Okay, first off, I know its been about 3 weeks since I really got my vehicle, so let me apologize now for taking so long to throw up this post. :tongue:
((update, Im sorry for some of the large photos, Photobucket is acting stupid and posting them large even after a resize. Ill edit tomorrow as it took me 3 hours to post this because not only was Photobucket acting stupid, but so was my browser))
As many of you know, I finally purchased my first NSX a few weeks ago from RedYangNSX in Minneapolis, MN. Special thanks to both he (Steve) and Elite (Mo) for helping make the dream happen. :smile:
When I was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school, I saw my first NSX in Dallas, TX. The license plate on the black NSX read "INUKEM" and I was immediately hooked. The NSX actually belonged to the guy from ID Software that created the original Duke Nukem games.
In the spring of 1998 while I driving home from work in my brand new '98 black/black Integra GSR, I managed to get an NSX owner to pull over at a Waffle House. Minutes later, he dropped his keys in my hand and I within seconds I was on my first ever drive of an NSX. It was a red '92 w/red BBS wheels and an exhaust. The owners name was Vernon Kim, and I will never forget that day. :tongue: Three years later after moving across the country, another owner tossed me his keys to his black/black '92 NSX. The second time I saw him, he tossed me the keys again and did not go with me. Talk about trust. Special thanks to Victor from Traverse City, MI.
During the 20 year love obsession with the NSX, I never gave up hope. Though I admit, there were some years where I was more into the thought than other years. I think through that time, I had over 10 dreams of actually driving or owning one and each time, there was always something wrong with the car. Several times it would not accelerate past 20 mph. Another time, the car was on all four spare NSX wheels and the NSX itself had different color body panels. The most interesting one was a black four door NSX.
I had always wondered what would finally happen once I finally obtained my dream car. I asked myself if I would be so excited I would lose focus and wreck it because I did not look both ways before pulling out of a driveway. I wondered if I would pull over somewhere and start crying like MJ did when he finally won his first NBA title. Initially I wanted a silver NSX like Mr.Wolf from Pulp Fiction. But once the '97's came out, I knew I had to have a black/tan '97 6spd. I obsessed over this exact color combo for a number of years. When the '02 facelift model came out I did not like the bubble headlights or the wheels. After seeing a few other additions over the years, like the NSX-R spoiler and different front fascia and front lips, I was sold. I then decided it did not matter if I had a flip up or bubble light NSX as long as it was at least a '97 and preferably black, with Kaiser Silver and Silverstone coming in a VERY close second. :wink:
Three weeks ago, after waiting for so long, and after the seller held the vehicle for me for over a month (I offered $2k extra for the hold) I finally picked up my '97 black/tan NSX but with an '02 facelift. Best of both worlds for me personally. :biggrin:
I had just come off a red eye flight and less than 2 hours of sleep when my plane landed in Minneapolis at 7:30am. My cousin that I had not seen in almost 20 years picked me up from the airport and let me shower and freshen up at her condo before taking me to pick up the car at 10am.
For some reason, even after the previous owner handed me the keys and said "Shes all yours...enjoy" it still did not sink in. Maybe it was because I only had an hour or so worth of sleep from my Portland flight and that I was on a schedule. I did not even have time to have a cup of coffee with my cousin :frown:
We drove back to my cousins condo and I loaded up the NSX.
I needed to be in Milwaukee, WI by 6:30pm as my wife was coming over on a Ferry from Michigan. We planned to make a mini vacation out of finally obtaining my dream possession. I was already a good 6.5 hour drive away, and that does not include traffic leaving the St.Paul/Minneapolis or going through Madison, WI.
During my drive, I passed several school buses loaded with kids that gave me thumbs up, I returned the favor and honked. Immediately remembering what it was like to see an NSX at a young age, and never forgetting where I came from either.
