Guy Fieri's First Car Was This Classic Datsun
Most of us are accustomed to seeing Guy Fieri behind the wheel of a fire-engine red 1967 Chevy Camaro Super Sport convertible on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." The celebrity chef with the signature spiky blond hairdo has hosted the greasy spoon road trip series for more than 15 years, picking up seven Emmy nominations along the way.
Fieri grew up in Ferndale, California, where he learned to drive in his father's 1968 Ford Camper Special pickup truck. At 16, he went to France as an exchange student, where he attended culinary school. When Fieri returned to California, he was finally ready and able to buy a car of his own. He told Maxim he was uncomfortable with the idea of taking on monthly payments, so he saved up until he had enough money to buy a car outright.
"And my buddy Johnny was selling his 280Z," Fieri said, "and that was just way beyond the realm of what I thought I would ever get. I figured I'd just end up with an old pickup truck or something."
Soon after buying the 280Z, Fieri fell asleep at the wheel on the way home from a date with Johnny's sister and hit a telephone pole at 50 mph, totaling his precious Datsun. Fieri, of course, lived; ending up with a broken leg and ribs, while his Datsun was not so lucky.
"[The car] only had 50,000 miles. It still breaks my heart ... Drove up on the sidewalk and lucky I lived, you know."
Fieri is now a die-hard Chevy guy
Although his first car was a small, sporty import, Fieri is now a staunch Chevrolet loyalist. His first new vehicle was a 1991 Chevy Z71 4WD pickup truck, and everything currently in his garage is black or yellow — with the sole exception being his wife's white Cadillac Escalade. He told Motor Trend, "She didn't want black or yellow. She wasn't going to play the game."
Almost all of Fieri's vehicles sport the Chevrolet bowtie logo, with the outliers being the Escalade, a 1968 Pontiac Firebird, a 2004 GMC pickup, and a 1976 Jeep CJ5. His Chevrolet stash includes a yellow 2007 Corvette C6, a yellow 1971 Chevelle SS, a black 1996 Impala SS, and a 1967 C10 pickup that is sitting completely disassembled in his garage.
"There's no one single piece attached to any other piece," Fieri said. "The tires aren't on the rims, the rims aren't on the axles, the axles aren't under the truck, the frame is completely powder-coated. Everything's done, but it just has to be put together. This is going to be a sick custom hot rod."