Catching Up: Acura Day in Torrance, St. George Marathon, & 555,555 Milestone
Odometer (Legend): 556,062
Odometer (Integra): 241,233
Check this out. You are looking at 7 friends on a hill overlooking St. George, Utah. And those two cars – at the precise moment this photo was taken – had a combined 1,111,111 miles on their odometers. It was a special day on Saturday, October 7th when my friend Josh and I coordinated this meet-up with much anticipation.
I’m so far behind on blogging that today’s post will be more like a newsletter on what you’ve missed. I just returned yesterday from spending a few days in the Los Angeles area where I took part in some activities at the main office of American Honda Motor Company for “Acura Week.” Invited by my friend and Acura Public Relations manager Matt Sloustcher, I drove out there Thursday evening and participated in an all-associate Q&A interview.
It was an exciting experience to talk about how I’d become interested in the brand, share feedback on current & future brand direction, and interact with people who are just as passionate about these topics as I am. Joining me on the stand were Jon Ikeda, General Manager for Acura, and Jeff Conrad, Senior Vice President for Honda. In all, the ‘formal’ program on Friday afternoon lasted only about 1/2 hour, but the campaign ran a total of 5 days with activities each day designed to educate, promote, and generate awareness for the Acura brand among internal colleagues. The level of hospitality was awesome. Thankfully, I didn’t get too tongue-tied.
Just a week prior, I was tasked with two huge milestones of a completely different nature: I ran the St. George, Utah marathon and I achieved that long-awaited “all-fives” odometer reading on my 1994 Legend coupe, in partnership with Josh who celebrated the same on his 2005 TSX. It was a rollover more than a year in the making, executed with painstaking precision with the help of a half-dozen friends who wanted to be there for the occasion. It took a lot of planning to get Josh’s car (700 miles away, in Boise) and my car (400 miles away, in Phoenix) to the same midpoint and pointed toward one another on a closed road within 2/10ths of a mile of each other. But we succeeded.
There’s much more to come on the “Fantastic Fives” achievement, as a video production is currently underway and you’ll see it soon enough. For now, here’s a 2-minute teaser!
I recently got to spent an evening with Donny Nordlicht (Cadillac) and Sofyan Bey (Redline Reviews) who were in town for a media event. Thanks for inviting me out, guys!
I have some special recognition for a couple of friends who went above and beyond the call of duty. My friend Kyle put some elbow grease into the TL and got it looking shiny and new after our Zion hike, and my friend Hy entrusted his prized TSX with me for a couple of weeks while he performed a full detail on my 1994 Vigor. The car came back yesterday sparkling better than ever before! Thanks Kyle and Hy!
Finally, along with my behind-the-scenes look at the Honda main office on Friday, Brand Champion Charles Schnieber told me about some exciting new things going on in the racing circuit. Check out a video he narrates on Civic performance heritage.
I’ll let the rest of the photos below tell the story. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Westbound at 4k+ RPMs in the Integra on Thursday
Fueling up in Palm Desert
Friends Logan, Davis, and Vince who work at Honda HQ
Acura Week schedule
With Acura PR Manager Matt Sloustcher
The below greeting card was given to all associates at corporate on Friday morning, along with an “A” emblem lapel pin.
Meeting up with my journalist friend Lance who was lucky enough to get an NSX on loan for a few days.
Hitting up “Fleetwood Square” in Tarzana before heading home. The building is in the shape of a Cadillac front end, in case you couldn’t already tell!
Last weekend’s trip to southern Utah included a drive through Vegas, including the Strip, which was a somber place to be just 4 days following the tragic shootings.
Friday morning 10/6 in St. George with mom, and with my friend Conor who’d flown in from New York.
Off to see the town in the Legend
“Face-swapping” with my 5-year-old nephew Beckam. Yikes.
The half-million-milers reunited once again.
St. George Marathon – probably the most scenic 26-miler you could ever run.
Plus, how’s this for motivation? (And they did deliver on that promise)
Mom (with more energy than she knew what to do with), Josh, Conor, and Jason
Grandma was there with her traditional poster. I had 2 cousins also running.
Trying to keep up with nephew Beckam when he sprinted with me for a block.
Finish line!
Josh getting the TSX prepped for its showtime.
Quiet on the set!
Anddddd, success! High five for fab fives.
Looking purdy with all those miles.
Interview session back at my brother’s.
Mom serving up breakfast pre-departure Sunday morning.
More TL-S glamour shots
And my ‘visitor’ at the house for a couple of weeks, Hy’s immaculate 2004 TSX.
Clearly I had the wrong car to be driving by “Legend Cleaners.”
And look what I test drove a few weeks ago: a Fir Green Mica 1996 Acura SLX Premium. Oh, boy. I passed on that.
drivetofive 
October 15, 2017 at 11:12 am
looking forward to the video!!!
October 16, 2017 at 6:12 am
Thanks Dave. It’s going to be a good one! Hope you had a great weekend.
