My Road Trip to STL
 

So as many of you already know, I traded my Z in for a new Mustang 5.0 last week. What many of you don't know is where I went to get it.

http://fusz.com/Images/Sites/Site292...z_Hub_5_GC.jpg

Got a pretty good deal on a car that fit my spec (Modshack actually spec'd this car out with them but didn't end up coming to a deal) so I decided I'd drive on out to STL to do the deal instead of shipping the Z there and shipping the Mustang back. I figured lunch with Lou is worth an 1,800 mile round-trip, anyways. :yum:

After finishing uninstalling the aftermarket parts from the Z, I left for St. Louis at 6AM on Sunday, Sept 5th.

Headed down I-81 South in VA.
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Appalachian Plateau off to the west.
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Just got on I-64 West in Virginia.
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Twin Peaks
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This is a pretty cool pic with the focus on the fisheye mirror.
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VA is beautiful...
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I-64 runs from VA straight through to STL, and there was a lot of construction along the way... many one-lane stretches...
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Charleston, WV. Kind of a depressing looking city if you ask me!
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Welcome to Kentucky
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People in Kentucky drive pretty damn fast. My average speed here was much faster than any other state. The flow of traffic was anywhere from 90mph to a little more than 100 mph. Old people in Buicks had their cruise set to 100... it was crazy! I also got passed by a Ferrari 458 Italia doing roughly 130 mph just outside of Louisville... didn't have my camera at the ready so I didn't snap a pic, nor did I bother trying to chase him down to get one!

Louisville
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Flat and boring in Illinois
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The Z's last ever fuel stop (that I'm paying for, anyways!) in Illinois. I saved the receipt because I'm sentimental like that.
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STL on the horizon! I could taste smell Lou in the air at this point.
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Lou said if I stayed to the east and west of the city and didn't venture north or south I'd live.
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My Z from the hotel room window in Chesterfield, MO, looking a bit like a solid red Cory Catfish.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...905_192707.jpg

I made it to STL around 7PM local time. Pretty tired so I decided to just hang out in the room. Watched the Cup race from Atlanta and surfed the boards from my phone. I wasn't able to pull up Lou's Ford site, so I made the mistake of asking Tony to check for me and let me know when they dealership opened. He said 8:30. Awesome, I'd check out of my hotel a few minutes before and head over there on Monday morning. Great.








So, Lou and I ended up having breakfast at IHOP. I survived the doorless, beltless Z32TT. It looked and sounded awesome despite the lack of doors, though. :hello:

So, after breakfast with Lou we parted ways and I headed down the street to the Ford dealership. I met Tom, the sales manager who I had been dealing with for the week prior over the phone and e-mail, and he showed me my Mustang sitting there in the showroom.

Tom driving the Mustang out of the showroom
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...906_105056.jpg

I had never actually seen this color in person before... only in photographs. This is a truly amazing color in person. It's a lot like the 40th Z gray only with more flake. It's awesome.

We took the car for a quick spin just so I could make sure I was 100% sure I wanted to go through with the deal... I was!

Transferred the Z's plates (and the NISMO plate frame!!!) over to the Mustang.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_qiUkqaHCPFw/TI...906_121010.jpg

Goodbye Z :(
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I do have to say that I was relieved to let it go. I have always hate, hate, hated red but for some reason when I first saw a red Z I fell in love with it. It just looked "right." If I had to do it all over again I think I would have bought Platinum Graphite. Red is just a pain in the *** to keep up with and with Nissan's soft clear and crappy paint it's really no fun.

Anyways, one of the young guys at the dealership (I'm guessing late teens, early 20s) tried to teach me how to use Sync. It was information overload so I told him just let me know how to use the radio and change the clock and I'll read the manual to figure everything else out (I haven't yet) :icon17:

With the paperwork completed I waved goodbye to my Z (I'll miss her!) and drove off in the new Mustang at approximately 12:30PM local time. 900 miles to go!
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STL heading eastbound on I-64.
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Illinois...
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Lousiville...
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At about 9PM EST I was just crossing into West Virginia. If I tried to go all the way through I'd get home a little after 3AM, so I decided to stop and get a hotel at the next populated area. I ended up getting a room in Barboursville, WV, just outside of Huntington, which let me rest up and get a nice sleep.

