freelancebykelly.com

The "Father of the Fiero," Hulki Aldikacti, would have been proud of the 47-car turnout at the first-ever Heartland Fieros Car Show held Saturday in the Village of East Davenport.

After all, it was Aldikacti who personally oversaw the vintage 1980s two-seater, mid-engine sports car's production from paper to the assembly line as Fiero's production manager. He and his crew rolled out 370,168 between 1984 and 1988.

"I was in high school and here Pontiac comes out with a sports car I could afford," recalled Fred Bartemeyer of Davenport. Now he's hooked.

His own 1987 Fiero is autographed under the hood by Aldikacti. Other momentous signatures his car has collected from some of the big names in the Fiero's design and production include: Wes Zaydel, plastics engineer; David Reed, '78-'83 materials development engineer; Don Parkinson, strategic product planning; Jay Wetzel, chief engineer; Mike Kelly, the assembly plant truck driver who won the last Fiero ever built in 1988; and Richard Doegan, truck maintenance supervisor.

In honor of his love for the Fiero, Bartemeyer helped establish the Heartland Fieros Club of Eastern Iowa, of which he is chairman, in April 2000. For more information, or to become a member of the Heartland Fieros Club, log on to http://www.heartlandfieros.com.

The club's first show, sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts, included 47 cars from eight states, including Illinois and Iowa.

"The Fiero community is very close knit," Bartemeyer said.

Spectators were invited to fill out ballots, picking a favorite from each of the six classes exhibited: stock 4-cylinder coupe, stock 6-cylinder coupe, stock Fast Back GT, Semi-Custom, Full Custom, and Modified.

Tom Schmidt of New Berlin, Wis., was very pleased at the turnout. A member of Wisconsin Fiero Fanatics, Schmidt exemplified just how "tight-knit" the Fiero community is by attending the show as a sign of support.

Rather then trailing his Fiero, Schmidt drove the car down to the Quad-Cities. In fact, he drives it everywhere. Since purchasing the then brand-new Fiero in 1986, Schmidt has put about 138,000 miles on it.

"We have fun with it," Schmidt said.

So do the truckers who honk the horns of their semis and waive as Schmidt drives by with his modified engine visible.

Schmidt's Fiero has been featured in 13 magazines, won more than 34 trophies, and is a five-time National Champion Road Racer. He's added hi-raise velocity stacks, a 7-inch wind stands to raise the rear wing, and chrome Ferari-type exhaust megaphones, just to name a few. The spoiler he designed for it was fabricated by Robbie Reiser, NASCAR crew chief for Matt Kenseth.