Tag Archives: cars

5 Hours in LA.

Call me crazy, but when you get an invite from Sean Lee to see the new Z in Los Angeles, with a cap on how many people can be in there at the same time. (COVID precautions), you go and spend some quality time with your new love 💕. The Z of course.

That Friday morning, woke up, drove to the airport, got picked up by a friend (Tyler Gray), grab lunch, and see the Z. Since my light was at 5, we had to leave the Z event a tad early so I could make it back on my flight back to Dallas. Take a peak at my weird video below that I threw together to document the day!

Video and photos by Melissa Miller

ZCON Tuesday

My first day at ZCON 2021 was awesome! We started at Pikes Peak with a group of about ten cars per run group. We were told not to do over 30 mph, which is understandable, the speed limit on the mountain is 30mph and the hair pins are intense and banked. We started filming for my ZCON video with our run group… the footage sneak peaks I’ve seen are absolutely killer.

Once we got back from Pikes Peak, there was a Suds and Shine area at the host hotel. Basically an area with a car wash station to clean off all the dust your car accumulated up and down the mountain. It’s also a place where everyone can see each other and chat and hang out.

From the Suds and Shine we left for the Opening Ceremonies and the Z Reveal Party! The scenery was absolutely gorgeous there, and the venue was beautiful. It was an awesome feeling being literally surrounded by other Z enthusiasts while watching the new Z being revealed via YouTube. I almost had a ‘I’m not crying, your crying moment. If you missed it heres a link:

Link To Nissan Z Reveal

Social Distancing

During Covid Quarantine it was super important to keep busy. Trying to take on some work at the house to keep myself creative, obtained a puppy, went to ‘the drift spot’ in Dallas, and did a little road trip.

Meet Shiro (She-row). She is a Great Pyrenees who’s named after the ‘Shiro edition’ 300zx (Z31 chassis). Shiro also means ‘white’ which is fitting!

My friends Craig and Kimberly have a Great Pyrenees who ran away for a couple days and got knocked up by another Great Pyrenees and had 9 puppies. (Craig restores older Z cars under the name Simtec Motorsports; IG @simtecmotorsports). When I brought Shiro home that day, my neighbor saw her and they went to go pick up Shiros sister… now the sisters get to grow up together!

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The first order of work at the house was to complete brakes, hard wiring in a dash cam and radar detector on our friend Zahids GTR.

While we had it, Zahid started thinking about making the car his, and doing some customizing to it to make it pop. We started with new Nismo orange lugs and powder coating the wheels gold.

This looked great, but we needed something that really makes it stand out. I prefer to draw out ideas than build them on the computer… (I know the computer way is better and more accurate, but I really enjoy using my hands to draw it out!) So to the drawing board I went! I drew out three different ideas for graphics and texted Zahid to see what direction he wanted to go. (pictured below is the office, taking a break from the vinyl and looking at new couches)

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The final design reflected the Fast and Furious GTR, but with a little twist. Matte black vinyl over a sliver of gold to match the wheels. It came out really nice!

Some fun still had to be had out of the house and in my Z, so we went to the drift spot and showed Hayley (Silver GTR pictured below IG @stig_gtr) what that spot was all about! It was a freaking blast, it always is.

The 370Z also got a make over during this ‘down’ time. We had been sitting on a full new style nismo kit for it, a Seibon carbon fiber hood, sweet wing, and some little side skirt inserts.

Car cruises still existed during this time, and in my opinion that was the best part of social distancing! Thanks to Maly and George for getting a few sweet shots out there! (George IG @_alphalyfe)

Ending ‘Quarantine’ we took the dogs to San diego, and Tucson, visited family and made a planter for some herbs! Very productive.

2013 Rodeo Dr. Concourse D’Elegance

Every Fathers Day in Beverly Hills the street of Rodeo Drive closes down and music plays through the streets for a massive car show. Every car in the show is either EXTREMELY rare, expensive, and VERY detail oriented. It’s almost a pre requisite that the car cant have a speck of dust and be worth at least 100K…at least.

This Fathers day Porsche was there for the 50th anniversary of the 911 with a cool booth and awesome vintage porsches around. Ferrari had it’s booth with a few of their new models. The first recorded Ford Model T (1912) was a really cool sight to see, it didn’t seem to be restored which was the coolest part. It looked like a work truck, the interior was very basic with wood, a blanket for the seat and an actual light bulb with a string to turn it on for a dome light. Mclaren was also there displaying their new P1… This thing was awesome. It was so teanie and has so much power… well, here’s a bit of info on it worth reading courtesy of Wiki-
The P1 features a heavily revised version of the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine used in the MP4-12C, tuned to 727 bhp. The engine is combined with a highly effective KERS electric motor that produces 176 bhp. The hybrid powertrain is connected to a 7 speed dual-clutch transmission, and will give a total power output of 916PS (903 bhp) at 7500 rpm and a maximum torque figure of 900Nm (664 lb ft). The powertrain can run using either the petrol V8 by itself or with the electric motor. The electric motor can be used to power the car on its own, with an all-electric range up 20 km (12 mi) at an average speed of 50 km/h (31 mph). Power for the electric motor is stored in a high density battery pack located behind the cabin. The battery can be charged by the engine or through plug in-equipment, and can fully charge in two hours. The P1 comes with two Formula 1 derived features: The Instant Power Assist System (IPAS) will give an instant boost in horsepower to the petrol engine via the electric motor. The car also comes with a Drag Reduction System (DRS), which operates the car’s rear wing. Both of these features are operated by two buttons on the steering wheel. It is capable of 385 km/h (239 mph), but is electronically limited to 349 km/h (217 mph). The P1 will go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in approximately 2.7 seconds, 0 to 200 km/h, or 124 mph in under 7 seconds, and 0 to 300 kmph (186 mph) will be achieved in no more than 17 seconds, making it 5 seconds faster than the legendary McLaren F1. It does this with its set of Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres and can brake quickly with specially developed carbon-ceramic brakes from Akebono.

Enjoy the pictures 🙂
Pictures by Melissa, Michael Hill, and Chris Waters