It all started with a phone call in the middle of August. I was driving a 2002 Maxima cross-country from Los Angeles to Miami and was somewhere in east Texas on I-10 when my cell phone rang. "Hey, what are your plans after Miami, are you busy?" came the voice on the other end of the phone. "No, not right now, I'm off until mid-October" I replied gamely. "How would you like to do the 350Z training for us?" replied my contact. "Are you kidding me? That would be great!" I exclaimed.
I had been working many years in the ride & drive business as a pro driver, product specialist, and facilitator, but this facilitation gig would be a bit different. It was In-Dealership training and I would be a one-man show bringing the Z, participant workbooks, computer/projector, and my luggage to two dealerships a day for two months in the mid-Atlantic region. It all sounded cool to me and I thought that this is a pretty good gig - good work if you could get it. But I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That powerful Z logo and brand identity was way stronger than I had ever imagined. What would ensue over the next two months can only be described as almost a cult following of sorts with this car.
The mid-Atlantic region had been in a drought for the entire summer - that is of course until I arrived. It was dry when I landed that night in Dulles, Virginia, but the next afternoon would be my first training session at a dealership about two hours away from Nissan regional headquarters. The hotel shuttle took me to HQ where I unloaded the cases of workbooks and other training materials that had been waiting for me at the hotel. I was getting nervous whether all of that and my luggage for two months would fit, but fortunately it did. The sales operations manager accompanied me to the first dealership to get an idea of the training. I figured since I would be driving the car for the next two months (and I had no clue as to where the dealership was) I'd let him drive. I should have realized it then when even in a driving rainstorm people were giving us the thumbs up and staring at the car as we drove down the highway. There was one instance where a guy in a Lexus was closing on us at about 20 mph faster than our rate when he braked and hung at our rear quarter panel for about 30 seconds before he sped off. That would be my first indication at how hugely popular this car is. A couple of minutes later, two Gen-Xers in a beat-up little Pontiac pulled up next to us grinning and gave us the thumbs up. Guys in Maximas were prone to the same behavior. One lady darn near ran off the road as she kept looking - first out her side window, then out her driver's side mirror as she continued to weave down the interstate.
"This is insane," I thought. It continued this way throughout the tour. One dealership I pulled up to - just a wee bit early on a weekday morning, caught me a bit off guard. Have you ever seen the cardboard cutouts of the Maytag repairman? Well as I pulled up to the showroom, there looked to be like 3 or 4 of these cardboard cutouts. As it turned out it was the sales consultants frozen at the window staring at my gleaming chrome silver Z. It wasn't until I walked up closer to the showroom door did they actually move from there perch to let me in. Of course after that I was treated like royalty. Almost every dealership I visited cleared their showroom floor for me (of course not for me, but the Z). I was merely the decoration (however not as good looking as some of the female consultants) along for the ride - oh yes, and the training.
It was fun, I was getting paid to drive a new Z and hang out with car people all day. Two dealerships a day (for a total of 58) and 30 some odd hotels over the course of two months. Of course at the end of the day I would have to find my way to my hotel and for a place to eat. One time just outside of D.C. at a hotel near FedEx field, I left the hotel for dinner. It was dark when I finally left (after doing a walkaround for the hotel staff) and as I made my way through the parking lot to get to the restaurant, I noticed a pair of headlights that had been behind me for a while. As I entered the restaurant parking lot, the headlights followed. I saw a prime parking spot right in front, but I thought, "I'll just let that person take it". They didn't. I drove a bit further and passed a couple more spots. The car kept following me. Finally, I pulled in front of a fast food joint and took the last parking spot before two handicapped spots. The car pulled into the two handicapped spots diagonally and when I looked out, there was a tall man dressed in black and he yelled to me, "Hey, I'm sure it happens to you all the time, but I gotta ask you about your car!" Somewhat relieved at this point, I said "Sure." Well, about 20 or 30 minutes later I got to go inside and get something to eat. Inside the restaurant more people asked me about the car. This was typical and then it dawned on me that this is certainly not the car to have if you're in the witness protection program.
