Since there is no Infiniti dealer within driving range, I take my car to the local Nissan dealer for service. Despite having traded off my 350Z nearly a year ago, I still get their “Nissan” mailings and the offer of a $19.95 oil change from them was irresistible, so down I went for a few […]
And now a Hurricane
One of the reasons I chose to live in the little nowhere town of Ocala is its distance from the Atlantic or the Gulf. After living in coastal Ft Myers and low-lying Tampa for over 30 years without a significant storm affecting me, I decided that my string was about played out and the Law […]
Gas Rant
The “low fuel” light on the gas gauge in the dash of my G Coupe began blinking, a sight as rare as chicken lips. I pulled into a nearby Kangaroo, pumped in 17 plus gallons and, chit, I just spent $71.00 to fill the tank!!!Never in my existence have I spent that much for a […]
Part 3 of the Fantasy Test Drive
It was five years ago, the Ides of May, when I pulled into my midnight driveway after the longest single day of travel yet. 800 miles, a record for one day behind the wheel, from Little Rock to Ocala, via Vicksburg and Chattanooga. My final mountains. The end of the Test Drive. Florida, even in […]
Part 1 of the Fantasy Test Drive
It was five years ago this week when, with a predestined wild hair making itself known, I bought my new 350Z. I traded in a perfectly good 2000 Maxima for it. It was really the first time that the dealer had a reasonable supply of new Zs, and he knew what he had; I had […]
Only Guy to Call me Dude
If you are ever in Arizona, you should go by the Grand Canyon. In April of ’03 , the Florida Z had less than 5000 miles on it when we arrived at the Canyon. It went in the unpaved North Way, along the Navajo Trail paralleling the edge, and parked itself in front of the […]
My First Time in a Datsun 610
They say you never forget your First Time. You’ll always remember the short beat of the heart when you first saw her, the anticipation you felt when you realized that she was yours, the dreamy sensuality that overcame you as you gently washed her body, feeling every curve and contour for the first time.There’s that […]
Day of the Cobra…A Mountain Story
[This story appeared previously (Oct 2003) on a site devoted to 350Zs. At the time I had owned my Z for about 6 months. I’ve reprinted it exactly as it appeared]. “. . . I was alone, I took a ride, I didn’t know what I would find there. . . “ I was in […]
Log of The Z – Remembering the Expensive Chimichanga
I tend to write a lot of stuff about my Z. I guess because owning it suddenly put me into the Big Leagues. It was a fifty-five month period of unending adventure and oddball happenings that sharpened my appreciations and provided me with a coda for my life’s experiences thus far. Me and the Z […]
Busted in Georgia
It’s about 1 AM, on a Sunday. I’d been on the road for nearly 5 hours. I was in central Georgia, just south of Macon, returning home after attending a friend’s wedding in Nashville and I was hungry so I got off the Interstate and pulled into a popular roadside restaurant. The menu featured an […]