October 15, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Another action-packed post! I have to get caught up on my blog, and I believe today is that day; I am about three posts behind. Way to carpe diem, son. See you in about five more weeks.
October 15, 2017 at 2:41 pm
Tia, yes, please get publishing! Signed, An Avid Reader.
October 16, 2017 at 6:12 am
I’m trying, I’m trying 🙂
October 16, 2017 at 6:12 am
Sounds good! Blog away!
October 15, 2017 at 2:41 pm
What a two week adventure! It must have been a real honor to have been a speaker at Acura. Here’s hoping that someday the footage is allowed to surface and we can all see your remarks!
The synchronized milestone is really cool. Looking forward to the video showing you and Josh simultaneously crossing that one! Compared to your Legend and Josh’s TSX, my Accord is just getting broken in…
Congrats on the marathon too… because with everything else you have going on, why not run 26.2 miles also?? 😀
October 16, 2017 at 6:13 am
I know! I’m going to try and get my hands on the footage from Friday’s event in Torrance, and I’m anxious to see what we can come up with on the synchronized 5’s. I was more worried about a successful odometer milestone that day than I was about running the 26-mile marathon, haha.
October 15, 2017 at 4:33 pm
SO MUCH GOODNESS in one post! But, that Vigor came out minty fresh 😉 Good work, Hy!
October 16, 2017 at 6:14 am
Seriously, it looks phenomenal! Removed dings, full clay / polish / wax, interior cleaning and leather treatment. Once I get my front & rear bumpers refinished it’ll look like a new car entirely.
October 18, 2017 at 5:11 pm
Thanks Conor…
October 17, 2017 at 12:44 pm
Wow. I’m kind of out of breath just by reading all this! Haha. Can’t wait for the full video! The synchronized 555,555 milestone is such a neat idea 😃
October 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm
I know, sorry. Too much information! I really could’ve broken up the content here into multiple posts, buttttt what the hey! Hope all is well out in IL-Land this week!
October 17, 2017 at 8:46 pm
Hi Tyson, wow that’s awesome that you got hit 555,555 miles on your Legend! I’m glad that you like to continue driving your Legend a lot. I noticed that you don’t drive your ILX anymore. Do you still have your ILX at home? I hope you have a great day.
October 18, 2017 at 5:40 am
Yes I still have the ILX but my younger brother Payton has been driving it primarily. I’m just taking a break from it since I had it over 5 years and want to start enjoying my other cars a little mroe often 🙂 I hope you are having a good week, Josh!
October 18, 2017 at 12:06 am
That was quite the eventful two weeks. You need a vacation! Glad I got to be part of the production team and witness all fives. Can’t wait to see the video. That SLX looks haggard though.
October 18, 2017 at 5:41 am
I know, you are right on the vacation! Too bad I’ve spent all my PTO hours already. Banner owns me. FAOL.
October 18, 2017 at 12:12 pm
Nice! So cool. I am only at 154,000 on my Tsx. My more modest goal is to go over 250,000 one day.
October 18, 2017 at 12:41 pm
You’ll get there! Hold tight because Josh and I have some fun tricks up our sleeve with these upcoming video features. Hoping to make some TSX people like yourself proud!
October 18, 2017 at 5:06 pm
The marathon must have been both fun and gruelling especially at that higher altitude. Guess it’s not just normally aspirated engines that have trouble performing where the air gets thin?
BTW, love the pic of “Fleetwood Square” I forwarded it to my sister who lives in nearby to see if she recognizes it. My dad worked in Tarzana for several decades and while it looks vaguely familiar I can’t quite place it. Ironically his first Cadillac was a ’70 Sedan de Ville with that same front end…
So now that you guys hit 555,555 and surpassed another threshold what will be the next milestone?
October 18, 2017 at 5:10 pm
Yes the high elevation competitive runs are killer! Every year I tell myself “Never again,” but then I end up signing up as soon as registrations up for the following year.
The next milestone for me, in the Legend coupe anyway, will be 567,890. Since I already have 123,456 234,567 345,678 and 456,789. I bet I have hundreds (thousands?) of odometer pictures from over the years. Obsessions…
October 19, 2017 at 11:40 am
This one post is more than a lot of people do in a year! Loved being a part of the fab fives. Can’t wait to see that all come together. TL certainly cleaned up nice! I didn’t think it could be improved from the condition you got it. Absolutely love Hy’s TSX. One of a kind for sure.
October 19, 2017 at 12:09 pm
It really is – love Hy’s cars. That A-Spec body kit and accessory wheels really set it off. Definitely some post overload in here, but I felt the need to get a lot of stuff off my chest. Which begs the question – when will we see a Driven for Drives update?!
October 25, 2017 at 3:10 pm
That white 2004 Acura TSX looks pretty good in your showroom floor. 🙂
October 25, 2017 at 3:13 pm
Oh I totally agree! A cream puff if I ever did see one. Sell me yours!
October 26, 2017 at 10:55 am
Sorry. My car is not for sale. I will let you know if the situation changes in the future but please don’t hold your breath. 😉