Our awesome Z weekend started Saturday night when a few of us: J350, Jewelz350 and her friend, Mike and his wife (sorry, I forgot screen name), and Chris (future member) met up at Bahama Breeze in Schaumburg. Mike and his wife get the spirt award of the night. They drove 3 hours from Decatur to meet us, hung out for an hour and had to head back home.

After a drink we decided to hit the road. We had 2 Chrome Silvers (mine and J350) and 2 Daytona Blues (Jewelz350 and Chris). We drove in alternating colors for hours around the NW Suburbs of Chicago. To say we attracted attention would be a huge understatement. At one point, we ended up in a parking lot that looked like a scene out of the Fast and the Furious. We had a huge crowd around our Z's in a about a minute. We were there for about 15 minutes before the cops cleared the parking lot. We drove around for a while looking for a place to get some night shots. I forgot my cam last night, but Jewelz350 had her's. We found a couple twisty roads and had a little fun. We ended up crusing until about 1:30am.

This morning, Jewelz350, Chris and I met up to follow each other down to the Chicago Motor Speedway for the Z Event. Nissan had the 350z owners get there early, so we could line our cars up in the track tunnel. I believe we counted about 23 350z's. Every color was represented except Lemans Sunset. Chrome Silver was expectedly dominant. I actually got into J350's car a couple times by mistake. It was really friggin hot in Chicago today, but it didn't put a damper on things. There was an informal car show of older Z's. The highlight was the unveiling of a Pikes Peak White (Touring I think) for the Z Club members by the regional VP from Nissan. After that all 350Z owners were told to head to the tunnel. This was the fun stuff. A parade of 350Z going around the track (unfortunately we were limited to 25 mph ), but some of cheated. We then lined all our cars up for viewing. Some other stuff happened that I didn't really care about, and then all the Z's were invited out on the track for some more laps.

All in all it was amazing event and a great chance to see other 350Z's and meet some of the great people I've chatted with on here.

I'm tired and can't think of any other stuff to say, but I probably will later. Here's some pics:


Lined up to go out on the track



Eager to race



Out my front window on the track



That's Jewelz350 next to me



My Z in the row



From left to right: Chris, Jewelz350, me and J350



I thought this was a cool shot

 

I think we counted 21 350Z's but then a few latecomers showed up. There were quite a few 240, 260, 280, 300 Z(X)'s there also.

I believe there was 1 White, 1 Brickyard, 2 Red, 2 Blue, 4(?) Silverstone, 2(?) Black and the rest Chrome Silver . No Lemans. The majority were Tourning 6MT. Only 2 Track.

 

Here's a few more pics:


Another one out my window



The row from the back



Down the tunnel



I tried to use the panaramic function on my camera

 

BeaUtIfUl!!!!

 

oh man i am so jealous. I wished i could track my Z like that!

 

Looks like it worked! Those are some nice shots!

 

Great shots Frank !! Looks like you had a great weekend...dealer says my Z will be the next one they receive but can't tell me when...OH well..let's hope it's soon..

 

good job con el panoramo!

 

I was there today. Got to meet a few very cool people from the forum...

HI "EnthuZ" and "therickster"

It was hot today but I thought that was because of all the Z's. Today was the FIRST time I got to actually see the Z's in person... ever.

I was sad to NOT see a LeMans... but at the same time... cool to think that of all those 350z my color was the only one not represented (maybe it will be a very uncommon color?)

Still, I'm going to go on a quest to take a peek at one sometime before I get mine in NOVEMBER!!!! ugh

ALSO - the Nissan representatives were great guys... they let me sit in and play around with the pikes peak white Z

all in all, the day made it much harder for me to wait

 

damn......i guess i should of been more freindly. The only people i meet were some guys in a redline track form rockford. The Driving around the track part was ok. Hey Frank....what happened with to the black 300zx for the guy to spin on turn 2? Anyways, the fastest i got her up ot was 50mph . BAsically people were just slowing down then racing to catch up to the car in front of them.

I was the third car from the front in this pic....

 

Hey Dan,

I was hoping to bump into you. I'm sure we walked past each other a dozen times. I had two members somehow know who I was, justwant1 and EnthuZ. I guess I just look like a Frank.

I didn't see that Black ZX. I guess I was too busy keeping an eye on Jewelz350 in my rearview. I think I hit about 50 also.

We will have to plan another Chicago get together soon.

 

Dan--can't believe we didn't meet you! I'm so sorry. I wanted to chat with you about TireRack. You should have cruised with us on Saturday night. Lots of fun.

Frank--did I make you nervous??? I didn't think I was following that close. Yes, I slowed down just so I could catch up. I hit 60 but that was it. The trip home was more fun

My pics didn't really turn out. I'll try to get the discs to Jon sometime this week to see what he can do. The night ones are REALLY dark.

 

50??? I was able to get mine to about 75 on the back straight of the last lap we did. I left a lot of extra room. I think those of us in the back of the 350 line had more room than the ones up front. It was great to see all those Z's, new and old. This was actually the first time I've seen another 350Z. Great to meet everyone!

 

Joyia, you make me nervous.....never. There was one point where I thought you were going for the pass.

Randy, 75? Nice! I guess I should have been in the back.

 

Sorry my Z is still in the ........ holding room.....is it called the nursery?

Was fun meeting most of you....Joyia, do you ever quit smiling? I hope not!

Man, seeing that many Z's together was a trip

Which color was best? ALL!

A few points I learned......

1 Charcoal leather has cool tanish stitching. Looked Great

2 Burnt Orange looked much more orange than any pictures I've seen. Still awesome!

3 Redline is a non-metallic

4 Redline is not as orange as photo's I've seen show.....looks GREAT!

5 Orange peal is a non-issue.

6 Head lights are way cool!

7 It was way too f#@king hot!

8 Wish the New Z owners/pre-owners had more time to BS.

9 Still VERY happy of my choice!

10 As my brother & I were leaving, the entire 1 mile course was filled with evenly spaced Z's.......way cool


Glad the site is back up!

 

Sorry I missed you guys, but I was busy ROASTING at the Bears game. I have 5th row seats, so I could see the thermometer on the sideline - 115 degrees! At least it was a great game.

Can't wait until the next Chicago-area 350Z gathering so I can meet some of you. Sounds like your Saturday night cruise was a lot of fun! I'm definitely in for the next one, even if my Z isn't here yet. I'll just park on the opposite side of town so I don't cramp your style.

 

Frank--if I didn't make you nervous then I must be losing my touch!! J/K Believe me, I did want to pass but not you in particular. That pace car was just WAY too slow! I thought Chris did a fine job leading Saturday night. Maybe next time he should be the pace car!!!

EnthuZ --I think I smile all the time. It was my best asset until the car arrived

Whenever you guys plan your next event, I'm in. Loved meeting everyone. Kind of made the obsession with the car a normal everyday occurance.

Thanks again for Frank for setting it up.

 

just got some pics developed, here is one more from last Sunday's Z event at the Chicago Motor Speedway. Zs in front, Zs in back