Hello everyone – it’s been a long time since I’ve browsed the Forum or dealt with Fiat cars in general. Life got in the way and the cars were put to bed a long time ago in the back of the shop. I am digging out, and realized that some of the stuff I have should find a new home with people here on this Forum. However, much to my surprise, I learned about the passing of my longtime friend, Mike Mittelstead. He was Big Mikey and a huge influence on my world of autocrossing and hillclimbs dating way back into the early 80’s as I was a young 16-yr old learning to autocross in a Sunbeam Tiger. He was my big brother. My first car, the 1975 Fiat X1/9, became my learning tool in life, cars, and competition. I think I was the biggest contributor to Big Mikey obtaining X1/9’s as we traded seats during autocrosses in the Portland area throughout the 80’s and 90’s. He was hooked when he found the red X1/9 was faster than the Camaro. In fact, I may have been one of the last people to drive the Camaro before it was parked years ago. Mikey painted both the X1/9 and the Tiger for us and his work was top notch. I cannot possibly recall all of the events that we attended, either autocross or hillclimb, throughout the years. I recently was in Portland in January 2022 and stopped and visited with Big Mikey at his home for hours. We hadn’t seen each other for awhile, and we bench-raced our memories of long ago. When I left there that afternoon, I thought of Big Mikey as I travelled long into the night back to Nevada. However, I did not think that would be the last time I would see my longtime friend of many decades. Today, I learned of his passing, and I am crushed - I am literally at a loss for words. We raced cars for a long time, and I will miss him. But I have hundreds of memories to look back on that will light up a smile. RIP Big Mikey – I will think of you often.
‘Lil Mikey
Northern Nevada