One night in another city, I had just parked the Z, set the alarm, and was walking away when two girls in a Durango pulled right behind me and said, "Oh wait, wait, can I ask you about your car, can I see your car?" Of course I waited and while the one girl was working the steering wheel and gauges up and down, another guy and his wife pulled up next to us in his jeep. A couple of minutes later four guys in a Mustang pulled up. Before you knew it, I was doing a walkaround with 8 people! That's more than at some of the dealers I trained at! Finally, I decided that if the restaurant was within walking distance of my hotel I'd better walk - otherwise I'd never eat!
Checking into and out of the hotel became another experience. One night after I received my room key and went back out to get my luggage, I was again besieged by people asking about the Z. To make a long story short, besides the guy at the front desk of the hotel coming out to see the 350, it took me 45 minutes to get to my room!
Any time I would stop to eat lunch, people would look and point at the Z in the parking lot and you could hear them talking about it to their friends when they came inside the restaurant. "Hey look, there's the new Z." "Oh wow, that's cool." There was one fast food worker that waited until I finished my meal just so he could go out and look at it. This young kid was very knowledgeable about the Z and knew more about it than many of the sales consultants. He was standing there rattling off data about what he had read about it and at the same time his eyes glazed over in awe of this machine. His jaw dropping sealed the case of his passion and longing to get one of these. Of course at minimum wage, he was going to have to work a while to fulfill his dream. But with the look he had in his eyes, I have no doubt that he will one day sit behind the wheel of his very own Z.
Old people, young people, male and female alike were always curious about this car. There was another time when I was checking into a hotel when a guest was dropped off by a taxi. The taxi driver wouldn't leave. He asked me to show him the car. First under the hood, then the interior, the trunk, the suspension. He went on and on with not only his questions about the new Z, but also what a bad MF this car was. He was thinking of how good this would be as a chick magnet. His thoughts and sentiments on the Z were echoed by many a sales consultant throughout the tour. Of course, having a California manufacturer license plate on this car made it seem even more Hollywood than it really was. The number one question I got every day, multiple times a day was "Did you drive this all the way from California?" "No, I picked it up at Nissan headquarters in Virginia, I just brought the plate with me" was my usual reply. I guess I wasn't a good enough liar to fabricate some wild and wacky story to further fuel their fantasies. I figured the car had enough merit to stand on its own.
At the end of my training sessions, I would hand out a survey of how they enjoyed my session and if they learned from it. Of course I was bribed every day with "I'll give you all 'excellent' if you'll let me drive it". Sadly for them, there just wasn't enough time, fortunately for me; they gave my training excellent reviews anyway.
Yeah, it was a fun time with the Z, but as with all good things it must come to an end. I left Burlington, NC on Friday morning heading back up to Herndon, VA. As it was when I picked up the Z, it was raining. But this time I would have to drive the Z through what was once Hurricane Kyle. The town I was in had 5.6 inches of rain dumped on it within the previous 24-hour period and it wasn't letting up. I put the wipers and the Xenon headlights on and hunkered down for a full day's drive in the storm. In about five hours of driving, I was able to go maybe half an hour without my wipers on. Miserable driving conditions with near zero visibility and heavy downpours helped fuel my anxiety about returning the Z in one piece. I can't remember how many accidents, rollovers, and emergency vehicles I saw on my way up I95. To top it off, I95 was closed in Virginia because the sniper had struck again. Fortunately for me, they had reopened the freeway by the time I got there, but there was still a snarl of traffic on the streets as I passed by the crime scene.
I returned the car in wet, but good condition. Just a couple of rock chips on the front and the windshield courtesy of the gravel hauling semis during my travels. I was relieved to return it in one piece, and anxious to return home after being gone for two months straight, yet I felt a longing in my heart as I said goodbye to my traveling partner, the rock star, the 350Z.
For my exciting road test review, click here.
Larry Mason pointing out the unique features of the tilting dash board. Photo courtesy of Tony Akarolo.
Mason
training the sales consultants at Hamilton Nissan.
Photo courtesy of Tony Akarolo.
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