Accepting Entries for June FOTM

[25Horseplay]

Here is my winterstiva, it is awesome!

[MONSOON]

COMON! Just cause you own the joint doesnt mean you get out of giving the story behind it!

[xanthinic12]

..guy enters his back-up car. a win's a win

[25Horseplay]

COMON! Just cause you own the joint doesnt mean you get out of giving the story behind it!

Gotta write one, it was just a starter!

[Damkid]

Gotta write one, it was just a starter!

we'll all be waiting to see it :lol:

[SimonTuffGuy]

Alright... Let me get on it sometime today and I'll post it up later.

[SimonTuffGuy]

I was thrown into the world of Festiva’s at the age of 4. Fast forward 20 years later and you’ll see I’ve owned my fair share of them, built one (or three actually) of the most recognized Festiva’s on the net, and now I’m building the dream of one of the coolest Festiva owners who ever lived, DJ Hayek…

My obsession started in my senior year of high school. My dad surprised me with a 92 Festiva GL, teal in color when I got home from school one day. It was a local car, my 5th grade English teacher owned it since new and she only drove it to and from work, letting it sit 5 months out of the year while they vacationed in Maine. They returned from vacation in the spring of 2002 to discover that someone had backed a boat trailer into the side of the car, leaving 2 small dents (or cuts rather) in the drivers door and fender. My dad had begged them for years, that when they were ready to sell it, to talk to him first. They did and he bit. The price was $500 and we had a 32,000, 1 owner, MINT (aside from the small dent) car sitting out back for ME!

I researched for months on that car. I scoured every inch of FordFestiva.com (owned by Rich Norman at the time), visited the Yahoo mailing list with Burgess Howell and DJ, and finally hit jackpot when I found FestivaMotorsports. I initially imagined a cool little hot-rod shop sitting in downtown MD somewhere… A bunch of modded Festivas hanging out on the weekends, cool people to chat with, etc… What I got, wasn’t quite that… But the service that Roger gave and the parts that I got were well worth it. A friend of mine tagged along in his Subaru Legacy incase I needed extra room to carry my first purchased from Roger… And thankfully he did… The full body kit, hood, full exhaust, springs and struts, clear corners, and whatever else was included in the first sale didn’t all fit in the car.

Sooo… After acquiring the parts, I found a local body shop with a reputable guy and told him what I was looking for. What I got? The Pimptiva… Fully shaved, kitted, lowered, painted bright mandarin copper metallic. It was beautiful.

Fast forward about 3 years… I’ve since crashed 2 Pimptivas during bad winter weather. The 3rd attempt was all out. I spent more money than I ever imagined spending on this car… Including a full air suspension kit, more stuff shaved off, a ragtop, engine swap… It was all there and it was… well, I think it was breathtaking. I loved that car… It turned heads, I won awards, and it got the attention that it deserved. And then I blew up the engine and decided to sell it.

Sooo… I’m out of the Festiva world for a while… I had my big bad Jeep and nobody could tell me differently. Until I heard the news that DJ had passed away. I remember the phone call from Brian on the 14th of April. It was then he told me about Inga’s intentions of selling off some of DJ’s “herd”…

I called her immediately and told her that I was interested in his newest acquisition… It was a car he called “Casper”. He had picked it up about 5 months before and had big plans for it.

I made plans and scheduled off work… My girlfriend and I boarded a plane to Texas and were on our way. We grabbed a U-Haul truck and tow dolly, made it to the Hayek residence and loaded up Casper. Meeting DJ’s family was… really hard. He was a great guy to all of us and seeing his family just reminded me of that. It was a pleasure to meet them while I was there and I’m glad I was able to help them, even if just a little bit.
Sooo… Caper is loaded on the dolly and I’m on my way back to PA. We pit stop in Oklahoma to meet a HS friend of mine who is at Tinker AFB. We met up with 88GTR who was selling his full kit and a set of 15” wheels and I grabbed those for my newest project too. 2 days later, we’re hitting PA and I’m working on Casper. The car didn’t start, for an “unknown” reason… When I got under the hood, I knew the unknown reason was the wiring harness. Someone had fun hacking the wiring harness together… And I had fun replacing the entire thing with one from a parts car.
Soo… A week goes by of getting things in and out of the car, I’ve got all the wires swapped over, everything is tied up and ready to go… Turn the key? And I hear the amazing roar of the built BP that powers Casper. It was like no other.

