CAN YA FEEL THE HYPE? I CAN! The Z is washed, fluids topped, tire pressures checked (weather is cooler: all 4 needed a couple) and ZNoraleen is tucked safely in the garage until Saturday morning. The weather prediction is perfect, thanks to Ross' magic weather wand. Can it get any better'n this? Lets make the CTZCC 12th Annual Fall Outing the best ever!

See everyone there,

Alan

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2007 350Z Grand Touring Roadster "OURZ"

Good thinking Frank, I've been that guy before. Haha

My Z spare is original so even fully inflated I don't think is want to drive on it.

I have a AAA card and a cell phone instead.

Jay

Heck yeah, Alan - I'm as excited as you are I haven't been to Ross's house in about 8 years or so, so I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow. The predicted weather is just the icing on the cake!

So let me be the first to commit to BJ's in Wallingford. I'll be there between 8:15-8:30. My cell # is 203-706-5975.

If you plan on being part of the caravan, please chime in soon, so that we have a (semi-) accurate head-count before we depart. Also, let us know if you will be waiting for the caravan at some point further south, so that we know to stop and get you.

Zee ya tomorrow!!

Myron

Jan and I are planning to go, but were considering an early start and secure my favorite spot. If that early departure fails (as it typically does), we may join the Caravan at BJ's.

Hmmmm, I just had fond memories appear in my head.
I made the BJ's caravan by accident at my first outing trip. And was soon asked/told to lead it from with Godzilla : . That was just a year after the GT-R was delivered because I didn't connect with the Z club until the following spring. My GT-R was delivered in Oct '08. So that was the 2009 outing or exactly 8 years ago as Myron "Smashbar" thinks..
I was arriving at BJ's just to get gas with a friend in his wife's 350Z. And as we pulled in we saw a number of Z's collected and I figured they must be heading to RozzVilla Eztatez.

And I of course recall seeing (and somewhat drooling) over Smashbar's recently acquired '90 Z32 creampuff in rare Azure Blue pearl. I was wowed by the numerous Z presence. Myron and I had some good Z32 chats at Ross's that day. Who knew that in less than a year I'd be buying that '90 Z off him. (And at that time he, nor his lovely bride new they'd be having another child the following year. ) Overtime, I've done some tweaks here and there to that Z. Jan and I drove it to ZCON 29 (2015) in Toronto. Her 1'st ZCON. Much to my surprise, my very much non car girl wife offered to help me do some of the detailing preps at home! And then again there since we drove through some heavy rain storms. Thanks to her help, it not only won 1'st place in Z32 modified... It also won a coveted Golden Cup Award (1 of only 2 awarded that year)!

So after all this fond memory stuff, I'm now thinking more about making the BJ's Caravan.
We'll Zzzzz.

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'87 Z31 5 spd N/A in Red Pearl (~stock)
'90 Z32 5 spd N/A in Azure Blue Pearl (~stock)
'91 Z32 TT 5 spd in White Pearlglow (enhanced)
'03 Z33 Touring 6 spd Chrome Silver (~stock)
'09 GT-R Super Silver... Lusty Enough As Is!

Ahh.. you nailed that story, Gary. A bunch of us were waiting around the parking lot for other Z's to show up, and to my surprise I noticed a Brickyard red 350z next to a GTR (!) pumping gas. So of course we had to go investigate.

That was the first and only time I have attended the fall gathering. It was a GREAT time.. ahhh.. all those Z's in one place. Heaven! Even my wife commented on how friendly everyone was to her. The overall sense of camaraderie made a lasting impression on both of us that we have not forgotten. The long, enjoyable conversation with Gary was a highlight for me. I'm glad that my 'old' Z is exactly where it should be (the toybox) .

I'm really looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces at Ross and Brenda's beautiful home once again.

See? That' just why so many of us love this Club. Most of us join for the cars, but quickly end up making long-term friends.

Gary, you should join up with the BJ's crowd because your usual spot is reserved this year for a special guest. You might get close, but not exact.

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1970 240Z

I somewhat figured that about the spot. However, right behind it would work for me and also be rather appropriate. I followed that very special person (A Zee Go) in that special Z on "The Dragon" on way back from Memphis ZCON in my 350Z.

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'87 Z31 5 spd N/A in Red Pearl (~stock)
'90 Z32 5 spd N/A in Azure Blue Pearl (~stock)
'91 Z32 TT 5 spd in White Pearlglow (enhanced)
'03 Z33 Touring 6 spd Chrome Silver (~stock)
'09 GT-R Super Silver... Lusty Enough As Is!

Actually the '90 quickly moved from Toy Box to Car Cave once the proper setting was established. Car Cave was in the works (planning stages) when I bought the Z.
Attached is a somewhat more recent pic and 2 early pix of the Car in the Car Cave... before I did a lot more upgrading to the Cave and Z.

