Preface
"You're an idiot", declares my lovely bride. More of our conversations begin this way than I'd like to admit, but I was a bit surprised by her reaction.While preparing one of our traditional Friday night pizzas, I brought up the topic of buying a NSX. Katherine is used my my automotive indiscretions and usually lets slide my four wheeled pontificating. This time, however, she iterated the many reasons why buying an NSX is stupid - it's expensive, it can only be driven half the year where we live, it will take garage space that we can't afford to give up, etc, etc.
Being a couple beers into the evening, I took my tongue lashing in stride. If anything, it strengthened my resolve. This was a car that I've wanted since they were released in 1991 and I wasn't going to let a little thing like practicality influence my decision.
Fast forward a couple months after our kitchen conversation and I'd found a car on NSX Prime. It was a clean example with only 52K miles and priced under market value. The first buyer in line failed to send the seller a deposit, so my number was up. Upon receiving an email from the seller stating that the original buyer flaked, I sent the deposit via paypal.
We were at a fork in the road - should I have the car shipped from where it was in Florida or fly down and drive it home? Shipping the car was the sensible thing to do. Naturally, we decided to fly down and drive it 2000 miles back to Colorado. It was Spring, which is a nice time of year every place other than here. March and April are the snowiest months of the year. We do have nice Spring days, but they're often punctuated by snow storms in which the accumulation is measured in feet rather than inches.
The Trip
Day 1
As luck would have it, the trip was planned for the week after Katherine's birthday, further illustrating that she really is a trooper. The plan was to fly down to Tampa on a Sunday, stay with my maternal grandmother (Nan) Sunday night, pick up the car Monday and drive 500 miles per day back to Colorado.Ah, the best laid plans.
The first part of the trip went smoothly, beginning with a 06:30 flight out of Denver.
Oh-dark-thirty plane ride
Like any good trip, this one started with very little sleep and copious amounts of coffee. The flight was smooth and it was nice to catch up with family after we landed in Tampa.
Day 2
The next day, we drove down to Sarasota and met the seller, Ole. After providing us with cappuccinos, Ole led us to the shop performing the timing belt service on the car - Patton Automotive. The belt was under the recommended mileage interval, but overdue by time. Given that, Ole and Patton suggested having it done. We were driving the car 2000 miles home, so I whole-hardheartedly agreed.Interlude about the seller - Ole was great to work with. In addition to facilitating the money transfer process, he stayed with us at the DMV to make sure the paperwork was completed correctly. After that adventure, he helped us attach the temp tag and periodically called to check on us during the trip.
The folks at Patton were also quite helpful. They worked with me long distance to schedule the service & were very professional and accommodating.
That smile is real, folks.
The car was exactly as Ole described and I was ecstatic. Older Japanese sports cars have a distinct smell and the NSX was no exception. Just sitting in the car reminded me very much of my 1991 3000GT VR-4. My first thought was - "holy crap...this is now my NSX". My second thought was - "We're 2000 miles from home". With that in mind, we bid goodbye to Nan and hit the road.
Katherine, Nan & me in front of my car & Ole's twin turbo monster NSX
The first leg of the journey was from Sarasota to Destin, FL. Traffic on northbound highway 75 was pretty ugly, but cleared up by the time we got to Ocala. After that, it was smooth sailing. Westbound Highway 10 in north Florida was the most pleasant & relaxing part of the trip. It was on this stretch of road that I realized the NSX was actually a great road tripper and capable of covering highway miles at a surprising rate.
Follow the fuzzy socked toes
Our first stop was Destin, FL. Liz, Katherine's sister, hooked us up with a condo on the beach. The views were fantastic.
After playing in the water a bit, we headed out for mojitos and a fantastic dinner at Boshamp's. If you're ever there, get the 'Snapper Destin'; it's excellent.
Mmm....mojitos
Day 3
This was supposed to be our longest day. The plan was to drive from Destin to a bed & breakfast in Fort Worth. The day started like any good travel day - with coffee.
After breakfast, we made our way out of Destin and eventually Florida. We cruised through Mobile, AL and crossed into Mississippi with little fanfare. There were terrible thunderstorms the previous couple of days that caused a large amount of flooding. We missed the worst of it, but the water remained high.
The NSX was fairly uneventful to drive. I took great pains to be mellow and avoid the attention of the local constabulary. Katherine gave me the stink eye every time we got passed by a Prius.