Between Madison and Milwaukee I started to daydream while driving. I could see the road, but I also started thinking about work and responding to people that weren't even there. With some time to spare, or so I thought, I pulled over at a McDonalds just outside of Milwaukee. I ordered a McCafe with an extra shot of espresso.
I took this time out to throw on the titanium shift knob I had purchased myself as a gift to myself from ModAddiction. I would later disassemble the center radio trim to mount the knob properly.
Minutes later I was back on the road and headed to Milwaukee. I started to get a little concerned that I would not make it by 6:30pm because I hit bumper to bumper traffic but I finally arrived at the ferry pier with a few minutes to spare.
I had a few minutes to just look back at my new car before my wife's ferry came in. And damn it's low and sweet. :tongue:
And there she comes, shes the one doing the little "O" with her arms..
she was very impressed with the car and said it looked much better in person. Come on now, would I dream 20 years for a car that was just "alright"?!
By this time I was just happy that I made it to Milwaukee in time and needed to rest, so I let my wife drive the car from Milwaukee to just outside of Green Bay. Yes, I let my wife drive the car just after I got it. :redface:
We hit Tony Roma's for dinner and retired early at the Radisson Conference Center / Oneida Casino in Green Bay. The next morning a boy around age 11 took a dozen photos of my car and then asked me if I played from the Packers. :biggrin:
We left Green Bay around 11am because once again, we were on a schedule. We needed to be in Traverse City, MI by 6:00pm for a wine and tapas reservation.
Moments later my wife decided to look at the reservation again only to find out that the actual event started at noon Needless to say, we were not in a rush anymore. We called and were rescheduled for the following day at noon. But I still wanted to make decent time because we did have friends in Traverse that were also up for the weekend.
I decided to pull over at several spots.. we tried to take the scenic route.
But that did not work out too well for us. So we were back on the real road and after we filled up the tank, it was time to remove the top.
The drive up through the Upper Pen of Michigan was a beautiful drive most of the time. Lake Michigan was to our right and the trees to our left.
Before we hit Mackinac Bridge, we pulled over to take some additional photos. I think my wife looks better in the NSX than I do though
Before we knew it, we were at the Mackinac Bridge for the first time for both of us. That is kind of sad since its only 4 hours north of our home. Anyway, the Mackinac Bridge is the 3rd largest suspension bridge IN THE WORLD.
Once we crossed the scary bridge we were just a couple of hours away from Traverse City. We eventually checked into the Courtyard Marriott and had dinner with some friends.
The next day, Sunday, was the last day of the road trip and would finally find us home. But first, we had a wine tour to do. Traverse City is one of the top vineyard areas in the country and is gaining ground on some of the California vineyards. The drive cant be described and photos do the trip no justice.
We visited the Chateau Chantal vineyard. It was up on a nice hill with a great view. After the tour we snapped some photos before heading out and eventually heading home.
Just a few hours later and we finally made it home. The total trip was just under 900 miles. I never did get nervous, never broke down and cried. Everyone close to me just couldn't understand how I wasn't jumping up and down in jubilation. But I guess I can explain it the best way I can.
After 20 years, at least a dozen dreams, and many nights laying down thinking about an NSX and grinning even when the actual purchase was out of scope. I came to the same thought that LeBron James had this past June when he finally won an NBA championship and I quote, "Its about damn time" :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: What I think it really came down to was the realization of a lifelong dream actually reached. The sense of accomplishment far outweighed the jubilation as if I had unexpectedly won the lotto. This NSX wasnt unexpected at all for me, how could it have been?
I fully enjoy every second I'm in the car, and I find myself at night itching just to drive around the block. I hadnt wanted to drive this much since my Integra GSR days in Dallas, all those years ago. So did I ever crack a smile with the NSX? Of couse I did. It came as I turned down my street on the way back from Traverse City. I felt it coming, I felt that grin, that same grin that kept me up some nights. It wasnt the grin of "wouldnt that be great?" but instead, the grin of "wow, this feels great, its really mine."
