for the old folks,
remember how excited we were last year about this time?? We all argued about how many HP we will have, and how fast it will go.
And remember when someone goes to the Nissan headquarter and snap pics? We all get all excited and jealous to those that saw this car in person (at least i was).
well, this thread is just my feeling toward the Z.....I LOVE MY Z!!
PS: for the members that became a member before the Z is out, how do you like your Z so far?

 

I've got a feeling that I am going to be just as excited about owning a 350Z 5 years from now...as I am today...as I was when I picked up my pre-order last October....and as I was on 5/17/02 taking this pic at Nissan Heaquarters.

 

and the following week at NNA.

Those were some fun times - just a prelude to the fun we would have once we actually received our Z's.

 

Mad Props to Scaf for making "VIN Soup". Kept me going during the wait. Man, if I didn't have that, I'd have poked my eye out.

 

And i remember Scafremon being the spy shoter and get us all excited because we finally saw what the Z looks like, then some people started to hand out around the headquater to get a shot or two.......

we basically gave those nissan folks in the headquater alot of troubles because we always chased after them to take a look on the Z.....

 

Those were some fun times. I left work early twice and drove 4 hours and even bought a new digital camera to get a chance to see a Z and sit in one for a few minutes. I look back at some of the pics I took and they seem really silly, pics of the carpet above the pedals, the change compartment, the center console, the air intake, the exhaust, etc, stuff nobody could care less about now. It was fun hoping for a 320 hp Z, guessing 1/4 mile times and thinking about future mods and waiting for the next piece of mail from Nissan or a new magazine with info on the Z. Its hard to believe I've had my Z for almost a year now!

 

Once again, a special thanks to Jeff (Scaf) for being our undercover spy. Remember the thread of Scaf and Pat as spies? I can't remember all of the details but there was a part with them both stowing away in the bottom of a Nissan cargo ship with the cars! It was a really funny thread.

Here is MY blast from the past. It was THIS pic that cemented the deal for me. With this pic, I was SURE I had picked the right color!

 

Man-oh-man... how time flies ... still remember the hours spent on this site looking for tidbits of information. Then came Sacfremon's spy photos. Broadband was not available where I live at that time -- the phone bills were incredible trying to download all those pictures.

I still remember exactly one year ago driving to a Nissan dealer where there was a Z in the showroom.. spent 2 hours walking around it..in it.. under it.. talking with the sales guy... dreaming.

It was a lot of fun... but the funny thing is... it still is a lot of fun -- the time spent on these sites.. like the info on new Procharger and other mods.

 

highlight of my year last year was when, I think "brian" took the video of the Z backing in, then they played with it, revved the engine and all that.

I also remember the engine stalled after a rev alot, but that didnt make it to production thankfully.

yeah, not sure which was better a year+ of anticipation, or a year of driving it.

 

Wonder how many of the original "Group of 50" will contribute to this thread? I have many fond memories of the "early days." Even to the point of bittersweetness. I wonder if any of us will ever experience the unbridled enthusiasm of the reintroduction of the Z.

Here are some digital reminders of my favorite moments:

First, there is my avatar. Meeting Mr. K at Blackhawk and my first exposure to an actual Z. The picture below is the first "Z by the Bay" where Mr. K returned in a caravan of three Z's. For this shot, I climbed up a tree to the amazement of pooh2002:

 

Next up was the "Dress Rehearsal" thread in which I went to local dealership when their first Z arrived. Although this was not my Z, I had goosebumps the size of Rhode Island:

 

My Z arrived at the dealership in Illinois on 8/31/02. I flew out the next Friday (9/6/02) and took possession only to load it on a truck for transport back to California. In this picture, I'm trying to get the tow truck driver to swear on his life he would drive carefully:

 

After Takao purchased my350z, he had a get together at his restaurant in Palo Alto. The founder and developer of my350z, jmanz and his wife drove down from Washington. It was an absolute thrill to meet and have dinner with Jay. One of the fondest of the fond memories of the year of the Z.

That is Takao on the left, JmanZ in the blue shirt and krinkov on the right (walking in front of my Z):

 

How about when someone located the Car & Driver road test on their web site before for official press embargo was lifted on July 3rd. I seem to remember that C&D pulled it pretty quickly but not until after it had been reproduced on several web sites.

 

Pictures and cars aside, it was the folks on this site that really made the BZ (before Z) months so enjoyable and so memorable. Haven't heard from many of you in a long while but here's to some of you. Hope life is treating you well:

Jmanz, Zbarrister, Exsilio, pooh2002, audiopat, drbonz, abyss, scaf, cheap, zbart and zgirl.

 

Yeah Point 5, I recall having a lot of fun with that rehersal pic where the salesman (I dubbed him "Armondo" I believe) handing you the keys.

Wow, Excilio. There's a name from the past. Remember the "Who's Excilio" thread/poll? I had a lot of fun with him but I think he bailed at the last minute and bought a Stook didn't he?

I redid this pic for him:

 

He and I were always involved in Photochop Battles:

 

oh yea...what had happened to ZISME? remember we used to ask him a whole bunch of questions.....bugging him and all

 

LOL....if I remember correctly, you won most of them!

 

I totally forgot about ZISME, our Nissan insider. He's probably out on a Titan promotional tour!