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'87 Z31 5 spd N/A in Red Pearl (~stock)
'90 Z32 5 spd N/A in Azure Blue Pearl (~stock)
'91 Z32 TT 5 spd in White Pearlglow (enhanced)
'03 Z33 Touring 6 spd Chrome Silver (~stock)
'09 GT-R Super Silver... Lusty Enough As Is!

I need a garage like that! Wow!!

Make Gary an offer on it tmrw, Jay ~ he might let you take it home with you.

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1970 240Z

The chili and lawn are all ready for Z cars!

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Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

Looks great Ross
We appreciate your hospitality.

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Nov/70 late series one HLS3014777 Sunshine Yellow 919

Wow, your yard has recovered nicely from our invasion last year!

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1970 240Z

Sat/21Oct>
Get up, everyone! It's a great day to be a Z. Let's get together and have a picnic!

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1970 240Z

Holy Cow. What an incredibly great day this was. Ross and Brenda, you've done some really good Annual Fall Outing picnics in the past, but you both really outdid yourselves today. Even the kids (you can hardly call them that anymore) helped out.

Day broke a clear and snappy 61*; perfect weather for a Z on the highway. I left early to help park cars but got snagged in a single-lane backup for miles. The Z began to overheat so I jumped off the Merit Pkwy 3 exits before Ross' and cooled the car down. Back up onto the highway just in time to meet Myron and Alan and cruised together for a ways. Arrived at Ross' 25 minutes later than I had hoped.

There was some speculation about how many members would actually show up, considering the empty events calendar all this year. We needn't have worried. We counted an unprecedented 86 carZ inside the wall, a new record. How we got them all onto the front lawn (capacity 77) is a mystery, but it sets a new record. There were too many people to count, but I give a fair estimation at 90-100.

Some highlights of the day;
(a) arrival of clubs from New York and New Jersey, bringing in nearly 20 cars at once;
(b) free raffle which got some very good priZes into very grateful hands;
(c) good music all day long;
(d) Brenda's perfect home-cooked chili, hot dawgs, deserts and sodas, perfectly timed to feed the starving masses;
(e) a big trampoline in the fenced-in back yard for the youngsters to play on (and fly drones from);
(f) Zeeing a doZen old members who haven't been able to make it for a few years, and many more members who have;
(g) meeting some new members, including JayP260z and his dad from Pennsylvania;
(h) two full free parts tables, and
(i) discovering it was Ross' 28th birthday today Brenda surpriZed him with a birthday cake and we all "sang" Happy Birthday to him in 95-part harmony, poor guy.
(j) Topping all that off was the amaZing summer-like weather which gave all of us our final mild sunburns of the year. Absolutely perfect weather, thanks to to Ross' magic weather wand.

But the most important part of our day was the recognition we got to pay to our 9-year member and Z-brother, Bill Moreau. We lost Bill unexpectedly a month ago; the Club was represented at his wake and funeral, but this was the first time we have all been together since we lost him. His name was heard in nearly every conversation. Bill never missed one of our Annual Fall Event picnics and we almost expected to see him walking through the crowd at any moment.

Our greatest honor was that Bill's family drove down from Massachusetts to spend the day with us. Bill's fiance, son in law, daughter and their two children brought Bill's familiar brilliant 280Z (ZZZZYa) down from Massachusetts. We parked it in a place of honor in the driveway directly in front of the mansion's doors for all to admire and reminisce about. The car got swamped by viewers and a hundred pictures were taken of it. Everyone understood the importance of the 280Z Bill loved so much. The family plans to keep the car.

We spent a few minutes memorialiZing Bill and his 9 years of enthusiasm and contributions to the CTZCC and the ZCCNE, and heard a heartfelt word of thanks from his daughter Amy Stack, who reminded us how important we were to her dad's fun. Strangely, as Amy spoke, the whole crowd glanced upward and saw (and I swear this is true) a Z-cloud hovering above the mansion. You make what you will of that, but Amy's presentation brought tears to many and it wouldn't be hard to believe Bill approved.

The individual members of the CTZCC have 9-year personal photo collections of Bill enjoying himself with our Club. His family has never seen them. I urge you to search your archives and send any pictures you might have of Bill to our Webmaster, Jim Hagani, or to Gary Tylinski (either can be reached on our Club PM) to be collected onto a disc in time to be presented to Bill's family for Christmas. More on that later under a separate heading. We want Bill's family to feel they are our family and to join us in any of our events or meetings.

There were some notable absences this year, including our Club's Executive Advisor Bob Sharp, who has begun his new life in Florida just a few miles from his son, professional ALMS racer Scott Sharp. There were other long-term Club names who didn't appear this year, and they can rest assured they were talked about behind their backs.

I think all in attendance had a great time and we were really thrilled to share the day together. Thanks to Brenda for feeding us again, to the Williams kids who helped us park and raffle, to Ross for having a birthday perfectly timed so we all got cake, and to the distinguished guests whose presence made this day special for each of us. It was really great to zee all the old faces and meet the new ones, and we hope to zee everybody again soon.

Safe Home, all.

Frank T

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1970 240Z