| Message |
I sold my NA-Turbo Z race car last year, MWS Michael's is now gone on eBay, and all my other old SF Bay Area ClubZ friends have moved on too...my brother has a G35s, Steve an RS4, Martyn a turbo A6, Michael a v12 760i, and I did the whole European Delivery thing last summer of a 335d M-Sport. I'm not sure if we're getting old or just growing up...but certainly between us we have a lot more doors to fit the next generation into our rides than before. I can't help but notice that new cars keep getting heavier and fatter, and perhaps we are too. Also there's a lot of German cars in that list above... I remember always being a little frustrated with Nissan, how they allllmost would support motorsports, allllmost make a great track car, allllmost give enthusiasts what they want, and so often fall frustratingly short of full commitment. Maybe they've gotten better in the era of the 370Z and Skyline, I'm not in that loop anymore, but with disasters like the whole skyline transmission warranty/launch-control fiasco I suspect nothing's truly changed. I don't want to advertise for BMW here, but it's just so EASY...warp your rotors at a BMWCCA track day? No problem sir, replaced under warranty, here's a loaner car to thrash for fun, and we'll wash your car and replace your brake pads while we're at it. Of course that comes at a price, BMW has an IV drip tapped and running, going straight from my wallet to their bottom line, and lord have mercy on my soul when my warranty is up. But at 37 I can afford that now, I don't have any free time to wrench on cars like I used to, so the trade-off of cash for good service is gladly given. Owning my Z was definitely a life-changing experience in every way. Countless awesome ClubZ events, track days and 2 full seasons of autocrossing, friendships made that have run strong for over a decade and will continue forever. I even remember on 9/11, reading on Slashdot.org that something was amiss, and signing onto the ClubZ Yahoo Chat Room to find out what the hell was going on and debating it throughout the day. There was also that time a ClubZ drive through the mountains ended with a bad crash, ouch, that was not fun...A Bad Day with good friends, when they come at least that's the best way to have them. And the days when I was preparing my Z to go racing, working on the car every evening at Michael's shop and helping him work on his insanely fast Zs, shooting and editing video for "MWS TV", some of my most fun months in memory. So enough rambling, it's off into the sunset, with Michael's Z sold it's truly time to say Sayonara and let the Z world fade away for me. I've been here on tt.net for *EVER*, user ID# 320, and it's been a great ride, and if I had a penny for every "how to do add turbos to my NA?" post I've seen...:-P It's amazing to imagine but in just over a year I'll be teaching my son how to drive, and I plan to give him and his younger sister a few K each to buy their first cars and help them learn how to maintain them. My very first car was a 1985 300ZX, so who knows, maybe they'll follow my path and we'll be back in a few years...take care all.
-Carl Merritt
2011 BMW 335d M-Sport
Stillen Supercharged 2006 Pathfinder SE 4x4
YouTube Videos... |
 |
