09-08-2008, 11:28 AM
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Newbie
2003
350Z
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2
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Some shots of C/D's Z racecar
Kinda cool that even at the end of the 350Z's life it can still be used legally as a magazine race car and not sent to a cruel death in the crusher
Quote:
Mad Money
Cars that for many reasons cannot legally be sold are the normal detritus of every automaker. Most are preproduction prototypes with no proper identifying numbers. They cannot be registered and are nothing but tax and lawsuit liabilities once their function is served. A date with steel jaws is inevitable, except when wily public-relations departments are able to dole them out to magazines for special projects.
In the waning days of Nissan North America’s Los Angeles headquarters, before its move to Nashville in July 2006, a condemned 2006 350Z was thus diverted our way. It was a base car, silver over black, with the 300-hp, 3.5-liter VQ35DE “rev up” V-6, a six-speed stick, and no options—not even floor mats. The sticker price (had it had one) would have been $28,525. It ran smooth, strong, and straight, with no apparent flaws other than its lack of a legal serial number.
Our original Z plans were vague. The car went off to the spring driving school hosted by the Golden Gate Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America, a two-day polytechnic at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. There, the stock Z proved a fast and entertaining track toy able to glue itself to M3 bumpers. It was at Infineon that a BMW CCA volunteer instructor named Richard Biscevic (say “bish-A-vik”) saw our free Z and did a fifth-to-first downshift of his mental gears.
He said, “Let’s do Grand-Am. The format is perfect, and the Z has already nearly won the championship. I think we can have some fun.” It was all downhill from there.
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in training
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