Thank you everyone for all the support through the years and yes, it feels good to finally be an NSXprime Member that actually owns an NSX.
((update, Im sorry for some of the large photos, Photobucket is acting stupid and posting them large even after a resize. Ill edit tomorrow as it took me 3 hours to post this because not only was Photobucket acting stupid, but so was my browser))
As many of you know, I finally purchased my first NSX a few weeks ago from RedYangNSX in Minneapolis, MN. Special thanks to both he (Steve) and Elite (Mo) for helping make the dream happen. :smile:
When I was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school, I saw my first NSX in Dallas, TX. The license plate on the black NSX read "INUKEM" and I was immediately hooked. The NSX actually belonged to the guy from ID Software that created the original Duke Nukem games.
In the spring of 1998 while I driving home from work in my brand new '98 black/black Integra GSR, I managed to get an NSX owner to pull over at a Waffle House. Minutes later, he dropped his keys in my hand and I within seconds I was on my first ever drive of an NSX. It was a red '92 w/red BBS wheels and an exhaust. The owners name was Vernon Kim, and I will never forget that day. :tongue: Three years later after moving across the country, another owner tossed me his keys to his black/black '92 NSX. The second time I saw him, he tossed me the keys again and did not go with me. Talk about trust. Special thanks to Victor from Traverse City, MI.
During the 20 year love obsession with the NSX, I never gave up hope. Though I admit, there were some years where I was more into the thought than other years. I think through that time, I had over 10 dreams of actually driving or owning one and each time, there was always something wrong with the car. Several times it would not accelerate past 20 mph. Another time, the car was on all four spare NSX wheels and the NSX itself had different color body panels. The most interesting one was a black four door NSX.
I had always wondered what would finally happen once I finally obtained my dream car. I asked myself if I would be so excited I would lose focus and wreck it because I did not look both ways before pulling out of a driveway. I wondered if I would pull over somewhere and start crying like MJ did when he finally won his first NBA title. Initially I wanted a silver NSX like Mr.Wolf from Pulp Fiction. But once the '97's came out, I knew I had to have a black/tan '97 6spd. I obsessed over this exact color combo for a number of years. When the '02 facelift model came out I did not like the bubble headlights or the wheels. After seeing a few other additions over the years, like the NSX-R spoiler and different front fascia and front lips, I was sold. I then decided it did not matter if I had a flip up or bubble light NSX as long as it was at least a '97 and preferably black, with Kaiser Silver and Silverstone coming in a VERY close second. :wink:
Three weeks ago, after waiting for so long, and after the seller held the vehicle for me for over a month (I offered $2k extra for the hold) I finally picked up my '97 black/tan NSX but with an '02 facelift. Best of both worlds for me personally. :biggrin:
I had just come off a red eye flight and less than 2 hours of sleep when my plane landed in Minneapolis at 7:30am. My cousin that I had not seen in almost 20 years picked me up from the airport and let me shower and freshen up at her condo before taking me to pick up the car at 10am.
For some reason, even after the previous owner handed me the keys and said "Shes all yours...enjoy" it still did not sink in. Maybe it was because I only had an hour or so worth of sleep from my Portland flight and that I was on a schedule. I did not even have time to have a cup of coffee with my cousin :frown:
We drove back to my cousins condo and I loaded up the NSX.
I needed to be in Milwaukee, WI by 6:30pm as my wife was coming over on a Ferry from Michigan. We planned to make a mini vacation out of finally obtaining my dream possession. I was already a good 6.5 hour drive away, and that does not include traffic leaving the St.Paul/Minneapolis or going through Madison, WI.
During my drive, I passed several school buses loaded with kids that gave me thumbs up, I returned the favor and honked. Immediately remembering what it was like to see an NSX at a young age, and never forgetting where I came from either.
Between Madison and Milwaukee I started to daydream while driving. I could see the road, but I also started thinking about work and responding to people that weren't even there.
