Interesting night

[Peaven]

There are still some guys who don't own one that know what a Z is after all...example 1 was the guy behind the parts counter at my local Advance, about 30ish. I'm picking up a vacuum fitting for the secondaries that's leaking a bit and he asks "What's it for?" I say, "a '94 ZR-1 Corvette"...so then it goes, "OMG, you just made my day...that's my favorite vette of all time". Then he goes on to say, "the LT5 is the best SB chevy engine ever made" to which I replied it actually isn't a chevy engine to which he replied "I know, it's a Lotus design, Mercury Marine....did you drive it here?" No, I said....he was bummed, but then he went on "man if I could have any vette, that'd be it...I'd rather have a ZR-1 than a c6 Z06". We chatted for another minute or so, much to the chagrin of guys waiting in line, but this guy really had an appreciation for the Beast....needless to say, I made a new buddy and I'm going to take Blue back there in a few days and let him look it over, maybe get him some pass. seat time if he wants...and then the hook will be in.

#2 walked up my driveway after I pulled in the garage from a short cruise after fixing my vac leak, said he practically ran across the block after he heard me coming to catch me. Turns out that he has a '96 LT4 coupe and that he's seen the Z a few times and wanted to catch up w/me. We chatted for a while and I popped the clamshell for him and got the reaction, "wow, that's beautiful" even though the LT5 is in serious need of Jeff's powdercoating...then he goes, "remember that Magnum SRT 8 that was trying to pass you a few weeks ago? That was my son and I." Then he asks what the hp of my LT 5 is....I told him 405, and added that it was likely a little more with the Haibeck chip and straight pipes...he agreed. Anyway, we talked for a while as he's a car guy (also has a '66 Mustang) and he was impressed with the as well...all in all, a fun night as it was good to run into a couple of guys who knew that the legend still lives.