Staff Bio’s >> Chris (MinisterofDOOM)
Nissan Maxima Moderator
My love for cars started the day I was born…maybe earlier. According to my father, my first word was not “mommy” or “daddy.” It was “brrrrrrrrrrrroom” as I watched the cars drive past from my crib. I learned to drive long before I could reach the gas pedal in my dad’s 1984 Chevrolet pickup.
In 1993, my parents traded their old Chevy Nova (the Toyota Corolla kind, not the classic musclecar) for a Nissan Maxima. Whatever passion for automobiles I’d had before; that car amplified it all. I fell in love with the noise the engine made and the simple, clean bodystyle. I would own that car some day…
Fast forward a few years…I was in high school, and had just gotten my driver’s license. My next door neighbor told me his wife was tired of the old Cadillac Coupe Deville sitting in his driveway. He told me I should have it. I bought my first car for 2 bucks. It lasted me about a year. Meanwhile, I took every chance I could to steal the Maxima from the garage. I became a Nissan fanatic, and a Maxima afficionado; though at the time, I really had no idea what on earth I was talking about. All I knew was that I loved that car.
Jump ahead again, early summer, 2004. My dad decided it was time for another Maxima. He bought home a glossy black 2004 SE: leather, BOSE, the works. And he handed me the keys to my…MY…Black Emerald 1993 Maxima GXE.
At that point, I began seeking sources of information on the car. I eventually stumbled upon NICO, and have called the site my e-home ever since. With the help of NICO, I managed to keep the Maxima going strong for 250,000 miles (and still going!) before selling it to a family member and replacing it with the car it was designed as little brother to: a Q45. The Q was a car I had always appreciated from the sidelines, even before I could drive. Owning one, I realized just how perfect the car was for me. Big, powerful, and purposefully styled, it’s the car I would have made if I worked for Nissan. I’m honestly amazed at how many things about the car suit my taste perfectly.
These days I spend my time abusing tires in the Q and answering questions in the Maxima forum.