With some time to spare, or so I thought, I pulled over at a McDonalds just outside of Milwaukee. I ordered a McCafe with an extra shot of espresso. I took this time out to throw on the titanium shift knob I had purchased myself as a gift to myself from ModAddiction. I would later disassemble the center radio trim to mount the knob properly.
Minutes later I was back on the road and headed to Milwaukee. I started to get a little concerned that I would not make it by 6:30pm because I hit bumper to bumper traffic but I finally arrived at the ferry pier with a few minutes to spare.
I had a few minutes to just look back at my new car before my wife's ferry came in. And damn it's low and sweet. :tongue:
And there she comes, shes the one doing the little "O" with her arms..
By this time I was just happy that I made it to Milwaukee in time and needed to rest, so I let my wife drive the car from Milwaukee to just outside of Green Bay. Yes, I let my wife drive the car just after I got it. :redface:
We hit Tony Roma's for dinner and retired early at the Radisson Conference Center / Oneida Casino in Green Bay. The next morning a boy around age 11 took a dozen photos of my car and then asked me if I played from the Packers. :biggrin:
We left Green Bay around 11am because once again, we were on a schedule. We needed to be in Traverse City, MI by 6:00pm for a wine and tapas reservation.
Moments later my wife decided to look at the reservation again only to find out that the actual event started at noon
Needless to say, we were not in a rush anymore. We called and were rescheduled for the following day at noon. But I still wanted to make decent time because we did have friends in Traverse that were also up for the weekend. I decided to pull over at several spots.. we tried to take the scenic route.
But that did not work out too well for us. So we were back on the real road and after we filled up the tank, it was time to remove the top.
The drive up through the Upper Pen of Michigan was a beautiful drive most of the time. Lake Michigan was to our right and the trees to our left.
Before we hit Mackinac Bridge, we pulled over to take some additional photos. I think my wife looks better in the NSX than I do though
Before we knew it, we were at the Mackinac Bridge for the first time for both of us. That is kind of sad since its only 4 hours north of our home. Anyway, the Mackinac Bridge is the 3rd largest suspension bridge IN THE WORLD.
Once we crossed the scary bridge we were just a couple of hours away from Traverse City. We eventually checked into the Courtyard Marriott and had dinner with some friends.
The next day, Sunday, was the last day of the road trip and would finally find us home. But first, we had a wine tour to do. Traverse City is one of the top vineyard areas in the country and is gaining ground on some of the California vineyards. The drive cant be described and photos do the trip no justice.
We visited the Chateau Chantal vineyard. It was up on a nice hill with a great view. After the tour we snapped some photos before heading out and eventually heading home.
Just a few hours later and we finally made it home. The total trip was just under 900 miles. I never did get nervous, never broke down and cried. Everyone close to me just couldn't understand how I wasn't jumping up and down in jubilation. But I guess I can explain it the best way I can.
After 20 years, at least a dozen dreams, and many nights laying down thinking about an NSX and grinning even when the actual purchase was out of scope. I came to the same thought that LeBron James had this past June when he finally won an NBA championship and I quote, "Its about damn time" :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: What I think it really came down to was the realization of a lifelong dream actually reached. The sense of accomplishment far outweighed the jubilation as if I had unexpectedly won the lotto. This NSX wasnt unexpected at all for me, how could it have been?
I fully enjoy every second I'm in the car, and I find myself at night itching just to drive around the block. I hadnt wanted to drive this much since my Integra GSR days in Dallas, all those years ago. So did I ever crack a smile with the NSX? Of couse I did. It came as I turned down my street on the way back from Traverse City. I felt it coming, I felt that grin, that same grin that kept me up some nights. It wasnt the grin of "wouldnt that be great?" but instead, the grin of "wow, this feels great, its really mine."
Thank you everyone for all the support through the years and yes, it feels good to finally be an NSXprime Member that actually owns an NSX.
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