drivetofive

Odometer (Legend coupe):  531,277

Odometer (Legend sedan):  146,014

My favorite comment of the entire second day of NALM was: “Look, it’s the rolling retirement home!” when Kevin’s 1994 sedan “Old War Horse” pulled into the Islands Restaurant parking lot in Thousand Oaks, California. Kevin and Alan had a good laugh about it. They do pride themselves in being among the most distinguished of Legend enthusiasts.

No NALM is complete without a chance to put our cars’ suspensions to the test. Tommy was the ring leader for Saturday’s canyon drive, having traversed the two-laners between in the Santa Monica Mountains many many times in the past. He took the lead in his Canterbury Green Legend sedan as we rode out of the Hampton Inn in Thousand Oaks. My friend Stephen took the copilot seat in the Legend coupe. I hoped for the best with my clutch, knowing full well that it (being the original to the car) was hanging on for dear life. I had no intention of driving aggressively but still wanted to at least keep up with the pack.

Tommy picked a great road: never-ending twists on Mulholland Drive with scenery that delivered awesome views. Not that I was paying much attention to the scenery – my eyes were instead glued to Duane’s Legend GS sedan in front of me. I got a howl or two out of my Michelin tires. Sergey who was following me noted (not surprisingly) a lot of body roll from my car. Soon we reached the crest and began our descent to sea level. Blue skies gave way to an overcast marine layer, but temperatures were comfortable and Stephen and I rolled the windows and sunroof down to enjoy it.

Our destination for lunch was Neptune’s Net, a famous seafood place along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Famous, I say, because it was featured in the movie The Fast and the Furious. We did our best to safely park 25+ Legends along the highway before running across four lanes of traffic and settling into the two tables on the outside patio which Gabe, our ring leader, had graciously reserved for us in advance. The fish tacos were calling my name so that’s what got my vote on the menu. Aside from being completely covered in cilantro which is one food I’m not a fan of, they were delicious. I also sampled some of Ben’s French fries and Stephen’s chicken strips. Fried food seems to be something that Neptune’s does well!

Gabe handed me a walkie talkie and assigned me as one of the shepherds for our next stretch of road. I obediently waited until most of the group had rolled out, then took to the wheel and confirmed that all of the cars in our caravan were accounted for. One unlucky Legend owner was shortly thereafter pulled over for a window tint violation, but otherwise the drive southbound on Pacific Coast Highway went well. A left hand turn on Kanan Road took us back up and over the Santa Monica Mountains and toward Highway 101. We had an appointment at a dyno shop so that some of the Legend owners could evaluate performance of their motors by testing them for horsepower and torque. I had a close call with a concrete parking curb that started to pull my front bumper off after catching an underside splash shield, but survived the incident and it’s hardly detectable that it ever happened.

Once again we braved Los Angeles traffic upon departure. I’ve decided that the 405 and 101 freeways are rarely flowing without incident. Our evening was relaxed, with a dinner reservation at Islands Restaurant just a few miles from the host hotel in Thousand Oaks. The special treat later that night was when Legend owners started throwing their car keys at me and letting me take their cars for test drives.  One thing I love about being a part of this car enthusiast community is the level of pride that each owner takes in his or her vehicle. And despite the fact that we all drive the same model of car, I felt like each one had a unique personality and feel. Huge thanks to Duane, Dave, Alex, TJ, James, and Evan for entrusting me behind the wheel of their babies.  This is a pic with long-time friend Denny.

On Sunday morning, we made our way to a weekly event in Woodland Hills called Supercar Sunday. When our group of Legends pulled into the mall parking lot around 8:00 a.m., the area was already nearly full of a wide variety of show cars. We got a sneak peek at a new Dodge Challenger Hellcat, got up close and personal with a suicide door 1967 Lincoln Continental with laser-sharp paint work and body panels, and even a couple of 1981 Deloreans. My favorite car, though, was a Sebring Silver 1992 Acura NSX parked up the row a little bit. Super clean with only 65,000 miles on the odometer, I could tell it was well cared for. We weren’t looking over it longer than 2 minutes when the proud owner, Yoav, came up to give us the story on it. He is the editor of Petrolicious and has had a lot of nice cars in his automotive past, but he says the NSX is something special.   He took a few moments to gaze upon our lineup of cars and introduce himself to our group. Thanks, Yoav, for your time!  Here I am with Ben, and with Yoav’s 1992 NSX.