We were almost to Clinton and most of the way through Mississippi when things went sideways. I was merging onto highway 20 when the car decided it no longer wanted to go into gear. Prior to this, I felt the clutch pedal getting progressively softer, but didn't say anything. I didn't want to worry Kath in the event I was being over-sensitive to the workings of an unfamiliar car. Fortunately, the traffic was light and there was a long, straight exit within coasting distance. We coasted off the highway and called AAA. While waiting for the tow truck, I poked around the car. We had cell service, so I did a bit of reading on NSX Prime & determined where to start looking. The firewall wasn't wet, so it wasn't the clutch master cylinder. I examined the underside of the car towards the rear. Bingo - the slave cylinder was dripping slightly. Shortly after, the tow truck driver showed up & we loaded the car on the flatbed.
The Ride of Shame
After a brief ride of shame, the shop to which the car was towed confirmed my diagnosis - the slave cylinder was a goner. At this point, I admit thinking "we're boned". This was not just a garden variety boning, mind you. We were unequivocally, 100%, well and truly boned.
Fortunately, I was wrong.
The shop to which the car was towed, Car Care Clinic, called around and found a new slave cylinder at a dealership in neighboring state and had it overnighted to our location. They actually wheeled out a car in the bay to make room for the NSX, which they kept inside overnight. Brian, the area manager, helped us find a hotel and gave us a ride to the hotel in the evening and picked us up the next morning after they finished the car. These guys & gals truly went above and beyond to get us back on the road the next day.
The team that got us back on the road from left to right - Gary, Chelsea and Brian
Day 4
Car Care Clinic wrapped up the car late morning, so we decided to top it off with gas and grab some lunch. Fortunately, the bed & breakfast at which we were booked was completely understanding about our plight & moved our reservations back one night. As such, took a relaxed approach to the rest of the day.
The drive out of Mississippi and through Louisiana was uneventful and we crossed into Texas later that day.
Crossing the Mighty Mississippi
Woo-hoo! One state further west.
We timed our entrance into Texas to avoid the notoriously bad Dallas/Fort Worth traffic. The clutch pedal still didn't feel quite right (more on that later), so I wanted to avoid stop & go traffic at all costs. We arrived at the B&B in the early evening. There was a restaurant on the premises, but we wanted something a bit more casual. The hostess recommended a local bar called the Grease Monkey, which turned out to be *exactly* what we wanted.
Courtyard View
Yay! We made it to Texas.
That's more like it.
Day 5
I woke to the sound of hail. The hits keep on coming. Fortunately, the car was parked under a tree which took the brunt of the damage. Unfortunately, it looked like someone played a prank on us involving loose foliage and a brace of leaf blowers.
After the storm, we downed yet more coffee, cleaned off the car and headed out of Ft. Worth towards Kansas. More kudos to my bride. Navigating the Dallas/Fort Worth highway network is a daunting task. It was nice to have a navigator armed with a smart phone & Google maps so that I could concentrate on driving. We made our way out of Fort Worth and into Oklahoma without incident.
"mountain" pass in Oklahoma
Given our earlier adventures, this seemed appropriate
Day 6
And
on the 6th day, we drank beer, watched basketball and hung out with
family. Katherine's uncle was kind enough to give us a tour of the
local junior college at which he coaches girls' softball.
Waiting out the storm in Salina, Kansas
Day 7
Are we there yet? Anxious to be home, we hit the road early. The forecast said that we had a day before the next storm arrived, so we charged across Kansas and into Colorado like a horse sighting the barn after a long day on the trail.
Getting closer.
The NSX sees snow for the first time.
Finally home and in temporary storage.
The Aftermath
Despite a couple mishaps on the road, our timing was good. It snowed between 9-10 FEET at our house over the next six weeks. As such, I wasn't able to get the car out for a while. When I did, it was determined that the clutch master cylinder was strangled from beyond the grave by the dead slave cylinder. When they go, they go as a pair. Fixing that finally returned the clutch pedal to its former glory. The rear axles needed to be rebooted, which is a ludicrously expensive operation because most of the rear suspension needs to be R&R'd to get at the axles. The thermostat decided that life in Colorado was not to its liking and that it couldn't continue this miserable existence without its friend, the original clutch slave cylinder. In memory, I burned $500 at the service counter of the local Acura dealer.
The above indicates that the car hadn't seen much action for a while. Like any car, the NSX does better when it's driven. I'm happy to report trouble-free motoring after the initial teething pains. It's a truly fantastic car to drive on the sinewy mountain roads surrounding our house. The initial road trip home was an interesting, but incomplete introduction to the car. It was happy covering ground on the interstates, but it truly shines in the canyons.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the trip was a success. It wasn't completely smooth sailing, but we saw parts of the country neither one of us had experienced, spent time with family and were fortunate enough to receive help from genuinely good folks when we needed it most. Oh, and I finally have my dream car.
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