Let me first off say I think I have a few years on quite a few of the posters here. I recently turned 40 and I'm amazed how many G35 owners are in there 20s. Glad to see you have your priorities straight, since so many people can't understand what it's like to desire a true perfomance car. I'm curious what other cars people here have owned and how they stacked up to the G35. I plan on purchasing a sedan this spring and was blown away on my test drive of a 2003.5 sedan.

1976 Datsun B210: OK, this was my parents car and a hand me down, but at 16 I tricked it out much like the Honda kids do today. I added a sunroof, custom wheels and even dual exhaust. Still had about as much horsepower as a lawnmower, but it was mine and I loved it. Somebody told me they used a Datsun B210 on Monster Garage, too funny!

1982 Ford EXP: Oh my, a real piece of junk. Looked kinda cool, but many called it the Ford EXPeriment. Yet again, a car with zero power.

1984 Ford Mustang GT Convertible: Now were talking! A good old American V8 with gobs of torque. Had this car through college and beyond (til I totaled it). Build quality was pretty suspect, but I didn't care too much about that when I was younger. Will always have a bit of a soft spot for Mustangs, especially the 65 Fastback (my parents had a 64.5 notchback/289).

1990 Miata: Still own this great little car and at 175K it has NEVER given me the least bit of trouble. I had to be put on a waiting list for this car back in 1989 due to the cars popularity. It wasn't easy going back to a 4 cylinder, but this car handles like a go-cart and the shifter is one of the best ever made. Of course, 25-30 MPG is an added benefit with the cost of gas these days.

1992 Nissan Pathfinder: Nice sport utility, but this made me realise I'm a car guy, not a truck guy. No real special bond, but it has been dependable. With a kid on the way, the Pathfinder and Miata are being sold to make way for the g35.

2001 Harley Davidson Sportster: The motorcycle itch was getting too much to handle. I always wanted a bike, but living in Washington, DC at the time, it made little sense to buy one (I live in Richmond, VA now) I was a little wary walking into the Harley dealer for the first time, but the days of hard core bikers is pretty much a thing of the past. Customer service is amazing and it's a great way to reduce stress after a long week of work.

2003 Harley Davidson Heritage Springer: Rode the Sportster a couple years and then decided a big twin would serve me better for those 8 hour rides. Can't imagine I will ever sell this bike, looks like it rolled off the assembly line back in 1940. A true classic with the Springer front end and wide whitewalls.

2003.5 or 2004 G35 sedan (this spring): When I test drove this car I relised how much I missed the Mustang. May seem like a strange comparison, but the power is similar, though the G35 feels much more refined. The handling may not be quite as nimble as the Miata, but the ride quality will make up for it on road trips (and the fact it has a back seat is a must these days). Seems to have the best of everything compared to any car I've driven.

So there it is, quite a range of vehicles. I imagine the g35 will hit the top of my list, but I would like to hear other owners out there and there car histories.

 

O.K, here goes, if I can remember. I'm 44:

1973 Roadrunner-fast in a straight line
1973 Honda CB350-my first bike
1975 Caddy Coupe DeVille-Red with a white top, styling
1978 Honda 550 Four-the first new bike I've ever owned. Worked 50 hours a week pumping gas in high school to buy this.
1978 Suzuki 750 "Water Buffalo"-Bought the beginning of summer of my junior year in college, sold at end of summer for same price.
1983 Toyota Pick up-first and only truck.
1985 Toyota Corolla GTS Twin Cam 16-Really quick but not a ton of tourque. Red lined at 7,600.
Various vans and sedans-late 80's into the nineties-three kids, nuf said.
1996 Toyota Corrolla
1999 Honda Accord V6 EXL-Fast but alot of tourques steer.
2000 Harley Davidson Fat Boy. Fourth bike but my first Harley-bought it when I was 40. Mid-life crisis-nah.
2001 Honda Passport
2002 Harley Road King Classic-wanted the touring capabilities but never got used to the vibrating engine.
2003 Honda Pilot-Green-mine
2003 Honda Pilot-Red-wife's
2003 350Z-still have it, love the car, in storage from November through March due to winter up here in Vermont.
2004 G35X-Best sedan I've ever owned
2005 Harley Davidson Softail Deluxe-just bought it the other day. Has the balanced engine, can't wait for spring. In process of "accessorizing" it right now. Can become addictive.

