Last week, we brought you the heartbreaking story of Timothy R. Evans and his wife Linda, who lost everything in their shop dedicated to Pontiac Fieros in a historic “500-year” flood in Midland, Michigan. Now the couple are offering up salvaged Fiero parts, shop tools and assorted bits of merchandise from their business, Fieros Forever, to anyone who can claim them. The only catch: the parts need to be collected soon.
The Evans were already preparing to sell items from Fieros Forever due to Tim suffering a stroke four years ago. Increasingly unable to keep up with his shop, the couple decided to auction off the vehicles this coming July, a plan laid to waste by torrential rains and two poorly maintained dams on the Tittabawassee River, which breached its banks on May 19.
Now, the pair are offering up for free what the floodwaters couldn’t carry away. The last day for pick up is currently in flux, but as of this writing, Linda told Jalopnik everything needs to be gone by the end of June 1. And that’s only if you can make it to Midland—a good two-and-a-half hour drive from Detroit—in person. The Evans may extended the last pickup date, but they’re waiting to see what will happen.
The good folks at the Michigan Fiero Club are pulling together and doing their best to help the Evans by pitching in during the post-disaster clean up and advertising the parts available on their website and Facebook page. It just goes to show how a simple thing like a shared love of an orphaned car can bring people together.
Images from Facebook of the scattered, mud-covered remains of so many cherished Fieros and Fiero parts shows the true extent of the devastation:
Tools, car parts, various shop items, pieces of Pontiac memorabilia are being given away. Even the Fieros Forever sign is up for grabs. What is not up for grabs are whole flooded cars. The Evans still have to deal with insurance adjusters for those. The Evans’ children have also set up a GoFundMe for their parents that also details some of the damage:
Photos from late evening Tuesday show several Fieros under 3+ feet of water as the flood rose. By Wednesday morning, photos emerged of waters nearly at roof level of Fieros Forever. Floodwaters had picked up and pushed the Village Hall down the street into Dad’s building, destroying both. As waters receded a bit later that day, photos showed Fieros in various states… relocated across the street, flipped upside down, mostly buried in mud, a smashed windshield, a hood thrown open.
On May 21st, Tim was able to reach the shop and see its current condition. The walls are blown out, his prize engine that was to be a centerpiece of the auction was swept away and his kit cars and Formula 1 car are scattered all over downtown. All cars are severely damaged and will have to be marked as salvage titles.
Linda told Jalopnik that she’s grateful that, while the shop is totaled, their home miraculously remained bone dry. Indeed, while the loss of Fieros Forever is particularly tragic to us car lovers, it’s nothing compared to the thousands in this small town who have lost everything in the flood.
Residents are angry that the hometown of Dow Chemical, where many scientists reside, didn’t take common sense, science-based steps to prevent the flooding, according to the Detroit Free Press. The two privately-owned dams which burst during heavy rains have had regulatory problems going back decades, according to Mlive. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer is calling for an investigation into the owners of the burst dams.
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