Ok here's the deal.

My Z is rusty and not running.

I know I'm only 26, but I'm getting sick of rusty project cars.

I am gathering some money, and am toying with the idea of buying a clean Z either down south or out in California and driving it back.

Thoughts? Experiences?

I'm hoping someone on here has done something similar before.

Any advice, as always, is welcome!!!

(and frank I haven't forgotten about the ignition, I've been wicked busy with work and my WRX)

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2002 Subaru WRX
1978 280Z HLS30-477043
1972 Beetle
1996 Subaru Legacy


1978 280Z 2/2 RIP, Never Forgotten.
VIN GHLS30-120946

Well, when I was about your age (shortly after the last dinosaur died), I drove my 240 across the USA twice and across Canada once. Those were outstanding adventures which I cherish to this day. I had the good fortune of having enough time and money simultaneously to make each trip in a relaxed mode.

I would recommend a current AAA account, of course. Get a good road atlas as well as a GPS. Trace your route as you drive it ~ it makes for a wonderful memoir in later years. Expect and prepare for almost every emergency. Picture yrslf stuck on a remote roadside for hours, and pack a small amount of what you would need to survive that. Take a satellite phone if you can get one ~ cell service is spotty in many areas of the US, and what works in NH might not work in Carolina (I know that for a fact).

Take a camera! Carry spares for the car (especially a good tire/jack, fuses and a headlamp).

I experienced some weird events during my X-country trips. Two dust devils, two floods (one which stuck me in Erie PA for 3 days), fog so thick I was afraid to stop for fear of being hit from behind (New Orleans to Houston), a huge herd of weird deer which took almost 2 minutes to cross the roadway in Canada and surrounded my Z as they passed, an Armadillo which flattened my tire in west Texas, 103* temps across Kansas (where I learned that opening my hood made my Z go faster), a tornado in Missouri, a forest fire on both sides of the road in NC, two 13-ft rattlesnakes I ran over in NC, a blinding rainstorm in Atlanta, a broken fuel pump which stalled me over a RR track in northern California, several near-death close calls at uncontrolled "courtesy corners" in Vancouver BC, and a sudden 18" overnight snow storm in Syracuse. Plus I ran out of fuel at least 3 times, once on the DC/B'more beltway, because I kept missing the exit. I circled it twice that night!

But those were the scary parts. There were many many more wonderful sights and experiences. I can think of no better way to cross country than in a light, nimble 240Z. Some of my happiest moments took place in the northwest areas. Medford Oregon was a small, remote cowtown lost in a time warp. Vancouver and Whistler BC were two of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Calgary was a lifetime experience. Idaho's river valleys are breathtaking. The rocky mountain passes (north and south) are sights you will never forget. But personally, parts of Virginia still beckon me to come back there forever.

If I had a magic wand, I would wave it over every young Z owner and give him the unique experience of bonding with his car and his country by driving across it. If I had it to do over again, I think I would have mounted an air conditioner to my Z before my trips ~ but I just would have run out of fuel more often!

YES! Somehow, someway, create a lifetime of memories and bar stories for yrslf by inventing some excuse to drive a Z car across as much of this beautiful country as you possibly can. Plan a northern route in the summer, and a southern route in the winter.

If you chicken out and still need someone to go fetch a Z for a cross-country trip, call me!

Frank

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1970 240Z

I bought my Z in California and drove it to CT. Frank sums it up pretty well. It's an excellent, once in a lifetime experience. I just made sure she was topped off with fresh oil and a good filter beforehand and went without any secondary thought. In hindsight, I should have gotten AAA before I left, but I never needed it. My Z never gave me trouble at all the whole trip. If you're going to do it, plan to spend a few days with the car before you leave to inspect it and make sure its ship-shape. Even when abused these are stout cars.

My suggestion is to buy one in socal and take the "back highways" past Twentynine Palms and start the trip on Rt 66 at Amboy, CA. You'll have to get on and off Rt 40 a few times since the two roads merge occasionally, but its an awesome, unforgettable trip. I had Elvis playing and it was like the voice was echoing across the desert... through my headphones. The quiet is surreal when there's no one around you in a 20 mile radius. I headed north after Flagstaff to hit 4 corners and took the trip through Colorado as well, across the rockies. a 280z with EFI would help there. I did this trip on my Harley. The southern route through Texas I took with the Z was sweet too, but nowhere near as awesome.

If you want to see a map of the roads I took, I'd be happy to oblige.

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-Chris

why go south or west to find a clean zcar when they are in your backyard. mark rif in kingston, ny has two very clean zcars he will part with. one is a very clean silver 1972 240 z with red interior and the other is a to die for light brown 280zx with low miles. he wants to sell one or the other to finish a garage project. the prices are right and you will not find any cleaner one elsewhere. contact him thru our club site at RIF. mike

because clean cars here are expensive, and clean cars elsewhere are cheap.

Lets face it, in an area where non rotted cars are common, their price will be lower than an area like the north east where pretty much every 3rd Z is rotted.

_________________
2002 Subaru WRX
1978 280Z HLS30-477043
1972 Beetle
1996 Subaru Legacy


1978 280Z 2/2 RIP, Never Forgotten.
VIN GHLS30-120946

if you add the costs of flying to the west coast and hotel stays and fuel to get home and the cost of the tow truck when that 30 something year old car dies on that lonely road at 3 in the morning, it pays to shop local. not to mention that out west where the weather is nice all the time, the cars get used all the time, and have 300,000 miles on them. so, you are buying a car with a good body and the running gear has the tongue hanging out.look at the prices on craigslist in la.or san francisco, their not that much cheaper.the ad says mint condition and you fly out and it's junk, what do you do then?

Then you kill their pigs and chickens and burn their hut?

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1970 240Z

Killjoy.

You can't put a price on a once in a lifetime experience.

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-Chris

Amen, Phrog.

When we're all too old to walk, we'll still be bragging about our cross-country trips. Red Evil is the perfect age to conquer this task.

Red, I highly recommend you let NOTHING deter you from doing it.

(I might also recommend you do it ALONE. Even best friends or girlfriends would have been an annoying distraction on any of my trips ~ and an added expense. Drive where you want, stop when you want, explore where you want, listen to your own music).

For those of you who remember ROUTE-66 on TV, I am amaZed that Buzz and Todd never eventually got on each other's nerves and killed each other.

Frank

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1970 240Z

Funny...all this bringz to mind Paul Mackin and I pulling into a package store once and parking side by side. As we were getting out a customer exiting the store asked "You guys goin' cross country or something?" You probly had to be there but it was kinda cool...

Al

Lil Red's Texas plates probably contributed in part to the comment!

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Phil
1981 280zxt - Now in the care my son!
2014 370Z Sports Touring Roadster

I say do it!!! The story alone is worth it!

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Mike Tubiak
1978 Datsun 280Z - HLS30-438694

Yeah Red, maybe we'll take up a collection to help you pay for the trip, in exchange for you writing up a good detailed story about the experience when you get back??!

Figure it ~ most of us are stuck here in the work-a-day world, tethered to homes and families, bosses, schools, yapping dogs, whining kids, nagging wives, deadlines, taxes, projects, etc.
I'll bet every one of us fantasiZes once or twice a week about hopping in the Z and just heading for the farthest horiZon.

We could live your trip vicariously thru your story. And you could take a laptop and check in with us along the route, describing each day's experiences.

Heck, I'd pay to read that, and I've already DONE it!

Frank

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1970 240Z

Go for it, just have AAA plus.