As you can see, I've had a few vehicles. I get sick of them after a few years. Let's see how long before I trade the Z and the X.

 

I wish your '40' had a few yrs on me..........lol... but alas

I've owned many a vehicle from Volkswagons, to muscle cars, to luxo-barges, and been fairly happy with them all.

Then I discovered Nissan-------2k2 Max S/E was nice. From there I got into Infinitis and haven't looked back.

The G-Sedan and G-Coupe are easily the best of the bunch (for me).
I'm now considering another Infiniti= M45....and expect that to be even better.

My 10 yrs of biking blessed me with Suzukis culminating in a GS1100E in '83 to '90.

 

1985 Honda Prelude (auto) - my first car, will always have fond memories
1990 Honad Accord (Manual) - my first 5 speed manual, was nice to have 4 doors
1994 Toyota 4x4 extra cab truck (Manual) - Got into jet sking big time, need something to tow the trailer with so I ended up with this, was also great for just throwing stuff in the back when I need to haul something, great truck
1998 Honda Prelude (auto) - sold all my jet skis and wanted a fun car, the auto manual was cool in this car, but found it was not a good choice for modding the car.
2000 Honda Prelude (Manual) - bought this car because I wanted to mod it.. Add all the Mugen stuff to it plus Jackson Racing Supercharger
2003.5 Infiniti G35 Sedan - Prelude was to small and was having problems with the supercharger causing detonation so figure to buy a car that already had the HP so I wouldnt need to mod it as much...
2004 Nissan 350Z Roadster - Fell in luv with its looks... was to cool of a car to pass up and I acutaly fit in it (im 6'-4") so now I drive this on weekends..

 

Well,
First car was real bomb, a 55 DeSoto, had been pretty well rode hard and put away wet by the time I got it. Not so fine memeories here, unless you call stalling everytime you drove through a big puddle, the left side wheel well was misssing, and the engine was exposed on that side!

Then after the Navy, things got better:

1966 Mustang Coupe (it had one rare thing, a front bench seat) I only had that 3 months.

1968 Mustang Sprint (faux GT) bought it new, only time I have ever paid cash for a new car!

1972 Mach1, 351 C, this car was cool, F60-15's, the sticker was, (ready for this?) $4800., I got it for $4400, that was a good deal back then!

1977 LTD II, thought I wanted more of a cruiser, LOL.

1973 Datsun PU (LOL, the PU was a good description of this vehicle)(Had this at the same time as the LTDII.

1981 Mustang Ghia, not the best Ford I ever owned, I made the mistake of getting the 4cyl, thought I'd save gas, yeah, right...........

1978 Ford F-150, got back into the V8 mode here! Even though it was just a 3spd on the column.(had this at the same time as the '81)

987 Ford XLT Lariat, nice truck, very plush (seemed that way anyway)

1993 Ford XLT, an even nicer truck, because I actually ordered it to fit!

1997 F-150 Lariat, leather seats, made the '87 seem plain Jane!

2000 Mustang GT Convertible, traded for my............

'04 G35.

My favorites in order are, my G35, the '00 GT Vert, and my '72 Mach1, that car rocked, but talk about **** poor gas mileage, I think I may have gotten 9-10 on a good day!

 

The G must be very special to you Tom, to draw you away from "the Blue Oval" . Only 3 non-Fords in all that time. That's quite a record.
I had many Fords too but not that many.