And here I am today… a year later and a little further along on the project. Casper sports a full ATH style body kit, GTX fiberglass hood, Kia Pride headlights (with lovely HID’s – w00t) and taillights… It’s stripped, with only a set of racing seats and the dash inside. It rolls on a set of 15” wheels, wrapped in 195/45’s, lowered on FMS springs. The built BP rests under the hood, a Pacesetter header and full exhaust out the back, running with a stage 4 clutch and the 2nd Festiva tranny in there. It’s my summer fun toy… Ran a 15.711 in the ¼ mile last year and I know it has the ability to go faster. I also autocross it, which is fun because it’s not about being fast, it’s about driving fast.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the countless hours spent online with people from FordFestiva.com or the Yahoo Mailing list… With Roger from FMS, with DJ and his family… With Brian because of his phone call to me… or without any of you guys.

So – thanks… and here’s Casper.


A shot on a portion of closed highway along Route 22/322 outside of Duncannon, PA>


Engine shot after just buying it... The fun of ripping out that entire harness ensued after this picture.


AutoX shot from the Frackville Mall.

And there are tons of other pictures... From Pimptiva 1 to Casper. They're all online at my gallery on Pimptiva.com.

-Simon

[25Horseplay]

I vote for Simon!!!

[SimonTuffGuy]

You don't vote here yet darn you... Get your entry in and let's see who actually wins this thing.

Maybe this month, since the admins are the only ones in the running, we let the members vote and decide...

[gottafesty]

That's a great story Simon. And it's a lot longer than Horseplay's. :lol:

[mattswabb]

The begining. A clean $600 Festiva.



A BP from a Tracer LTS:


Then I installed the BP and enjoyed the car for a month os so


The plan was to do the BP swap then to do a full restoration. Here's a few shots of the disassembly and body work:





Then prime and paint. The color is Jazz Blue from a VW







Then reassembled along with an Aspire swap, KYB GR2 struts and FMS springs









The interior was converted to the manual seatbelts



Almost done


Completed:





















And the final touch



I did the BP swap in late November '04. Took about a week to do. Then after xmas I started the rebuild of the car. It took 3 months to complete. I worked every evening about 4-5 hours and every weekend. It was back on the road in late March '05.

[freshtiva]

Matt, love the car. Got any more interior pics? The split rear seat and front seat head rests got me wondering.

[mattswabb]

I added a few more interior pics. I found the interior in the junkyard in an 88. The date on the door tag was October 87. So the interior, mirrors and tail lights were out of one of the 1st Fetivas made.

[packrat427]

I had a 1 ton 4dr dually as a daily driver , my old boss says you should buy my Festiva .
I went to look at it and I thought it was so ugly that I almost kept on driving by .

I went ahead and stopped and I drove it , and was very impressed with the spunkiness of it , and I bought it .

It is buy far the best investment I have ever made !!

The car had no mods or any options at all ..NONE and did not have a radio .

I have had a lot of parts that I have received my many friends here , that has made my Festiva much more enjoyable to drive , and much more of a looker ..LOL

This first picture was when the car had ugly stripes and my first set of alloys that I bought from a member on here back in 05' (Shortys towing) he was a very close friend and neighbor of DJ.

I have used my Festiva to haul all kinds of parts and things like a new 35 gal. upright compressor .

I have drove my Festiva to a lot of places and on Vacation , like Colorado .
With a Caddy in the driveway , that was a hard one to convince the wife with .
I ran across this site on 05' and if it was not for this site I probably would not still have my car , It has been this site that has made me look forward to modifying my car and enjoying time with all my Festiva friends .













Quality time with PU241..






Calendar pic for 07' in front of Santas house ..








Me enjoying FF.com in my Tow Mater (Cars) jamies and my FF.com shirt and my Festiva coffee mug ..











Festiva emblem from (Festymick) off of his Festiva that looks like a Aspire..














Rollin on 20's..LOL













Freshtiva and I ..






Hiking in Colorado in style with my FF.com SWAG !!




Sharing a little garage space the next year with 5.0 zone at PU241's house ..






08' calendar shot , at St.Louis meet in Nov. 07'..




















Christmastiva..






23 below zero wc this day at the mini Chicago meet ..

[festymick]

^^Awesome pics mate. Really enjoyed that!