Z Car Club Inland Valley
Murrieta, California
May 18, 2007 - Words by Ben Hsu, Photos by Dan Hsu

f you're not from SoCal, you should probably stop reading this right now, because it's just going to upset you. Sunny, warm weather is so prevalent and everlasting down here that there's actually enough classic car events for two to fall on the same day. In our case, it was the Eagle Rock Vintage Nippon Swap Meet and Car Show and the Z Car Club Inland Valley's sixth annual car show that we were forced to choose between.

We opted for the latter since it only happens once a year, but don't let the club name fool you. All manner of Datsun, Nissan, Infiniti, and anything else that is and ever was under the banner of Nissan Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha was welcome. The ever-present Z-car was still the most well represnted model, but there was no shortage of 620 pickups, 510 Wagons and GT-Rs around. Well okay, there could have been more GT-Rs, but one that you could sit in and paw all you wanted was pretty good already.

The only downside - and it was a very minor one - was that the Inland Valley is hot. Sweltering. But as they say down here, "It's a dry heat." Sure, they endure the sun-cracked dashboards, but at least the year-round warmth keeps the rust away.