A Random Act of Kindness...

[Phoenix599]

Went to a local restaurant down by the water to have lunch yesterday. Sat at the sports bar section to watch a bit of college football. Four guys were sitting at the far end of the bar.

The bartender approaches and says "Hey! Those guys are talking about your car..." as I had driven the NSX there. I was a bit surprised, and even more so when one of the guys turned to me and said "The NSX is my dream car! What year is that, a '92 or a '94?" I explained it was a '91. Another guy says "I'll buy you a drink if you take my friend for a ride!"...joking of course. And...I don't drink. :biggrin: I let the comment go.

I finished my lunch, watched a bit of ball, went to leave, and stopped behind the one guy's bar chair who said the NSX was his dream car. I shook the back of his chair and asked "Hey! Do you have 10 minutes? Let's go for a ride!" You would have thought Santa Claus pulled up at the bar. He puts down his beer, jumps off the chair, and his friend follows him to watch us leave.

I get in the car, tell him to move the seat back, and away we go. He had his phone out taking pictures. I drove a short distance away and did a 3rd gear pull uphill on an empty four lane highway, then returned to the restaurant. We shook hands, and I could tell I'd made a lifetime friend.

I have to tell you...that made my heart feel good.

 

[ENT]

A class act - makes me feel good just reading about it.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Speedmaster]

Agree with ENT, classy thing to do. You just gave those gents something to talk about (and hopefully act upon) for quite some time.

 

[Hass]

That's awesome

 

[DreamPowered]

Single classy acts like this make the NSX community stronger. This is by far the best forum and owners group that I have been a member of. There isnt a day that I'm not on Prime checking in on whats new, and love hearing stories like this.
Back in August, my wife's younger cousin who loves my car wanted to go for a ride and we did leaving a family party to do so. He had the biggest smile on his face when we came back and couldnt stop telling his gf about how much fun it was. I can see him one day buying an NSX.

 

[Albert86]

Bravo - Make a nice gesture - Someday it may come back.

 

[shawn110975]

thats awesome, but... I would have asked for his GF phone number he prob would have given it to you for the ride LOL

 

[mcano]

I recently had a similar experience, but I went one step further and let the guy drive my car. He was totally flabbergasted, but he was very respectful and did not drive the car fast. I told him to go to the freeway and punch it up the on ramp. He still was still hesitant, but he did finally gave the car some gas. He was practically speechless when he got out of the car. He is in college, and therefore cant afford an NSX at this time. But like another poster said, I see this guy buying one in the future.

 

[tof]

I've let my boss--a died in the wool car guy--and a good guy who works for one of our vendors drive. I've given a couple of rides to guys i didn't know who expressed interest. This is a pretty safe area...not much chance of getting car-jacked or anything.

 

[Lostbuckeye]

I've had a similar opportunity at a local weekly car meet. A retired military guy from Kansas and now living in San Antonio, that I'd meet several months before at the meet, came over and introduced me to his son who was visiting from college in Kansas. The son said he'd never seen an NSX in the flesh and that the NSX was his favorite car to drive on Gran Turismo. He was very knowledgable about the car and I thought he was going to pass out from hyper-ventalation. So I gave him a ride. I was impressed as he is the only person I've given a ride that emptied his pockets before getting in the car for fear of damaging the seats. Once we were on the road, I launched my twin turbo'd car on the entrance ramp to I-10 and the kid had a huge smile on his face. He told me that he spent his early childhood in Europe and then Kansas. He and his dad would go to meets in Europe and had seen Ferraris, Jags and Lambos but never an NSX. When we got back to the meet, he said to his dad "after I pay off my student loans I've got to get one of these". When he got out of my car, he found that he had several text messages. Because his dad, who was holding the boy's phone, had taken a picture of us getting ready to leave without us knowing. Then he sent a text to all of his son's friends while we were driving. The kid looked like he was having an out of body experience. Now I can remember when I was a kid and even more recently, when someone would let me sit in their car at a meet or show and how special the feeling is, when you get to be up close and personal with a car that you could only dream about. That's what drives the car hobby. So, I try to pass that on when I get the chance.

 

[CStricker]

Love stories like these.

I haven't had anybody fawn over my car yet, but I did have a neighbor, who has a MR2, stop by and he seemed mildly interested. I didn't have time to go for a drive, but had him sit in the car.

I do remember as a kid, I was in the park with a friend and this guy with a big motorcycle rolled up, and as we were gawking, he had us take turns sitting on the bike and revving the engine.

