H E L L O ! ! Why am I YELLING??? Because I'm all the way over here in Chicago and it's a looooong way to Connecticut!

I signed up with the CTZCC at first because I'm a fan of Bryan Little's Z-car articles, and I wanted to be a part of the same discussion forum he's on. But already I've made a new friend here, Frank T, the Membership Director. We've found we have some other interests and experiences in common. I'm sorry to admit I'm bringing more questions with me than information to share, but give me time. I've already learned a lot while working on my Z-car.

Speaking of which, my car is a 1973 240-Z with 23,465 original miles on it. Never had any rust or damage of any kind, ever! I've torn it down and rebuilt it my way. It has an L28 engine, custom cam, SK Racing 45mm side draft triples, a 10.5 lb aluminum flywheel, Arizona Z clutch and a 5-spd manual tranny. In back is an R200 LSD. There's a coil-over suspension job, the car's lowered, and has discs at all four corners. There's a brand new interior with black leather Recaros, a MOMO short shifter knob and Momocorse "D" steering wheel, also Autometer gauges. The sound system synchs with my iPod and has a 7-inch slide out screen for DVDs, GPS.

I'll be posting more details about the car, along with photos, in the Member Rides section

About me. I was born and raised in Mexico before moving to Hong Kong for several years and traveling extensively throughout Asia. Eventually I settled near Chicago. I spent a decade in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in a Green Beret unit, eventually winding up in a PSYOP Battalion, which kept me within Special Operations so I could keep doing military parachute jumps.

I'm involved with the Ian Fleming Foundation to preserve the classic James Bond legacy. I've advised on several James Bond novels and my name has appeared for characters in two of the books. In 1991 I traveled to Japan with the current James Bond author to act as translator, tour guide and advisor for research on the 007 book, The Man With the Red Tattoo. That's because my other passion is Japan. Though I've never lived there, I visit at least once every year or two.

My additional interests include scuba diving, hang-gliding, the shooting sports (target, not hunting), martial arts and archery. I'm also a nut for anything to do with helicopters; military or civilian.

I am married 14 years, no children.

Thank you for letting me join your group.

James

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James McMahon
1973 240-Z
mcmahon@hmss.com
james.peter.mcmahon@us.army.mil

DANG! You ride trail with a fella for all those years, ya' think ya' know him.

James, WELCOME to our family, and THANK YOU for the picture of that great 240Z! In all the conversations we've had over the past weeks, you never mentioned HALF of the nifty stuff you did to your Z car! Really impressive, and we can't wait for you to bring it to one of our meetings! (It's only 850 miles one-way ). (HEY BRYAN! Look what one of your readers did to his car!)

You and I have some shared interests and have discussed a few. I keep telling you about this club and how interesting our members are. I can hardly wait until you meet AirJockie, whose interests are Z cars, Helicopters, and Japan! Then, there's Bryan, Phil, Mike (3 of them, actually), Jim, Dave, Don, Ken, Liz, and that's not even mentioning Ross or Bob Sharp. When you're worn out discussing everything with them, come back around to my EMail and we'll discuss marksmanship at 1,000 yds, which we never mentioned in our previous conversations.

Thanks for the neat Intro, and again ~ WELCOME! I'm running off now to look at your pix in the Member Rides gallery!

Z ya!
Frank T
MbrshpDir

Beautiful Z!! Love the paint scheme!!

Great car James! Those are the right mods for this car, that 10lb flywheel must make it pretty snappy. My wife's from Park Ridge so I'm familiar with the Chicago area. While our roads in CT are curvier, you guys have the straight roads in the midwest we lack. List me as envious.....



-Bryan Little

WELCOME WAY OUT THERE. Good to see people take a nice 240 and make it there way. I too want to make my 72 my way, more modern, basically what you have done and some upgrades to the interior. I want to try and stick with the upgrades that where available back in the 70's. So I take it your a Bond fan, he was my hero growing up. My mother also, she has every single movie out. I wanted to get into that line of work, but due to a handy cap I couldn't join any miltary or police job. I think I shoot fairly good with one eye, so what do they know, haha. On my project list is a 79 with some Bond features, kinda of a funny car for show, especially with the 350 I'm building for it. More like Mad Max thow. I might need some help installing the helicopter unit, haha, that be something, but I'll start with my small ideas first. Well enjoy the club, and maybe I'll see you at one of the events, be cool to hear some old time Bond stories.

Welcome Jim, COOOL looking 240 there, sounds like it'll get up and went for sure. Don't you ever do anything for excitement in your life? LOL Our annual fall picnic at Ross' house is coming up in October, if you're in the northeast check us out. Again, welcome, Tom Wasney

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Now on my 15th/update/16th Zcar, Z's4vr....

James,
It is really great to have you aboard. I think you will find the folks here very friendly and welcoming. I LOVE the paint job on your car and would love even more seeing it in person. Any chance we can convince you to drive our for our Fall outing? I know that would be a lot (too much) to ask but I'm sure your car would have a crowd around it.

Anyway, welcome aboard and looking forward to chatting sometime. Sincerely, Ross