & fellow car enthusiast used
to refer to them as a "Tuna can on a skateboard." This pleased me no end, for this wasn't intended to be
a compliment. The doors had an extra-tinny 'whaaaang' sound when you closed them. But the harder you
drove them, the happier they seemed to be. A very poor man's Lotus. :0)
I really miss that tiny Signal Orange sleeper. But somehow 24+ years after the fact the big block chore truck
seems to be filling the same void, even though it's an 8-lugger on the other end of the vehicular continuum.
It's my fervent wish that I can someday make people laugh as hard at the chore truck as they used to laugh
at this thing. (!)
****
Erik, funny how great minds think alike. It just took a little negative peer pressure multiplied by a touch of
reverse snobbery (and the fact that I love a good sleeper) in order for me to wake up and See the Light.
That
Signal Orange really was
glorious. Super fun memories that have lasted 24+ years & are still as vivid
as the paint job ever was. :0)
As always, thanks for indulging in my trip down memory lane in the vicinity of my misspent youth.
The takeaway from all this? Be sure to enjoy those GMT400s for as long as possible. Don't let the good ones
get away, for all of a sudden all the For Sale ones will all quietly disappear, and you'll be stuck with what
you've already brought to the dance. (!)
