5th Annual Jim Gilbert Memorial Build

Since its’ inception, the Jim Gilbert Memorial Build has brought together over 5 dozen volunteers, 5 dozen supporters and immeasurable learning and camaraderie within the Fiero community. In its first year, the team rebuilt a 1988GT for Colin, a Fiero owner who was fighting a battle with Stage 3 testicular cancer. His existing Fiero had a bad case of frame rot and as his primary form of transportation, we were grateful to be able to get it back on the road. In the second year, the same goal remained – to brighten the life of an individual in need. Longtime Fiero enthusiast and community contributor Matt McGowan had been battling years of recurring back issues and surgeries that disrupted his livelihood and day-to-day abilities to function. Despite his challenges, Matt continues to give to the Fiero community and the team decided to make his dream come true in owning a 3800SC powered Fiero. In Year 3, we pivoted to a “Bring What You Broke,” weekend and made upgrades/repairs to 9 Fieros! Year 4, the team tackled a combination of righting some wrongs on Scotty’s Mera, which had been incorrectly built by a speed shop and making upgrades and repairs to 7 additional Fieros.

This annual event was conceived by Gary Pickardt of Pickardt Performance to honor the memory of Jim Gilbert, a longtime Fiero owner and member of the Fiero community who never hesitated to give back to Fiero friends and mentor young Fiero owners, including his two daughters, Jennifer and Jamie.

This year’s event will take place September 26-29 at the Goss’ in Staunton, VA, again focused on a core concept of Jim’s life – providing a space where individuals could bring their cars to get advice and assistance to keep their Fieros on the road. This year’s event, will also be dedicated to the memory of Scotty who lost his mental health battle in May of this year. We hope that many individuals will attend and enjoy the scheduled events as a group of Fiero family members in honor of Scotty who I’m sure would have wanted to be with us and enjoy his car and help others enjoy theirs.

Lastly, to continue our spirit of charitable acts towards the Fiero community, we will be collecting monetary donations for NAMI – the National Alliance on Mental Illness. If you bring a car and the group pitches in to repair, or you just wish to give, we ask that you do so in Scotty’s memory. Additionally, we will continue to collect spare parts for FieroSource to keep Fieros on the road. Click on the link below to learn how you can help.