I was up and back on the road by 6AM.

Back in VA
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First rest stop of the morning at the first rest area in VA.
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1000 miles!
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Home at last!
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All told I drove 1,800 miles. On the way out I saw no 370Zs and no 5.0s. On the way home I saw 2 370Zs and one 5.0. One of the 370s I saw was the Yellow Coupe that tows that G-Force racing trailer to his track days. He was headed westbound through Illinois or Indiana... can't remember exactly. Let's just say a 370 towing a trailer looks pretty ******* badass!

Great pics, thanks for sharing!

Glad to see you not so whiny anymore. :p

awesome post, I was thinking about doing the same for my road trip to Ohio from here, but in the end, laziness prevailed. I'm taking the stang on a 600 mile trip tomorrow to El Paso, TX, i'd take pictures but I have a feeling the desert is enough to depress even the happiest of people :tup:

Thanks guys. I just updated with more pics and commentary. :tup:

Looks like a great trip and nice post up with all the pictures.... but..... you're still a traitor! :tup:




















j/k looking good and enjoy the new ride!

Do you feel a happiness with it you didn't feel with the Z?

Yes.

Wow nice pics Steve. :tup:
I wish you 100k miles of happy motoring. :driving:

Thanks, Trip! :tup:

:mad:

You're getting an engine cover and a GTR start button out of this, so be quiet! :icon17::rofl2:

:tup:

Nice pics!

Nice trip! I almost had the pleasure of buying from Lou, but a local deal came through on mine.

Sucks that the red Z is gone, but thanks for the exhaust :D

Nice trip Steve! Welcome to the Mustang club.....:tup:

did you get any odd looks for having the NISMO plate cover?

So far none of the Mustang guys have commented on it. The local Z crew thinks it's kind of funny.

I'm going to leave it on until I can find my old Steeda frame from my 2003 GT. "Power to the people." :tup:

You'll love it once you get it! Should have everything packed up tonight. :tup:

Thanks, Steve. I'm having a blast! This car is so much fun. A small drop, exhaust, and intake/tune should be enough to keep me satisfied for a while. :tup:

:iagree::bowrofl:

Put it back on for zdayz

Dude, you have no idea how ridiculous this car will be for ZDayZ. I am getting a bunch of Z emblems.

OK, great pics, I'm happy for you, blah blah, but the interior...can you rip it out? OMFG!

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_qiUkqaHCPFw/TI...906_134210.jpg

i think i just threw up in my mouth

Maybe I'm crazy, but aside from a couple things in the Z I like the Mustang's more. The Z's knee pads were awesome.

How are the seats?

More comfy than the Z. Good side bolstering. Less bolstering on the seat bottoms than the Z but you don't slide around. The leather is real nice and the trim accents look real good.

damn, we could have went out and got shitt faced drunk over on the eastside

Damn. Next time I buy a car from Lou we'll br0 out.

Ha, ha, Tony set you up Steve! :bowrofl:

Looks like a nice road trip! Congratulations again, and thanks for sharing your journey it made me feel like I was out on the open road :driving:

-Scott

Weird...was it this one by chance? I went to the SSCA Nationals Auto-x event in Lincoln Nebraska last Thursday and actually ended up parking next to him and talking.

Thanks for the Pics....
 

Thanks Steve-O for the trip pictures. I'm sure your gonna love the new pony. I'm keeping my ears open for a matching gray ZR......:icon17:

That scheming devil!!! haha

No problem, man! I'm glad I could do business with you (even if it was small business) when I had my Z.

That's the one!!! :tup:

:tup:

damn, small world

That's exactly what I thought when I saw his car. Couldn't help but laugh. Only a week or two before Mike posted a few pictures of that car with the trailer before and I thought it was so cool... then I get to see in person almost 1000 miles away from home! Haha.

So that's what the new Mustang looks like. Not bad. I like your color choice.

Cool pics and commentary, too!

Where are the pics of the hot chick at the front counter of the hotel in WV?