 

I haven't had many cars, but my favorite was a 1986 Merkur XR4Ti. I was 24 back then and the car was *very* unique, reasonably fast, and had a lot of the luxuries I have in my G35x. Too bad it was so unreliable!

 

Slacker,
An XR4ti, that brings back memories. A friend of mine had one in college, but that car had more electronic gremlins than any car I can remember. Your right though, it was I nice looking car and was fun to drive ... if it started!

VP,
I think you'll enjoy the Softail Deluxe. The balanced engine is very smooth but you do get a bit of noise from the balancers. After a few weeks you won't notice it or you can buy some vance and hines and you will drown out most anything! Sometimes I think chrome is more expensive than gold, but it is addictive. A bike lift is great for keeping those whitewalls clean, much easier than rolling the bike.

 

I'm 56 so I got a few yrs on some of the "older" guys. From memory in order of purchase-here goes:

61 Comet-transportation
64 Ford Galaxie-base 289 engine was slow
67 Impala convertible-base 283 was slow
66 Ponitac LeMans-326 had some pep
74 Chevy Vega-piece of junk-big mistake made during gas crisis
68 Pontiac LeMans-350 engine with 2 speed auto trans was relatively slow
77 Firebird- with 305 V8-first new car wished I had the 350 4 barrel
84 Nissan 300ZX Turbo- great car liked the turbo rush-1st stick shift car
89 Celica-transportion due to long commute
79 Corvette- bought as summer car and kept for 2 yrs
68 Corvette-427 convertible all original sold for profit 4 yrs later-great hobby
93 240sx-best handling car I ever had-put 0 into for repairs
95 BMW 540i stick-best all round car made (my current and favorite car)
00 BMW M roadster-leased as a toy- fastest car I ever owned-pure speed
05 G35 Sedan-will order in Jan.- hopefully it will be a reliable and great bang for the buck car to take to work and use as my daily driver til I retire.

When I retire I plan on getting a 540i -hopefully the design will change by then. My last automatic was the 77 Firebird I got in 77. I don't drive automatics and plan on driving a stick as long as I physically am able.

 

You don't have any years on me Corgidog, as I am sure you can tell by what my first NEW car was! OMG, a '74 Vega, you are so right, what a rolling POS, we had one for a company car at the place I worked then, really sucked gas for a 4 banger, it wasn't a one person driver, but man, what a POS, almost made a Pinto look good, oh wait.......... You know, I had my driver ed in a '64 LeMans with a 326, it was a sedan, but I couldn't believe it had a V8! One thing you do have on me, is you can drive a stick!

 

Ok, Im 27

81 dodge colt... Biggest POS ever.. Hated it, got a job and bought an 81 280zx.

81 280zx Loved this car... at the time it felt fast coming from the colt. Then an old lady in a 70 somthing caddy killed it.

86 300zx turbo... Loved this car too, never on single issue in 270K miles. I miss it to this day.

91 300zx TT. SEX ON WHEELS With some nice wheels, intake, exhaust, and a boost controller I was smoking tires in 3rd. Also lost the big V in this car as well.( very hard to do since im 6'3". Its next on the cars to buy list. Cant say enough about it.

97 maxima Very relable car, pretty quick too for what it is. Got the speed itch and swaped the auto for 5mt. Much better car with the stick.

03.5 6mt sedan, I wanted to get a TTZ again but they stopped production in 96. So I waited and drooled over the 350z till it came out. I was going to pre-order it but they wanted a 5k non refundable deposit and I didnt feel it was worth it for a car I didnt know if I would fit in. Then when it came out I test drove it. That killed it for me. WAY to harsh ( I got used to the maxima). Then I saw the g coupe. Just like a Z but softer, I drove it, loved it and saw the price. Next came the G sedan, I Iiked the looks, drove it, loved it and since it was 5K less than a G coupe I didint see any perfomance differnce an its been love every since. I like this car vary much. Its no TTZ though.

