Arne

The "rest area contingent" (13 S30s and one S130, this year) Could have arrived possibly 10 minutes earlier had the last few (cough, Gary, cough) been on time. (Just kidding!) The sun could have come out a bit earlier, but other than that, it was—as usual—a pretty good time, seeing cars and chatting with friends we don't see in person near often enough. Only one dark spot for me personally, when I discovered that some cretin had relieved my car of its fuel door latch while the car was unattended during the raffle/awards ceremony. :mad: (If you who stole my car's part are reading this, let it be known that karma WILL get you in the end. We all reap what we sow.) So I'm now looking for a really great fuel door latch. I'll upload my pics shortly.

Go here: http://www2.zhome.com:81/ Scroll down the left frame until you see the links for "Buying a Z-Car Tips".

Get your camera ready a bit before 10:00. I expect our line up of Zs will arrive about then, similar to last year. These were from last year...

So we appear to have pinned this change in feel on the currently available slave cylinders. I've rather suspected this was the case, but it's good to have some confirmation. As I've noted in a different thread, all the currently available slave cylinders with the early style adjustable pushrods are 11/16" bore. Some early factory information (including my 1971-printed FSM) says that the original slaves were 5/8" bore. That (or other recent design changes) could explain it.

In today's world with pedestrian safety requirements, and where most motors need to be able to serve in FWD (transverse) applications, inline sixes are not very feasible. BMW is the only real hold-out, and they don't have to consider the transverse possibility, making only RWD/AWD vehicles.Since Nissan already has the highly regarded V6 that they use in so many vehicles, they'd need to use it in such a car to keep development costs (and therefore final cost) down to your target price. On the other hand, there's apparently not enough profit in nice cars at that price level. As no one seems to offer them. Except GM/Pontiac, and we know where that has gone...

How did the auto-x go today, Bruce?

I find myself looking at Boxsters. Not especially pretty, but the handling....

32354-E9000 Still shows in the system, but that don't mean it's still really available. #35 in the attached.

Take this as my personal opinion, but I'm getting pretty tired of the constant clamor for more performance. As a group, the everyday cars of today are by far the fastest, most powerful vehicles ever. Far more powerful than any of us truly NEED. Your average family car these days is considered underpowered with 250 HP. Totally ridiculous. Today's sport sedans outperform high-end sports cars of 20 years ago. And today's sports cars...And then we hand the keys to these things to people who are—on the whole—self-centered, under-trained, frequently distracted and who don't take driving seriously. Total insanity. Remember, in 1970 the 150 HP 240Z (8.7 0-60, 1/4 mi. in 17.1@84.5) was considered a blast to drive. Still is, if you aren't totally jaded.

There's a few likely possibilities in the forum classifieds, too. Some of them a lot closer to you than Arizona. http://www.classiczcars.com/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=1

The Cube is not new, but has been popular in Japan for a couple of years. They are leveraging an existing product into a new market. Very smart. The Cube actually has a chance to build its own niche here in the US, as it appears to be considerably smaller than an Element, xB or possibly even the new Kia Soul.

The rear bumper brackets were satin black. The shipping tie-down hooks (they aren't tow hooks) were poorly finished, generally in black. They were supposed to have been removed from the car and discarded during PDI by the selling dealer. Had the dealers' PDI people done the job they were supposed to do, none of us would ever have seen these parts.