2,070 mile trip in the new Z. Midwest to the West Coast. No Interstates!

[jayhawk]

I have a 1973 240Z that Motorman7 restored in 2018 and 2019 discussed in the thread https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/60309-were-bringin-back-the-flat-tops/.

I saw the new Z at ZCON Colorado Springs where our '73 240Z took first place in the Stock judging category.  (Thank Motorman7!)  I knew then I wanted that beautiful Seiran Blue Z they had there and have been looking to buy one since. 

Finally, on April 14th, 50 years to the day after buying my '73 Blue Metallic 240Z, I bought a new 2023 Seiran Blue Z.  The new Zs in blue are harder to find than the Proto Spec version and I found our new Z at a price I could live with at a Chicago dealer.  Drove it the day we picked it up to our son's home in Kansas City, where we left it until June. 

Then in June, we drove it home to California all on US Highway 50, cause Interstates highways in a new sports cars are boring!  (especially Interstate 80...) 

Sightseeing on the way included the National Tall Grass Prairie Preserve and the Cosmosphere space museum in Kansas; Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Monarch Pass, Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado;  the beautiful ridges and mesas of central Utah; the Loneliest Road in America across western Utah and central Nevada; and Lake Tahoe.

Conclusions:  it is a great car for such a trip!  Very comfortable for long days (Day 4 was 852 miles from Ouray, Colorado to Carson City, NV in 14 hours) Very fun to pass cars or trucks on the open and lonely highways of the Midwest and West.  Mashing the throttle was like a catapult shot off the Kitty Hawk! (my long '72 deployment on that ship was what enabled me to save enough to buy the '73 240Z)  Head snapping acceleration!  Wheee!

 

Long distance trips in my 240Z, the blue line was in 1974 after discharge from the Navy.  Whidbey Island WA to Huntington Beach CA via Vancouver BC, Winnipeg, Chicago, and Kansas City. 

 

2023 Road Trip on US Highway 50 in the new Z:

 

A photo op in Dodge City:

 

After crossing the flat eastern half of Colorado, took a side trip off Highway 50 to Pikes Peak:

 

Summit of Pikes Peak was closed, turned around at the 16 mile mark (of the 19 mile drive to the top).

 

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

 

Highway 50 crosses the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass.  11,312 feet altitude.  Turbos make this easy.

 

Turns out the new Z is off-road capable!  4+ miles of US 50 in central Colorado under construction..

.

 

At the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

 

Actually did some Interstate.  US 50 is co-resident with I70  in eastern Utah.  Beautiful fast road.  No traffic.  80mph posted speed limit. 

 

A View Point on US50 / I70

 

A photo of our 240Z somewhere in Utah in 1974:

 

US 50 from central Utah to Carson City NV is called "The Loneliest Road in America".  With good reason!

This was part of a 184 mile stretch in western Utah and eastern Nevada with only one gas station.  Which appeared closed when we went by... (To be honest, at the speed we were going, things were a little blurry...😁)

 

Couldn't pass up a scenic stop at Lake Tahoe.  On the Nevada side looking west.

 

Now home with the great, great, great, great grandfather. Taking both to ZCON.

 

Conclusions about the new Z.  An excellent Z for a long road trip.  Comfortable, quick, and fun!  Neck snapping acceleration.  (Like a catapult shot off an aircraft carrier)  Wife convinced me to get an, uh, "9 Speed Paddle Shift transmission" (don't call it an auto...😁).  And that paid off in the stop and go uphill drive on the Pikes Peak toll road.  Highly recommended if you can find one at close to MSRP. 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by jayhawk
added missing photos (hopefully...)

[Patcon]

I couldn't get any of the pictures to load. Anyone else?

[Racer X]

1 hour ago, Patcon said:

I couldn't get any of the pictures to load. Anyone else?

Nothing but squares with a question mark in the middle.

[jayhawk]

Sorry about the photos. Hopefully I got it right in editing.

[jayhawk]

While editing, I noticed something very interesting.  The 1974 photo of my 240Z "somewhere in Utah" had cliffs in the background that looked similar to the View Point stop in the new Z. Notice the profile of the cliff right above the 240Z.

This it the original photo.  (The one in the post above was cropped.)

 

And again the photo of the new Z view point stop in Utah:  The profile of the cliffs on the right was the give away!

Realized both photos were taken at the same place!  49 years apart! 

Using the geotag info in the new photos, identified the location as the Black Dragon Canyon View Point on I70 in Utah. 

Google Street view of the View Point:

 

I guess Zs like to stop at the same place.

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by jayhawk

[grannyknot]

Utah is a beautiful state, we go back again and again.

[jayhawk]

1 hour ago, grannyknot said:

Utah is a beautiful state, we go back again and again.

I agree, but only get there very rarely.  (like driving through in a Z...)

Another interesting thing we saw on the stretch of US 50/I-70:

Every seen a curve ahead speed sign of 75mph?  (Saw this on our trip, but did not get a picture then. Had to go back to Google Street view to find this again)

 

[Patcon]

The pictures are great!

I would love to make another cross country trip...

[siteunseen]

This is fantastic! One day,maybe, I'll get to do something similar.

[Racer X]

On 7/19/2023 at 3:43 PM, Patcon said:

The pictures are great!

I would love to make another cross country trip...

In the five years I drove big trucks I covered 800,000 miles, all of the lower 48 and six Canadian provinces. I lost count of how many times I mad the run from Seattle to the east coast. If I left Seattle on a Saturday I could be in Jacksonville by Tuesday morning.

A couple years ago Mrs. Racer and I took the oldest grandson’s car to him at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. We left Seattle on Friday morning around 11 am, and rolled into Fayetteville Sunday afternoon around 5 pm. Only stopped for fuel, food, and once for a shower at a truck stop halfway across Missouri on Saturday evening.

 

[Racer X]

On 7/19/2023 at 10:27 AM, jayhawk said:

Sorry about the photos. Hopefully I got it right in editing.

Looks great. 

My dad was stationed at NAS Whidbey in 66 & 67. We lived in the housing just outside the (then) main gat at Ault Field. 
 

 

 

[jayhawk]

1 hour ago, Racer X said:

Looks great. 

My dad was stationed at NAS Whidbey in 66 & 67. We lived in the housing just outside the (then) main gat at Ault Field. 
 

 

 

Whidbey Island was a great place.  The Navy built the NAS there because it was drier than other parts of the Puget Sound, as it was in the "rain shadow" of the Olympic Peninsula.   Supposedly had more VFR flying days than NAS Miramar in San Diego because of frequent fog there.  Supposedly...

Bought my 240Z from the Datsun dealer in Mt. Vernon.  The new owner, Jack Gubrud, sponsored fun runs for all local Z owners.  Here are pix of the run he sponsored in 1974 over the North Cascade Highway to Winthrop.  (I think I've posted some of these before here)