Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem: Getting Ready for NALM 2015
Odometer (1994 Legend Coupe): 535,330
Odometer (1993 Legend Sedan): 178,352
Odometer (1994 Legend Sedan): 147,051
Combined Legend Miles: 860,733
Now that my fleet of Acu-rides has grown to a half-dozen, one of my readers requested a photo of all the keys in a lineup. Well, this one’s for you, Sunny! In order here L to R are 1992 NSX, 1993 Legend sedan, 1994 Legend sedan, 1994 Legend coupe, 1994 Vigor, and 2013 ILX.
It’s that time of year again when the Legend fans of the world (all two dozen of us, ha!) get together at an annual event called the National Acura Legend Meet (NALM). It’s tradition – even obsession – for some of us to make sure it happens each year. For 2015, our host city will be at the fourth most populous city in the United States (at a staggering 6.3 million residents in the metro area): Houston, Texas. This destination marks a homecoming of sorts, since the inaugural NALM in 2005 was held in Dallas a few hours to the north.
For this voyage, you’ll be joining me for a trip length of 1,178 miles each way, which according to Google Maps should take 16 hours & 24 minutes of drive time. Get your road snacks ready.
This will be my 11th NALM. The last few years’ events are detailed here:
- NALM 2011: Morristown, New Jersey
- NALM 2012: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (took the ILX for this one)
- NALM 2013: Asheville, North Carolina
- NALM 2014: Los Angeles, California
Here’s a photo of last year’s program in Los Angeles. I think we had 30-someodd cars in attendance. Panorama!
A 2,400-mile round trip journey is no small undertaking, so I have to make sure my Legends (2 of the 3, anyhow) are up to the challenge. For this trip, my 1994 coupe and 1994 sedan will be making the drive. Thanks in advance to a yet-unnamed friend who will be driving one of the cars on my behalf. On Saturday morning, I took the Vigor over to swap it out for the 1994 Legend sedan in storage.
Back at the house, it was nice to start “seeing double” again. I’ve had the coupe since 2003 and the sedan since 2008. They were built 5 months apart (9/93 versus 2/94) but they are the same model year, color, and drivetrain.
Let’s take a peek under the hood and check out a few fluid levels. Here’s the 4-door.
And here’s the 2-door. Identical, right? Only to the untrained eye. The coupe is missing a sticker on its airbox (Kevin, I know you sent me one – I just haven’t installed it yet!) and has some aftermarket stereo wiring.
For kicks, the new 1993 sedan. Some clear differences here. Let’s ditch that aftermarket air intake soon.
The coupe went in for maintenance on Thursday afternoon and received a full inspection and 5W30 oil change at Acura of Tempe. I added a new page to my 2-binder collection of receipts, and a 257th line to my maintenance spreadsheet on that car. The technician noted some (known) oil leaks and he said the front tires are “yellow” status so I should probably rotate those on my next oil change. Otherwise, a clean bill of health and Dana, my service advisor sent me off with “Have a great trip!” Even she has no doubt the car will get me to TX & back.
We will depart on Wednesday evening. I’ll post as best I can with regular updates, so come back soon!
I have a few fun high-mileage topics to share with you:
My coworker, Todd, achieved the 320,000 milestone in his Volkswagen Passat this week and sent me a photo. Congrats, Todd!
My friend Spencer sent me photos of an Accord his dad took on trade at the family dealership in California. It’s a 2000 model year with 509,000 miles on it, and the original automatic transmission! Looks pretty decent for that kind of mileage!
509,000 miles on a 2000 comes out to 33,933 miles per year!
And finally, I’ve reached out to the folks at The Smoking Tire who are on a mission to get to the 1 million milestone on a 1996 Lexus LS400. Site founder Matt Farah bought the car not long ago with just a little fewer than 900,000 on the odometer. He’s passing it around to various automotive journalists around the country and letting them help the old Lexus get to 7-digit territory.
I thought this article (and video) about the LS were great. The article discusses how most often it’s the type of OWNER responsible for achieving high-mile status, rather than the type of car. Take care of your vehicle and it’ll take care of you!
A couple friends and I took a trip to Bartlett Lake, northeast of Phoenix, yesterday with the ILX.
A little dirt road didn’t scare me away.
Perfect weather now that we’ve dipped out of triple-digit temperatures. Welcome, fall.
Hope you’re enjoying the weekend too!
drivetofive 
September 20, 2015 at 7:49 am
Ah yes, Houston is right around the corner. And you may not have a problem, but I do. My coupe has no driver’s seat and I’m not going to borrow a friends black one for my Type F interior. The story is too long but I expect to have mine back Monday night. I leave Tuesday before lunch. And yes Mr. Tyson, I do see that you have not put the sticker on your coupe air box that I gave you. Not to fret my friend, I have a brand new one in the Honda wrapper for your coupe. Part number 17273-PY3-A02. The last one in the country. It is yours if you sign my rear deck lid of the “Polar Bear” in Houston. I’ve got to get there, I have nearly $500 in prizes I need to give away.
September 20, 2015 at 8:15 am
You’re working with a pretty narrow window of time there, Kevin. Right down to the wire. I’m looking forward to meeting the Polar Bear this year, though Old War Horse will surely be missed. You’re the best at the awards distribution. See you in a few days!
September 20, 2015 at 9:12 am
I saw an article on Road & Track I think about that Lexus. Thought it was pretty neat what they are doing.
September 20, 2015 at 9:50 am
Yeah, it’s been around the block a few times – literally! I’ll let you know what I hear back from them on potentially getting a “press loan.” We should schedule a drive that’s all high-milers. > 200k miles required. Jack could bring the Taco. Peter could bring the TSX.
September 20, 2015 at 10:01 am
Guess I’ll be S.O.L. haha That would be fun!
September 20, 2015 at 5:05 pm
Can’t wait to meet the legends! Have a great trip Tyson!
September 20, 2015 at 7:54 pm
Hey sounds like a plan! I look forward to meeting you as well. We should be arriving Thursday night. The host hotel is a Marriott right near John Eagle Acura. Text me if you decide to come over sometime!
September 20, 2015 at 8:20 pm
I sense another great write up coming!
September 21, 2015 at 1:32 am
Definitely! Gas tanks are full, cameras are charged, and the open road awaits 🙂 Hope you had a great weekend.
September 21, 2015 at 5:39 am
I’ll fly out and drive THACURA!
September 21, 2015 at 5:51 am
Shotgun!
September 21, 2015 at 6:13 am
Done deal! You two are assigned as road trip buddies.
September 21, 2015 at 5:47 am
To heck with a key lineup, I would like to see a lineup of all the people who have driven the Million Mile Lexus.
September 21, 2015 at 6:14 am
Seriously! That driver’s seat has seen a lot of butt cheeks, I’m guessing… Hoping to add mine!
September 21, 2015 at 5:32 pm
Wow. Those engines on the 94 sedan and coupe look incredibly clean. Just like new cars. My engine on the 2005 Acura TSX only looked like that once. In March of 2005 😉
September 21, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Haha, it’s true! Those clean engine bays represent a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. The nice thing is that neither of those cars gets driven much anymore, so they’re pretty easy to keep clean. I popped the hood on the ILX yesterday… It was another story.