Here comes the rain.Created: 2/21/2004
Last updated: 2/24/2004
Weeeee’rrrrrrrreeeeee Baaaaaaaaack!!!
What a great way to start the 2004!!!
A minimum of 28 Z’s and more than 40 people were at our first Club Z Social event of 2004. I hope, that this is a sign that we are going to have a great year as far as Club activities and participation goes. I heard comments like," maybe we should have Social gathering every six months so that we can have another big turn out." But I believe that if we put enough effort into the club, we will be successful in bringing people out to our meetings. This is how it worked out for me.
Joe K. showed up at my house around 11:00 just as rain drops started to come down. Joe was worried that it would rain hard and his freshly washed show car would get dirty. The sky looked brighter toward San Jose. Therefore, I was hopeful that weather would cooperate. When we got to Glenn’s house we decided to leave my car in his garage so the engine would be cool when we are ready to work on it (We were planning to replace the injector’s O-rings in my car) after the social gathering. I rode with Glenn to the meeting point. While seating in the passenger seat, I was mesmerized by the effort and time, not mentioning money, Glenn has put in his beautiful Z.
We reached the meet point and we were the first to show up. Raindrops started to come down a little faster than before but I had faith that yahoo weather would be wrong, as it has proven to be many days before.
We decided to head in for a burger that we had heard so much about. They sure were good. We saw a white convertible drive by in the Union street. We were wondering if he/she was looking for us…. Few minutes later, it came back. Ahhhh. It is one of ours.. Oops!! It kept going the other way.
People started to show up. One by one Z’s rolled in. Paul C. brought his lovely wife, Adrian and his son John Thomas. Then in a matter of minutes, Z’s started to pull in from every direction. I saw Otto, Dale, Robbie, Gregg E, Dan M, Manny B, Joe C (His GF Jessie), and Salah. I ran outside to say hello to the people that I had not seen for months. It was great seeing all the Z’s lining up in the parking lot with familiar faces coming out of them.
Carl showed up but he didn’t bring his new Nissan Murano as he said he would. Instead he came with his lovely girl friend.
Just as I started marking off people’s names on my list, there comes the “CREW”….. I mean a whole row of Z’s all with the special “SP” symbol on top of their windshield. You could tell that these are “Scott’s Performance” cars as they all parked next to each other. Those “SP” ’s on the windshields meant that those cars hide some serious power underneath those hoods. Rob (New Owner of Scott’s Performance) shows up in his new TT (Well new to me. I had never seen it). Come to find out, his TT was still stock… Come on Rob!!! What’s up with that? I’ll give him 3 months until that TT becomes a beast as well. I forgot to ask him if he is going to paint his TT the same color as his other cars… The bright Pistachio Green. I think that is the color. People who showed up with him were, Scott S and friend Nick, Quan N, and Donna (Rob’s Wife). If I missed anyone people forgive me. I was too busy chatting with old friends.
Next, I see Yuichi (From StrictlyZ), my favorite aftermarket parts supplier, then comes Kyle (Owner of Zdriver.com) in his WRX Sti. Kyle used to own a beautiful red TT called “Deer Hunter”… Just Kidding Kyle, those darn Deer are always jumping on top of my car as well ;) Yuichi told me that Kyle had sold the Z. He and Kyle are now modifying WRX as well.
There were Z’s everywhere. Owners of these beautiful cars were smiling and showing off their mods and Z’s.
After a while a white 350 showed up and parked on the last row of the parking lot. Someone told me that, that is a 350 with Greddy Turbos. I went to him and introduced myself. Fernando (The owner of that Z33) was showing his gorgeous Z to all the enthusiast there.
Bill Davis brought his little daughter. I guess it is never too early to teach her about Z’s. Poor baby was not feeling good.
Later on Farakan, Tasha, Gerald (and Keri), Brian G, Jon F. Kevin, Vincent, Rick, and Peter showed up. Gerald was smart enough not to bring the Z due to the weather but he came to say hello and with him was his love GF/Wife Keri (Sorry if I killed the spelling of your names).
Now let’s talk about the Z owners who did not show up with out their Z’s. the were, Gerald , Darryl, Andy and I. Darryl showed up in his daily driver Audi A4. Darryl owns couple of the most awesome cars around and he shows up in an Audi… No respect!!! Then again, Audi is much better than the beat up Integra that Andy Woo showed up in. You remember Andy right? He used to be one of the biggest Z enthusiasts around this area. Been called many names like, Z Guru, Z Guy, Die Hard Z guy, etc… by his friends. He was getting emails from Honda and Nova owners asking him for advise. I am not going to tell you the names that I have called him ;) He was one of the founding fathers of this club… Since he decided to have his own children, he dumped us like a bad stepchild. Many people are still wondering if he still owns a Z. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would have thought that he has gotten rid of it. It was nice seeing him again. I think this was the first Social that he has attended in the last two years. Carl almost drove off and had to back his car up and get a second look to make sure he did see Andy there.
I am glad to see so many new faces among the friendly faces that I had not seen in a while. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it feels and looks when you see bunch of Z’s lined up in a parking lot. Even better, is when we caravan to an event. Events like Ultimate Z weekend when 20 to 25 Z’s rumble down the street.
Thank you all who came out and made our first 2004 social a success. Keep an eye on your emails and we look forward to seeing more of you again and again in our next Club Z events.
Next Club Z event is on March 8th, where Club Z has rented the Thunder hill race track exclusively for our members. First time you take your Z on that track, you will feel a rush like nothing you have felt before... GUARANTEED!!!
Without further adieu, here are the pictures.
Here comes the rain.
Group shots in the parking lot.
Joe K's Z.
Dan's Z.
Paul's Z.
Salah's Z.
Joe C's Z with custom
painted chrome headlights. .
Glenn's Z.
Robbie's Z.
Dale's Z.
Otto's Z.
Manny B's Z.