And in high school, even before having a driver's license, going to the local dealerships and the salesmen were nice enough to take time out of their day to talk to us and open up a Lotus Esprit and various NSXs, including a Zanardi. I still think about how nice that was, as we obviously wouldn't be buying any of those cars that day.

 

[David J]

Nice job/post, Phoenix599!

 

[PhiAlpha44]

Very cool! My wife and I recently pulled into a parking lot when a guy pulled up in a jeep. His wife in the passenger seat and his kids in the rear. He put his window down and complimented the car. Said the same thing about it being his dream car and mentioned his buddy and him had recently been talking during a drive home from work about how they NEVER see them anywhere. I asked him if he wanted to sit in the drivers seat and I'd take his pic and so he could send it to his friend. You'd think he just won the lottery or something. I took a few pics and he was smiling ear to ear. Thanked me numerous times and went on his way with a jeep full of smiling people. It was fun.

 

[Speedmaster]

My hometown (area)! Spent many a night driving 90 from Ocean Springs to Bay St. Louis. Fiats and Triumphs. Blasting along the coast. Good times.

- - - Updated - - -

My hometown (area)! Spent many a night driving 90 from Ocean Springs to Bay St. Louis. Fiats and Triumphs. Blasting along the coast. Good times.

This was meant to go under tof's post (he lives in LB, MS.)

 

[SFNSXguy]

^ Those are nice stories...takes me back to when I was 14 and a friend's parents took delivery of a brand new 300SL GullWing...
I was too embarrassed to ask, but the guy's dad could see the gleam in my eye just sitting in the passenger seat -- he fired it up and took me for a 15 minute ride that I will NEVER forget.

 

[PghMiller]

I was the recipient of a courtesy drive.... so I know how it feels... and it's a life-changer! Frankly, I bought my NSX within 2 weeks of that ride-a-long... and THAT was the reason! I've always wanted to buy the car, and every spring I would get VERY close, but never pulled the trigger. So at the first CnC meet of the year, a kind owner (member on Prime) let me hop in and ride around the block. That was all I needed... my first experience in the cabin of the car... hearing the engine right behind my head at WOT, feeling the shifts at high rpms... I remember how amazed I was that I couldn't see the nose of the car while sitting there! Felt like the only thing between my seat and the car in front of us was a pane of glass. It was THIS ride-a-long that tipped me over the edge and I aggressively sought out my NSX within 2 weeks.
It's a life-changing experience.

 

[Brooklynzson]

Good story. I did that once when I met up w/ a kid from craigslist to buy a phone a couple years back. I told him on the phone what I was driving & he spazzed out lol. When I got there we spoke about the car for 20-30 mins & I took him for a quick 5 min drive, should have seen the grin on that kids face.

 

[Petrol]

Great story and cool thing to do! I had the chance to do the same on a cross-country trip, west bound in rural Louisiana, with my Viper and made some teenager's day. It's great to share the passion. Good for you!

 

[N-Wing]

I always let people drive my car. 99% of the time I don't regret it but I have had a few less than stellar clutch users. It's worth the risk so far...

 

[LMR]

I haven't given a stranger a ride in my car but when someone wants to take a picture of it I say how about I take a picture of you in my car. That always goes over real well with them and makes me feel good.:smile:

 

[Shrink]

Last night a guy in an Army uniform came up to my car in a parking lot with his son and wife. He asked if he could take pictures of the car. I got out and let him look at the car and decided after reading this thread to offer him to drive the car. We went for a brief ride in the parking lot and he was grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't stop raving about the car and how great it drove. He was so grateful and appreciative. I will definitely do this again. Felt great to treat another NSX fan, especially a soldier.

 

[303WIN]

I was the recipient of a courtesy drive.... so I know how it feels... and it's a life-changer! Frankly, I bought my NSX within 2 weeks of that ride-a-long... and THAT was the reason! I've always wanted to buy the car, and every spring I would get VERY close, but never pulled the trigger. So at the first CnC meet of the year, a kind owner (member on Prime) let me hop in and ride around the block. That was all I needed... my first experience in the cabin of the car... hearing the engine right behind my head at WOT, feeling the shifts at high rpms... I remember how amazed I was that I couldn't see the nose of the car while sitting there! Felt like the only thing between my seat and the car in front of us was a pane of glass. It was THIS ride-a-long that tipped me over the edge and I aggressively sought out my NSX within 2 weeks.
It's a life-changing experience.

I felt the same way, someone gave me a ride a long also but it took me 20 years to finally owned one. lol