Do people notice you in your classic Z on the road?

[AggieZ]

I bought a 280ZX just for the engine/tranny. I have been taking it for a morning spin around the beltway about every other day for the last 2 weeks. A few days ago, I was driving down the street on my way to the beltway, and I noticed a couple of kids playing in a yard... so I slow down just in case one of them might run into the street. Once kid picks up the ball and looks, and then the other one looks. Then the mother comes out and gives me a big thumbs up. It was a great moment.

The 280ZX is no looker. Its tired looking. But I think everyone in the neighborhood knows what I am doing with the 240Z and why I bought the ZX.

Just thininking out loud here.

[FairladyZS30]

i always get people string at my car, sometimes they say something but i get the looks when im driving but the usual is "I owned of these"

[74260ZMan]

M Z doesnt even leave the garage to get attention. I had an older man walk into my garage one time at a yard sales to "admire" my paint less Z. He gave me the "I used to have one, wish I still had it" speech

[Walter Moore]

I have been driving my 240Z a lot more the past couple of weeks than I did when I first got the thing running, and it is difficult adjusting to the stares. My wife rode with me to Walmart this afternoon and kept commenting on all the people who were stopping and watching us roll by.

I don't know if it is that the car is so unusual, or the obnoxious paint color. To be honest, I picked that color in part because I wanted people to see it when I was driving. The LAST thing that I want after spending 5 years rebuilding it is for someone to smash into me because they didn't notice that I was in the way.

(My mother's 79 Honda Civic was hit three or four times in its short one year life because the mud brown paint color, and its small size made it invisible to the locals.)

On the other hand, it appears that a large percentage of the local population does not recognize the car at all.

[Poindexter]

@Walter Moore- perhaps you should consider getting a Ferrari/Fiamm triple airhorn like I did? After nearly getting run down twice in one day by obnoxious drivers in an Excursion and one of those perfectly ridiculous International Harvester CXT SUV/wagons (14,500 lbs!) I decided that if they couldn't see me they certainly would hear me! They're actually under $30 on Amazon/ebay and worth their weight in gold.

I added a rear red fog light as we have a serious fog issue here on the ocean, and I also installed "selective yellow" fogs to the factory front install points under the bumper, with Cibie driving lights going behind the grille as soon as they arrive. It's better to be seen and heard rather than end up furry red goo wrapped in Safari Gold foil. I love that green too, btw.

Edited August 17, 2008 by Poindexter

[MotoManMike]

People here notice my Z. Its hard not to being orange but its not a show car by any means. The really surprising event happened when we went to Crusin in Ocean City MD. It happens every year and LOADS of american muscle cars from all over meet up and drive around, set up in parking lots, parade down the boardwalk. I took my old Z down there last year and people LOVED this car, its really awesome when you are riding in a pack of 80 thousand dollar american muscle car restorations and most are pointing at my Z, it really was a great feeling, even the drivers of those candy sweet muscle cars loved it. Its loud, kinda rat rodish with its rough worked patch panel and primer spots on rust . They are very rare here, i've only saw 2 of them other than mine here and I drive 100k miles a year easy(not in my Z I wish). Lots of people at the pump strike up a conversation and relive old memories, kids point, I had a teenager with his mom ride next to me this weekend snapping pictures with his cell phone camera, he was all smiles. I didn't buy the car to impress people by any means, I bought it to drive for fun but its pretty awesome how many that it does impress here.

Edited March 8, 2012 by MotoManMike
spelling

[24 Ounces]

The best times are when I drop off my 12 year-old daughter Chloe at her jr. high...the looks from the boys are priceless. She has a couple of girlfriends her age who like to go with us to get ice cream at the Dairy Queen. Chloe and a friend cram into the right bucket...yeah, I know, not the safest, but they wrap the lap belt around them and I drive the back streets the 3 blocks to DQ. Teens and older guys seem the most interested in it, and it gets frequent favorable remarks at the gas station. Many looks on the roads around Columbus, OH...S30s are very rare around here.

[72 OJ]

My 72 Z collects lots of attention,on the road, at the gas pump,at the Sunday morning local car gathering, seems that complements are trigger by the historic Maryland tags on it and the bright orange color.Yes she has a lot of eye appeal,she is not a show car but a solid 5 footer that I enjoy every time I occupied it's cabin.

[rcb280z]

I don't drive mine much anymore, 1500 miles a year, but when I do I usually get alot of attention. Some wanted, some not. The not is when these young a** kids (no offense to anyone in this club) with their fast subaru's, mitsubishi's, hondas, etc. want to race! I wish I could race them sometimes and kick their butts! but we all know the stock 280's aren't that fast. The good ones say "wow that looks nice", what year is it? etc, etc. It does get alot of attention. Especially when I drive it down the PCH. I have made friends driving mine around. Have a great day everyone.

[Wade]

A Z was my first car I owned, back when I turned 16. I just always liked them since then, guess you can say I am still into them because it brings back the old memories. I get many questions from the older folks, they remember the cars but its been so many years that they have seen them on the road it brings back memories, its a good conversation piece cause mostly everybody has a memory to tell about these cars. But what I really enjoy, is when I see a young kid comes up to me and they actually know about these cars, cause that is rather rare nowadays. I just think its cool that the younger generation has an interest in these cars still.

[FastWoman]

I live in a pretty small community, and my Z is my daily driver, so I think my viewing public has reached saturation. They've seen it, stared at it, and commented about it if they were going to comment at all. It got quite a few looks in the beginning, but now not so much.

Where I do still get comments/questions/long looks is:

-- Car dealerships. Car people LOVE to talk about my Z!

-- Sometimes at gas stations.

-- Sometimes at red lights, someone will be hanging out a window, giving me a thumbs-up. Rarely, though.

-- Restaurant parking lots. People hanging around outside smoking (cough, cough) love to strike up conversations and will recount the good times of their youth. It seems a surprising number of people have connections to the S-30.

On a rare occasion I had to be towed, the tow truck driver told me he destroyed a Z engine at 160 mph. "Great car!" he said.

I think my car would get more attention if it were red or Hulk-green. Silver is a pretty nondescript color.

Edited March 8, 2012 by FastWoman

[justinyee]

I'm in San Jose, CA, and there's a mix crowd out here: a lot of car buffs (and if you'v seen my car, it could use a buff... and a whole new paint job), but i'm with FastWoman - got a silver Z. I'd say most Z drivers are looking for you though (240z - 370z); I've only ran into 1 240z driver that didn't flinch when i was honking by on the other side of the road w/ my hands flailing. I'm relatively new to the Z scene, so i try to "make it a meet" every chance i get.

Certainly we get more looks / comments than most modern cars (yes!).

And we're back in culture with the pop/hip-hop scene being in Far East Movement music videos! :]