Taking Zecondz and Thirdz

I have been attending the Wilson County Fair Antique Auto Show each year for the past several years.  Typically I meet my father there on the designated Sunday each year to view the large turnout, usually numbering around 250-300 cars.  In all those years, I saw many familiar cars that were entered each year and sometimes a few I didn't recognize.  I never, however, saw any Datsuns and very few foreign cars in the show.  This year, I decided to change that by entering my 280z.

On the morning of August 20th I waited in the line to be entered and judged.  The heat had already started to climb and I was a bit worried that some of the cars might not tolerate this stagnation without overheating.  I did hear a few cars stop and start while waiting; maybe that was how they dealt with the situation.

I completed my entry form and selected class 11: production cars years 1970-1992.

As I was guided to my parking spot, I was stopped so the guide could take a picture of my car, stating that they never saw any Datsuns at the show.  "Mission accomplished," I thought.  I was placed mid-field next to a nice gentleman in a mid-90's Jaguar and a 60's Chevy Impala whose owner I didn't get to meet.

I opened the hood and hatch, placing information about Honk, Rattle and Roll car club in the cargo area along with a poster outlining the history of the S30.  As an added bonus, Randy Shemin also attended with his newly acquired 1995 300ZX Twin Turbo; we had not just one but two fine examples of the Datsun/Nissan Z in the show! I spent some time sitting behind the car, viewing the other cars, and walking around the fair.  When I was with the car, I heard several comments such as "I used to have one of these," or "I always liked the looks of these."

At 4pm the trophies were announced.  While my father believes wholeheartedly that I entered the show to win a trophy (not the case as I stated above), I couldn't help but feel just a bit of excitement as the winners for each class were announced.  In the production car class, several of the classes were empty, likely due to the narrow range of years in the pre-70's classes.  When class 11 was called, the MC noted that this was one of the biggest classes with many cars.  I was surprised when my name was called for the third place ribbon!  My wife and son were with me at that point and she snapped this picture just afterwards.

Shortly after, the winners of class 27, stock and modified 93-03, were announced.  Randy's 300ZX took second place in his class!  It was a great "first" showing for the Z's this year!