A nice little drive to the gas station...(long)
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Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,138
The Getty by me gives 7 cents off of hi-test on weekends which makes it worth filling up even if I'm still on a quarter tank. The trip is a relatively short one but involves Millstone River Road(MRR), a road that has a meager waterway on one side and a few large farms on the other so there are no side streets and only a few driveways to watch out for. It is a nice place to open 'er up if you can ignore any fears of deer or other woodland critters wandering into the roadway and ruining your whole day.
An Accord pulls in front of me as I'm approaching the intersection of the main drag that runs through my neighborhood and MRR. It pulls onto MRR just in front of a bright blue pickup truck. I enter MRR immediately after the pickup passes and I note from it's obvious badging that it is a Dodge Dakota R/T 5.9L. It seems low for a Dakota and the tires seem to be a bit wider than normal.
The Dakota and I quickly close in on the Accord and I begin to pray that it turns at the only side street that precedes the open road ahead. It does! As soon as the Accord turns, I can hear the big V8 roar and the truck sprint ahead. It sounds great and I'm glad to add my exhaust note to the symphony. For all it's power, the heavy truck cannot handle like a sports car (even a 4DSC) so I play with him...letting him get ahead and then gunning it to catch up. This goes on for the whole trip to the gas station.
It was exhilarating, I had all the windows down and the sunroof wide open...the air was cold, the engine responsive and the road twisty. Creed screeching away on the stock stereo, the noise of the rushing wind and the roar of the big V8 which was repeatedly drowned out by my own mechanical band was simply magical. A performance that only a true motor-head could appreciate.
Oddly the pickup pulls into the same gas station that I was going to but pulls to the side and parks. I pull up to the pump and get out of my car after telling the attendant to fill 'er up with super. I was thinking that the truck driver might want to talk. Strangely, he got out, a younger guy maybe in his mid-twenties, and begins to talk to an older fellow that must have walked up to him while I was still in my car.
I hover around my car a little while the gas pump clicks away, hoping to catch the truck drivers attention. Then the attendant says 'Oh wow, that's fancy' while looking at my wheels. 'I've never seen that, is that custom?' He's now touching the valve stem that sticks out of my OZ's that has the Nissan logo on it. I'm a little confused at this question, still wanting to talk to the truck driver, so I disbelievingly ask him if he means the valve stems. He nods and I tell him that these are indeed custom stems that can be had at any aftermarket shop. He admires them for awhile longer while I get back in my car disappointed that the Dakota driver is still engrossed in conversation with the old guy. I guess he never noticed me in his mirror or just didn't care that I easily kept up with him.
The moral of this story is that even though you might have 300hp on tap and thousands of dollars in mods on your car, you still might catch someone's eye with a set of low-buck valve stems with the Nissan logo on them. There really is no accounting for taste.
Jim
An Accord pulls in front of me as I'm approaching the intersection of the main drag that runs through my neighborhood and MRR. It pulls onto MRR just in front of a bright blue pickup truck. I enter MRR immediately after the pickup passes and I note from it's obvious badging that it is a Dodge Dakota R/T 5.9L. It seems low for a Dakota and the tires seem to be a bit wider than normal.
The Dakota and I quickly close in on the Accord and I begin to pray that it turns at the only side street that precedes the open road ahead. It does! As soon as the Accord turns, I can hear the big V8 roar and the truck sprint ahead. It sounds great and I'm glad to add my exhaust note to the symphony. For all it's power, the heavy truck cannot handle like a sports car (even a 4DSC) so I play with him...letting him get ahead and then gunning it to catch up. This goes on for the whole trip to the gas station.
It was exhilarating, I had all the windows down and the sunroof wide open...the air was cold, the engine responsive and the road twisty. Creed screeching away on the stock stereo, the noise of the rushing wind and the roar of the big V8 which was repeatedly drowned out by my own mechanical band was simply magical. A performance that only a true motor-head could appreciate.
Oddly the pickup pulls into the same gas station that I was going to but pulls to the side and parks. I pull up to the pump and get out of my car after telling the attendant to fill 'er up with super. I was thinking that the truck driver might want to talk. Strangely, he got out, a younger guy maybe in his mid-twenties, and begins to talk to an older fellow that must have walked up to him while I was still in my car.
I hover around my car a little while the gas pump clicks away, hoping to catch the truck drivers attention. Then the attendant says 'Oh wow, that's fancy' while looking at my wheels. 'I've never seen that, is that custom?' He's now touching the valve stem that sticks out of my OZ's that has the Nissan logo on it. I'm a little confused at this question, still wanting to talk to the truck driver, so I disbelievingly ask him if he means the valve stems. He nods and I tell him that these are indeed custom stems that can be had at any aftermarket shop. He admires them for awhile longer while I get back in my car disappointed that the Dakota driver is still engrossed in conversation with the old guy. I guess he never noticed me in his mirror or just didn't care that I easily kept up with him.
The moral of this story is that even though you might have 300hp on tap and thousands of dollars in mods on your car, you still might catch someone's eye with a set of low-buck valve stems with the Nissan logo on them. There really is no accounting for taste.
Jim
Nice story, Jim..
Thread Starter
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,138
Re: I can just picture it....
Originally posted by BlackMax13
there's nothing better than an afternoon drive with the windows down and the stereo blaring some tunes. Great story....makes this cubicle seem like a prison!
there's nothing better than an afternoon drive with the windows down and the stereo blaring some tunes. Great story....makes this cubicle seem like a prison!
Jim
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 121
Jim your story reminds me of a song by Rush called the Red Barchetta. It's about an italian sports car tooling through the country side and being chased by huge vehicles. One of the lines is, "Well weathered leather, hot metal and oil, the scented country air. Sunlight on chrome, the blur of the landscape, every nerve aware." Great song for getting in your maxima and opening her up on the road.
TMAX
TMAX
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