Gabe took the floor back at the Hampton and conducted an awards ceremony. Alex Alperovich swept 3 categories in his Milano Red 1994 LS coupe: Most Potential, Longest Drive, and “Sleeper.” His trophy collection is expanding quickly! Gabe raffled off a number of Legend-related prices. When he pulled two jugs of Honda “Type 2” coolant out of a box and put them on the counter, the collective crowd said, “Oooooooh!” Everyone wanted those. Duane from Folsom, CA was the lucky winner in that case.

Chris and I were rip-raring to hit the highway and head east, so we grabbed some Del Taco and did just that. I got used to seeing my Legend GS sedan in my rearview mirror for the next 7 hours or so. The big surprise was about 90 minutes into the drive when I received a text message with, “You just passed us!” One of the NALM attendees was driving along (in a non-Legend) on Freeway 210 and had spotted Chris and me driving along. Sure enough, I later received a picture he’d taken of us. Talk about timing!

Our drive through the I-10 desert was uneventful aside from some raindrops in Palm Springs and some haze climbing out of the Indio valley to Chiriaco Summit. It was great to get home!  Many, many thanks to the NALM ground team (Gabe, Tommy, Graeme, and whoever else may have played a role) for their efforts in pulling off a great event.

Awards Summary:

• Best Sleeper, Most Potential, Longest Drive:  Alperovich (Alex )
• Lowest Mileage:  ArizonaLegend (Chuck)
• Highest Mileage:  Tyson
• Cleanest USDM:  SteveC (Steve)
• Cleanest JDM:  Sergey (not on forum)
• Lowest Ride:  Juan (not on forum)
• Honorable Mention:  Tyson
• Best in Show G1:  Mikeo (Mike)
• Best in Show G2:  Davecfprez (Dave)
• Best in Show RL:  1BadKA9RL (Eric)

Here are the rest of my pictures.  There will, soon I’m sure, be photos posted here on the forums too.

Video!  Footage is courtesy of Chris.

Two “canyon run” videos from Sergey who was following me.

My Legend sedan, Ben’s 1992 LS coupe, and Alan with his 1994 LS coupe.

Dave’s award-winning (“Best JDM”) 1994 GS sedan 6-speed with only 98,000 miles.

Alan’s coupe again.  Just love that paint color.

Saturday morning’s rollout to the canyon cruise.

Arrival at Neptune’s Net in Malibu.

Chowing down on some of the west coast’s best seafood.

Alex and Chris decided to climb down to the beach and get wet in the Pacific.

Looking back at Neptune’s.

Ben taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him.

Group overlooking the Pacific.

Heading out again – this time, off to the performance/dyno shop in Van Nuys.

This photo captured by Sergey’s brother along Pacific Coast Highway.

Getting dyno tested!

Group of onlookers.

Sunday morning’s view out room 245 of the Hampton Inn.  A glorious sight indeed.

Traditional “trunk liner” signing with Kevin from Duluth, GA.  Each of the last 3 years, I’ve left a special inscription in silver Sharpie on the fabric that covers the underside of his trunk lid.  It’s a tradition we will continue to carry on.

Thanks, Kevin, for the privilege!

Chris getting a feel for the coupe.

Southeast Acura Legend guys:  Alex (FL), Alan, (FL), Tyson, Evan (TN), and Kevin (GA).

Me with Alex.  Showing off my two awards from the ceremony.

Headed home on I-10 with Chris in our twin Legends.  This shot taken during a fuel-up near Palm Springs.

A hot entry into the Arizona state line from Blythe, CA.  Welcome home!

This entry was posted on July 28, 2014 at 8:22 pm and is filed under California, NALM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.