Found these nuggets of aweome in a day of suck.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Some of you in the NICO family know I had to fly home to RI for the wake/funeral of my grandmother

Anyway... it was a ROUGH day. About the only good thing that happened was that we were going through all of our family pictures, and I stumbled across some pictures from my parent's wedding.





My dad's SAWEET 260z at my great grandmother's house in New Hampshire. That car was effin awesome. Anyway... I guess the moral of the story is that you should go through your parent's pictures every now and then.

[Jesda]

Awesome!

I have all our family photos in a closet under my stairs. I wonder if I can find some of our old Datsun pics. The boxes are so damn heavy though, and behind all my tools and such. And I bet there's spiders.

[bundy26]

Nice

[Razi]

That is awesome!
My dad used to own a 280z. I wish he kept it.

[Jesda]

Is that a Pontiac Ventura in the background of the last pic?

[alms24sebring]

How awesome. What are the chances.. Looks like they raised you well

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Is that a Pontiac Ventura in the background of the last pic?

haha man i have no idea.

[Bubba1]

Is that a Pontiac Ventura in the background of the last pic?

The white one facing the camera? I'm fairly sure its an Oldsmobile.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Very cool pics.

Very sad to hear about your grandmother. I had a very similar experience a year ago.

Is that a Pontiac Ventura in the background of the last pic?

The white one facing the camera? I'm fairly sure its an Oldsmobile.

Looks like an early-'70s Cutlass to me. ( )

[Bubba1]

Looks like an early-'70s Cutlass to me. ( )

I agree, probably a Olds cutlass 1973-1975.

[Jesda]

ALL ROOK SAME

[Bubba1]

ALL ROOK SAME

yeah, they do look similar, but the Olds had more of a gap between the grills.

[300ZXttZMAN]

Thats awesome!!

The second picture looks like a picture that you would be used to advertise the beautiful Z....

Gahh I love Z's so much any era, any body, any trim... I love them all I am addicted. They just make me smile everytime I see one.

[Dittoz7]

Damn that's one clean looking car right there. Def on my to buy list.

[Bubba1]

Damn that's one clean looking car right there. Def on my to buy list.

You want to buy an old Pontiac Ventura?

[Dittoz7]

Do I look like Jesda to you!

[AZhitman]

Looks like an early-'70s Cutlass to me. ( )

I agree, probably a Olds cutlass 1973-1975.

No time to look right now, but it's not an A-body. It's a large car, likely a Delta 88. Search some pics, I think you'll see it's a full-size.

[AZhitman]

Oh, and James -

Your Pops was a pimp. What happened?

[Kompresshun]

I agree, probably a Olds cutlass 1973-1975.

No time to look right now, but it's not an A-body. It's a large car, likely a Delta 88. Search some pics, I think you'll see it's a full-size.

AHEM

1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass


The larger cars from that year range had 4 headlights, but the Pontiac Grand Prix and Olds Cutlass had 2 headlights.

You're losing your touch gramps

Oh and James - That was a sexy Z. My 280 looked exactly like that, minus the rear spoiler. I really miss that car

[BigTDogg (MA)]

72 cutlass had 4 lights and 6 sections of tail lights on either side. Unless it was a 442, then it had two parallel lines on either side.. They went all down hill after that, IMHO

Sorry for your loss PapaSmurf, but glad the pics brought you a smile.

[IBCoupe]

Nice find, and sorry about your grandma.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Him: "wow, nice words from those guys"
me: "why don't you post something"
him: "ah, nah..."
me: "want me to type it?"
him:"Thanks everyone, that car was my pride and joy. I spent over 2 grand chasing the rust and putting on ~12 coats of lacquer paint. I used to eat mid-70's corvettes on the highway all the time. I used to out-handle most american cars... mustangs, camaros, Novas... all those american cars, I used to gobble those suckers up all the time. I lost my license twice drag racing and speeding against those car "
me: "is that it?"
him: "HA! I could talk about that car all day long.... That car was my pride and joy. I never should have sold it".

[skydragoness]

Aw, that's super cool James. I liked the photos a lot.
Sorry about your Grandma. My mom lost hers in 94' and there's a cool photo of her sitting on top of my Uncle's brand new Honda Civic Si holding my cousin. One of my favorite photos of the two of them.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Anyway, I wish I could share half the stories I hear about that car... truth be told, I'd be here all night as well. If anyone ever makes it to RI, buy the old man a beer or 2. I'm sure you'll hear all of them.

Your Pops was a pimp. What happened?

Dad: "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!!?!?!?!!?"

[Jesda]

The only reason I noticed the Olds was because a friend of mine had a Ventura in high school. He bought it for $100 from an old woman who put only 30k on it. It was gutless but it rode like a cloud and was oozing with that malaise-era 1970s character. It was much nicer than the Cavaliers and Tempos the rest of us teenagers were driving in the late 90s. I was genuinely sad when it was stolen.


Imagine how many of these classic Zs would be on the road today if not for rust. Their powertrains seem to last forever. Even with the mild winters we get here in Missouri they all disintegrated into red dust. I can't imagine trying to keep one rust-free up in Rhode Island.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

^
Jesda as usual you hit the nail on the head.
I actually omitted a section of the conversation. The old man was saying "every aspect of that car was 'overbuilt', except for the body. It's a shame they were all so prone to rust, as they were such great cars".

...its funny... while the old man and I don't always agree on every aspect of every subject, I WILL say that I agree with HIM more than anyone else on any given subject. I suppose its really no surprise to hear that, but we're both pretty stubborn in out ways (get it from my grandfather), and we butt-heads fairly often. Still, even though I've worked with countless engineers, he's among the most logical, creative minded people I've ever known.

[AZhitman]

Your Pops was a pimp. What happened?

Dad: "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!!?!?!?!!?"

Sorry - Meant to type, "what happened to you?"

[frapjap]

Your dad got married in a polo shirt and jeans?
Thats awesome.

[BusyBadger]

J- sorry to hear about your grandmother.

Anyway, I wish I could share half the stories I hear about that car... truth be told, I'd be here all night as well. If anyone ever makes it to RI, buy the old man a beer or 2. I'm sure you'll hear all of them.

Your Pops was a pimp. What happened?

Dad: "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!!?!?!?!!?"

Funniest thing I've read all week, I wish there was a way to convey tone of voice on here.

[frapjap]

Oh, and James -

Your Pops was a pimp. What happened?

James happened.