Northern Minnesota - new Z

MacCool

Nice place you guys have here.

I just bought a 2011 Touring Sport 6MT after years of looking at the Z cars on the dearler's showroom floor every time my wife would pick up a new Murano. This is actually my 7th Z car, starting with a '69 240Z, a 260Z, a couple of 280's, and a couple of 280ZX's, the most recent of which was a 280ZX Turbo. Then...kids and our first house happened. Now...kids are gone, house is paid for. This being Minnesota, the Z is a 6-months-of-the-year vehicle (if that), and my daily driver has to be a 4wd truck for the snow/ice and the horse/boat/snowmobile/etc trailers that are a mandatory part of living in northern Minnesota.

Took me a few days to be able to shift it smoothly (it's kinda grabby) but once I got the hang of it the car is really a blast. To be honest, I was surprised at how much I enjoy driving this car. In fact, I enjoy it so much that after more than a decade of no moving violations I got pulled over for speeding about 20 minutes after picking the car up (71 in a 45, but he let me off). The other thing that I find odd is that after years of muddy pickup trucks and gas station carwashes, I find myself obsessing over the car's finish and have become a Junkman disciple. Damn him, but I now find those tiny paint swirls from the dealer's new-car "detailer" to be intolerable . UPS just dropped off the foam lance and the PC yesterday, and my day today begins with going to Fleet Farm to get a leaf blower. My wife thinks I've lost my mind and probably suspects that I'm next going to start dating 20-year-olds.

Anyway, it's great to be back. Thank you all for this excellent resource.