Around-The-US Road Trip

[bikermike]

Very cool. Can't wait to read the blog post.

Maybe your visit will be the inspiration needed for Nissan to develop a "retro Roadster" now that the IDx (retro 510) is in the plan.

[tjp]

more and more coolness from the epic trip. basically speechless here.

how did the Nissan invite come to be?

[fish]

From what they tell me, somebody in their marketing and communications department saw the blog, then somebody else there saw the Petrolicious thing a day later, then yet another guy noticed that my location at the time was Huntsville, so Steve Yaeger, their Technology and Motorsports Communication Manager sent me an email saying that everybody there really liked the blog and wanted to know if I wanted to swing by for a factory tour since I was in the general area. One thing led to another, and next thing I know I'm sitting in a GTP car.

[carlkaty]

Scott, We the roadster group coast to coast, or at least my family here are glad that you didn't go with " a Subaru Outback or something along those lines." I look forward to reading each installment. In addition it's now obvious that the Datsun company has taken notice and that interest will grow. Thanks for choosing a Datsun roadster. I see big things coming in Shasta.

[tjp]

From what they tell me, somebody in their marketing and communications department saw the blog, then somebody else there saw the Petrolicious thing a day later, then yet another guy noticed that my location at the time was Huntsville, so Steve Yaeger, their Technology and Motorsports Communication Manager sent me an email saying that everybody there really liked the blog and wanted to know if I wanted to swing by for a factory tour since I was in the general area. One thing led to another, and next thing I know I'm sitting in a GTP car.

OUTSTANDING!!!!

[Gregs672000]

This is just way too cool!!!

I just got caught up on the latest installments... You truly are having a road trip of a life time. Amazing that the Roadster handled the cold weather so well.

[fish]

Also, if anybody is curious as to what Nissan HQ looks like:

[Gregs672000]

Man, your pictures are just the best. You seem to have a natural eye for it, much like my wife. I'm just speechless. Whether its historical, nature, or whatever, they are all so great and expressive. This is easily book worthy, and something you and your family for generations to come will cherish, as will all in the Roadster community.

[FairladySPL]

You'd think after a half a year and 30,000 miles the surprise factor would start fading out. Nuh-Uh. This is great stuff.

Moments like this happen only once.
I am real happy to see they keep happening with you.

[RCMike]

So cool Scott!

[Linda]

To me that last photo is funny. It's corporate guys going "What is it?" "Oh it's a sports car"

Linda

[Bob2]

Bartlesville???????

You were very close to me and a few other 311 roadster nuts!!! PM me some contact info if your coming back this way.

Bob

[fish]

To me that last photo is funny. It's corporate guys going "What is it?" "Oh it's a sports car"

Surprisingly, I have to say that while I was indeed at Nissan corporate HQ, these weren't really 'corporate' guys. A very large portion of the design guys had some sort of project car at home...240s, 510s, Alfas, Triumphs, you name it. One of them gleefully showed me pictures of his '70 SRL and told me about all the things he was planning to do to it in the spring. I had a really lengthy and detailed conversation with one of them about the finer points of tuning SU carbs. These were not just cubicle-dwellers.

It wasn't that long ago that Nissan was in the midst of some really dark days, like "we're about to go out of business" levels of dark. Ghosn came in and was able to turn that around, but turning it around meant making cars that regular people (and fleet buyers) wanted, and that in turn meant that they had to make a buttload of Altimas with CVTs in them. They indeed seem to have been able to turn things around, and the advent of the GT-R, the nifty iDX at Detroit, and a more intense focus on motorsports are signs that they've got some cash to play with now and can build 'halo' cars and do other stuff that appeals to enthusiasts rather than just churn out grocery-getters to keep the bottom line in the black.

It was good to see that 'car guys' still work at Nissan in pretty serious numbers. Hopefully, as the corporate health improves, they'll be able to start building some more enthusiast-focused cars for people like us, even though those will sell in substantially lower numbers than the Altimas or Rogues. There's just not that many people left out there that want a car for the driving experience more than the fashion statement or the appliance-like levels of abstraction and reliability. But hopefully you guys can take some solace in the fact that there are indeed real car guys working at Nissan, and hope for the day that they get a little more leeway to build some cars that we'd all like to drive.

[Alvin]

Also, if anybody is curious as to what Nissan HQ looks like:

incredible. epic.

[sleepyzzz]

This young man is an engineer at the Nissan Canton, MS plant. I don't know for sure, but i bet he emailed friends at Nashville headquarters.


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