 

Hey ABQ G35. I remember the old cars that stalled when they ran over puddles and the wires got wet. Several times I had to let my 61 Comet dry out for a day or two before it would start. Classic Corvettes are a real fun thing to get into and might I add very inexpensive. You can sell em for more than you paid if you buy smart, insurance costs are like $200 a yr with classic car insurance, and there is no registration or inspection needed for cars with QQ plates and talk about turning heads....

 

In order of ownership... bear in mind a transition from the UK to the US midway through the list, and only the last few were purchased NEW: (I'm 27 so unfortunately my list is quite limp compared with some of y'all but I'll share anyways)

1975 Mini City - Very well used but very much loved. 998cc's of pure fun. No shock absorbers or springs, just little rubber cones for the car to bounce around on. Taking corners in this thing was SO MUCH FUN no body roll at all. Painted in British Army-issue anti-radar paint. (When paint is free you take it)

1984 MG Metro - Originally my mother's car, this thing was dreamy. Small, light, and quick damn it. With a whopping 1.3L engine this thing would MOVE. It deterioted quickly though as I proceeded to beat the crap out of it rally-style around the country roads of warwickshire.

1985 Fiat Uno 45 - Yep, the '45' is the number of horses this baby packed. I managed to get 115mph out of her at one point, I will remember her fondly. Replaced the engine in it at around 100K and she hit the boneyard at around 115K - sucks to not have money to maintain your car.

1985 Ford Escort - That's all I need to say. I still hear the haunting "WHHHHHHHEEEEEERRRR" of the power steering to this day. I could only drive this car in Texas for so long without A/C. (It had A/C, it just didn't work)

1992 Plymouth Laser - NOW we're talking. Nice-*** car, I loved every minute of driving around in this car. Until the timing chain broke and the engine had to be rebuilt... Never quite ran the same after that.

2000 VW Passat - My first new car, Gorgeous car, SO many luxury features and not the slowest of cars. I still miss this one a little.

2002 VW GTi - The itch to get a quicker car came before long and I scratched it by trading the passat for the first model year of the 24V 2.8L VR6 in the GTI. After about 40 days in the shop over the first year of ownership and many letters to VWoA they finally bought this one back from me, which left me a nice chunk of change to put down on the

2004 G35 Sedan. - The drive, AH the drive. So quick, so nimble. I loved the interior of both the GTI and the Passat from an ergonomic and aesthetic perspective, and they still win that medal over this car but everything else I like about this car trumps all things prior. It's the best performing car I've owned and so far the most fun. My first RWD car, too.

Next stop... Who knows? I'm thinking it might be G35 coupe time or maybe I'll treat myself to a Subaru STi...
...but then again with my two kids getting bigger by the day I might be safer planning on the FX45

Whatever it is, i look forward to it.

 

Corgidog, that damned DeSoto, was a FireFlite, LOL, "Yeah, it's got a hemi" The water would get down into the plug depressions, it too took a day or two (and a prayer) to dry out! '61 Comet, LOL, my buddy and his brother had a '61 Falcon, LOL, it was baby blue, and smoked blue, we named it "The Blue Phart" I will say, that car sure took a beating and still kept going though! We had a roller coaster dirt road here, Tramway Blvd., that car did leave the ground several times on that road, LOL! One thing that always bugged me about the "classic" Vette's, circa '63, was where the battery was, you either had to remove the fender, LOL, or tip it to get it out, that was one job that went to the shop! Why are they so cheap to get into?

 

Not that they are cheap to get into, as some can cost 20-50K, the lack of expense results from the fact you can always get back your investment and then some if you buy right and keep the car as close to stock as possible. Drift from stock and you will lose money. The purists try to get the car as close to the way it left the factory as possible and the National Corvette Restorers Society runs events that grade your car not against other cars but against how it stacks up against how it left the factory with regards to originality, correctness, and condition. These guys know the configuration of the smallest screw of the car and there are many companies that sell correct reproduction parts. A lot of fun if you are into this sort of thing.