STILLEN Nissan / Infiniti Car Open House -May 12, 2007

After two back-to-back meets in Salt Lake City and Carlisle, what better way to shake off the jetlag than to drive Project Vert to LA for the Stillen All-Nissan meet?

So, for the third weekend in a row, it was off to a new city to spread some NICO love.

Rolled out on Friday morning to miss the worst of the heat, and the car performed flawlessly. I ran right at 160kph nearly the entire trip, and she never missed a beat. Didn’t see a single Highway Patrol unit for the whole trip.

Aside from a brief off-course excursion in Riverside (damn MapQuest), the trip was awesome… A little WARM rolling through the desert west of Blythe and through 29 Palms, but once I dropped over the mountains, it was absolutely beautiful.

Arrived in Costa Mesa in plenty of time to chill and relax – stayed at the Wyndham (beautiful), and will definitely return there! I strolled out for some lunch and enjoyed the great weather.

Pre-meet dinner at Hooters was a good time – met up with some of the local NICO gang, who talked me into heading up to Arcadia for an impromptu meet. That was a good time, and we stayed out WAY too late! It was awesome meeting all you guys, and although I can’t remember who all I met, thanks for your welcoming and hospitality!

Next morning came way too soon, and we were at Stillen by 6:45 to set up. Fortunately, the hotel was less than 2 miles away, and we had the NICO HQ up and rocking early on.

This year’s meet seemed to be more sparsely attended than last year, and I think there were a few logistical issues that the Stillen coordinators need to address ASAP. For example, there was only one porta-john for ALL the attendees, and the line was pretty long all day (glad I didn’t need to “go”!). Also, the dyno crapped out on the 4th car, and the parking situation was a little “skewed” (the 240sx owners were relegated to the far end of the lot).

Other than those issues, it was a great time – NICO had a great turnout, and NICO HQ turned into “Casino Royale” for some Texas Holdem.

There were some complaints that the food wasn’t “free” this year, but it should be noted that Stillen donated all the food and drinks, and the proceeds went to a local Boy Scout troop – Props to those guys for feeding everyone!

As always, the Stillen shop tours were awesome, and the giveaways this year were amazing: Some folks left with Meguiar’s Detail Kits, gift certificates, billet grilles, and one lucky attendee drove off in a new Titan!

After the meet, we headed out for a tour of the Autobacs store… If you haven’t been to one, check it out. Prices are a little high, and there’s certainly some “starchy white stuff” for sale there, but they also have an awesome selection of oil! I bought some 5w-15 for the Vert and some t-connectors for wiring loom (never seen those before!).

Then, it was off to Pipeline Pizza for a late-night parking lot meet, which was a blast! To me, these are the best of times – Lots of Nissan guys hanging out and talking cars over good pizza! A special thanks to the owners of Pipeline Pizza for having us, and for staying open late to take care of us!

Alas, the weekend was way too short, and I had to roll out early Sunday morning to “beat the heat”. Again, Project Vert performed flawlessly, and I’m convinced that she pulls harder from a 100mph roll than damn near anything on the road… I’d love to find out what “terminal velocity” is, but the whole “terminal” part of that scares me off…

Without further ado, here’s some pics I shot during the meet. Thanks to all my new friends in Southern California for your hospitality and assistance, and I can’t wait to come back next year!