Originally Posted by BrianMSmith (Post 1163822)

Propulsion engineer, airbreathing - not rockets, aviation/aerospace industry, everything from cruise missles to supersonic fighters (F22 was my job for 10 years), to submarine hunters, UAV spy plane drones, and commercial transport. I work in the "research and technology" branch of the business, which gives me access to military and commercial projects. It's been very hard work and stressful for 20 years to succeed in such a highly competetive industry - for example all my coworkers have PhD's, we don't even interview people anymore unless they have been an intern and have a PhD, but it's paying off big time now that I am 40 something and I'm in a position of leadership, which is a lot easier than actually doing all the work!

Originally Posted by MacCool (Post 1162435)

Between 1969 and 1984 I had a 240Z, a 260Z, two 280Z's, a 280ZX and a 280ZX Turbo.

I loved the 240. Fast and quick, nice tight steering. Still remember my first drive in it (my previous car had been a RoadRunner with 6-pack and RamAir ... 6 mpg, but gas was $.36 per gallon) and thinking wow!...a go-kart. The 260 was a disappointment. The 280s were much better, but the car was getting bigger and heavier. The 280ZX, bigger and heavier yet. Didn't care that much for the ZX either. The Z was going from an actual sports car to a bloated GT luxo-cruiser. The 280ZX Turbo was cool, though...big, heavy, but when that turbo wound up and started whining and it pushed you back in the seat...THAT was cool. Of course, lots of turbo lag back then, so throttle response was slower. And it had to be an automatic (Borg Warner IIRC) because the Datsun clutch system apparently couldn't hold up to the turbo.

Then, marriage, house, kids, kid's college, another house, more college, wife's horses...so I skipped the next Z iterations, but didn't really care for what the car had become going into the 90's anyway. I was intrigued by the return of the Z, but still didn't quite have the resources. But when we finally got around to the 370Z...THAT was a return to the 240Z concept...an actual sports car again. I couldn't pass it up. Glad I didn't. IMHO, the 370Z is back to what the Z should have always been.

Originally Posted by FricFrac (Post 1164340)

Ironically the 280ZX is 400 lbs lighter than the 370Z and smaller :) It was also fastest non-exotic sports car at the time.

Originally Posted by MacCool (Post 1164389)

But 500 lb heavier than the 240Z, and the steering was far more ponderous (as I remember, from 40 year ago). The 370Z reminds me of the 240Z, not the 280Z.

Originally Posted by birdmanx1 (Post 1162375)

Good stuff TruKoi, I hope you told MS that they need to stop having interns write the documentation for their products :tup:

Originally Posted by CHC (Post 1164952)

I'm a general dentist who bought a 40th Anniversary Z for sentimental reasons. I go way back to the late 70's where I remember riding my bike several times with friends to Datsun dealerships drooling over 5-speed 280Zs on the lot. So 1983 I got 280ZX and in '92 got a 300ZX. All were coupes without the T-roof. Then at the '09 LA Auto Show I saw the 370Z on display and feel in love with the Z all over again as it reminded me of the original 240-280Zs. I do think the '90-'96 Zs were the best looking of all the generations, then perhaps the first generation, then this latest generation. Now I daily drive it to the office. Nissan did a superb job with the 370Z styling wise. I just wish they gave more attention to the clutch which has to be one of the worse feeling clutches of all the manual tranny cars I've owned, and I've owned many!