Reddog Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Father and Son photo's that tell a bit of a story...the connection being that by coincidence we were both 21 years old when these two respective photo's were taken some 38 years apart. I was pretty chuffed when last year my sister found a long lost (and forgotten!) photo of me and my first Zed taken in late 1981 ('77 2+2 manual). Great days back then - lot's of hair, girls and flared jeans - sadly the hair has gone these days! 1979: My first year out of school, I ventured up to the northwest of WA for a 'Gap Year' working for a mining company...anyways one afternoon shift one of my co-workers rocked up in a lovely Bronze '76 260Z 2 seater...got to go for a few fast rides in this car and needlesss to say as an 18 year old I was very impressed and dreamed of maybe owning one someday... 1980: Commenced an apprenticeship out at Perth Airport. One day not long after I started, one of the Pilots asked if he could park his car in the hangar as he would be away for a few days on a charter flight and did not want to leave his car outside in unsecured parking... so what does this pilot rock up with...none other than an immaculate white 240Z. I at least got the "privilege" of starting it up and shifting it around the hangar to make way for aircraft coming in and out for maintenance . I certainly had the Zed bug by now. 1981: I was determined to buy one and this lovely '77 2+2 manual example came up for sale. From memory I think it had sold new mid 1978 and hence still virtually felt, smelt and drove like a brand new Zed. Being an apprentice I got a "lot of stick" for rolling up in a "red sports car"...however the Zed was being secretly admired unbeknown to me! By the end of that year the Chief Engineer had also bought a White '76 2+2 manual and soon after this one of the other Engineers on my shift bought a 'Bronze '76 260Z manual. On a couple of rare occasions at work we we did manage to have all 3 or 4 Zeds angle parked next to other...good fun for a bit of a stir/laugh back then. Usual familiar story...study, careers, travel, family and time marches on as do changing priorities. The Zed was sold on after a few years...however I never lost my passion for them and always wanted to get back into Zeds again but realistically did not think it would happen...I think a familiar story for a few of us on this forum? 2019: Anways fast forward to the second photo taken back around June 2019 and my son Jeremy had just mastered the art of driving a manual and this was his first solo drive of my second 260 ('77 manual) I had purchased for my 50th (with encouragement from my lovely wife)...anyhows he shares the Zed passion and we now share a lot of driving and great Father and Son bonding as a result! Hopefully he will be the next custodian of this great little car...coincidentally he's also training (Apprenticeship) as an Aircraft Maintenace Engineer. Regards, Rod. gav240z and OdinZ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linton Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Great story, thanks for sharing don,'t smash it up Jeremy Dad wont be happy...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatoKid Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Yep, good story. Who are you a LAME for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators gav240z Posted October 7, 2019 Administrators Share Posted October 7, 2019 Great story, love both Z's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OdinZ Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Great story! 19 hours ago, Reddog said: I was pretty chuffed when last year my sister found a long lost (and forgotten!) photo of me and my first Zed taken in late 1981 ('77 2+2 manual). Great days back then - lot's of hair, girls and flared jeans - sadly the hair has gone these days! Still got the flared jeans I take it!? haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponyo240z Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmd Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 20 hours ago, Reddog said: Great days back then - lot's of hair, girls and flared jeans - sadly the hair has gone these days! hopefully you still have the girls and flares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajon1972 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 That 260z looks an awful lot like one a friend of mine sold in the nineties with very low mileage, still had the original gold on the alloys white interior, very nice car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddog Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 Small Update to this story... Scrounging around further still in an old '80's scrap photo album, I got a big suprise when I found the original ad for my first Zed (the 2+2) that I had cut out and kept, around the time of purchase if i remember... Interestigly I saw 'my' old car several years later parked up on a verge maybe 5kms or less from my old home (the 1st photo) and it looked very sad and in pretty poor/abused condition (putting it mildly!)...When I went to apply for Private Western Australian Number Plates for the second Zed, I thought I'd try for my old 'XPZ 484' number plates if by chance, they had become available - they had not. Don't know if this car survived or not? Dave - in answer to your question: I was with Skywest Airlines (originally Skywest Jet Charter). Back then mainly Turboprops and Business Jets. Long time out of the industry now but still passionate about aviation stuff modern and old. Love the 'Warbird Shows' you guys over in the Eastern States get. Flares - long time gone and being honest, even if I still had them mothballed away and tried to fit into them...ummm I'd have one very squeaky voice!!! I was fortunate the current car had two careful Lady owners (documented) from new for the first 30 odd years. Regards, Rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddog Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 Sorry about the size of the ad!!! Thought i'd downsized it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatoKid Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 (edited) 23 hours ago, Reddog said: Dave - in answer to your question: I was with Skywest Airlines (originally Skywest Jet Charter). Back then mainly Turboprops and Business Jets. Long time out of the industry now but still passionate about aviation stuff modern and old. Love the 'Warbird Shows' you guys over in the Eastern States get. Cool. I used to go to the west pretty regularly, did a fair bit of business with Skywest, Skippers, Network etc. when Lindsay owned it. Edited October 20, 2019 by KatoKid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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