From the Wayback Machine

[SteveJ]

I dug up some pictures I took 15 years ago at the Dallas Autorama. Digital cameras sure have improved since then...

Dallas Autorama 1998 | Fiddling With Z Cars

So, can any current ZCOT members identify people/cars from the pictures?

Edit: When I originally posted this, I forgot that I had a couple of pictures of a 72 that Courtesy Nissan was selling as part of the refresh program. Those pictures are part of the blog post now, too.

Edited February 23, 2013 by SteveJ
Added info

[Carl Beck]

Are you sure that Blue Vintage Z was a 72? We have a car that looks the same - color/wheels etc - that is registered as a 71 240Z sold by Courtesy.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[SteveJ]

The file name, created the day after the show, says 72. That's all I have to go on at this point, Carl, so I could have put down the wrong year. All I do remember for sure is talking to Steve Richardson about it.

[jfa.series1]

Hey Steve,

The ZCoT is still alive and well, your post regarding Dallas Autorama is most timely. We just wrapped up the show last weekend - ZCoT entered 6 cars in a club display. We came away with 3 Best In Class, 3 Outstanding In Class, and Best Club Display. I managed to pick up one of the Bests. As you can see, the display materials have evolved over time. We added twin 42" HDTV's this year running continuous videos of club activities.

I checked out your 1998 photos but did not recognize anyone. The picture of the gold car is seriously similar to mine in the display altho it is a later model '71 - Series 2.

Steve Richardson is still around. He left Courtesy last year and just affiliated with a Dodge dealer in Dallas.

Jim

[SteveJ]

I want to say the first name of the owner of the Anniversary Edition was Linda. The modified Z was owned by Bill Reagan. He was trying to sell it at the time. Of course, Mad Mike was there a lot of the time.

I hit Post too soon. I also think Linda was a club officer at the time. I looked at the ZCOT newsletters online recently. While HDTV was off in the future at the time, there was a TV & VCR looping some videos, including a modified version of the "Dogs Love Trucks" commercial with a nice 240Z instead of a Nissan Frontier at the end.

Edited February 23, 2013 by SteveJ

[jfa.series1]

That Anniversary Edition may be the car owned by Lois Liconte, a long-time member. Bill Reagan move up to Missouri some years ago. Some of our folks that go to the Branson Z Fest see him from time to time. Mad Mike Taylor is still active and in regular communication with Mr. K. Mike is already planning his annual Fall trip to Japan with a group of fellow enthusiasts.

We do love our videos - the box beside my car is one of four around the display with a LCD screen showing continuous run videos. All the wiring runs thru the connecting aluminum pipes.

[SteveJ]

Well, I dug around on my old backup disks, and I found the HTML code from when I first posted these pictures 15 years ago. I'm going to add some of the text to my blog post.

The program 240Z is a 72 according to the original page, Carl. They even added AC to it.

Jim, as a matter of fact, Bill moved up to Missouri not too long after the Autorama. We had dinner together that night. By the way, don't go out to eat in Dallas on Valentine's Day if you don't have to.

[TomoHawk]

I like your idea of Club displays with the videos. Have you been doing that for long? It's a good idea to show off your club when you go to event as a club. Usually, I see clubs at events, but the cars are scattered and there is no collaboration- each person is there only for himself, or to display things only for his own car- not even a hint of a club affiliation.

[SteveJ]

The Z Club of Texas has been doing the display at the Dallas Autorama since at least 1997.

[jfa.series1]

ZCoT usually dukes it out with the Mustang club for best display honors at the Dallas Autorama. We've had the video boxes in our perimeter fence for several years. Two years ago we added pop-up banners to the corners, seen in the photo below. This year we added the HDTV's and a member edited videos and still photos from all kinds of club events into one long video presentation. The best feedback came from the show officials who commented on how thoroughly we man our display and actively engage with the people attending the show, and the fact that we are constantly working to freshen the display each year. We typically have at least 4-6 people in the display for all hours the show is open. We also added a 10' tall teardrop banner this year. The banner will be used at all outdoor events such as Cars & Coffee, the Texas State Fair, ...etc.

[SteveJ]

That white 300ZX looks like the same one as in my pictures. Could it be?

I should add that the video loop at the 98 show included the modified version of "Dogs Love Trucks" commercial and a lot of the Z car episode of Automobiles that was on The History Channel.

Edited February 25, 2013 by SteveJ

[jfa.series1]

Different car this year, this one belongs to Edward Cheung and is soon to be the beneficiary of a TT upgrade.