Cars, Coffee and California...

[oldgrayleather]

What an awesome photo! All of them are fantastic, but I this one, just wow.

Couldn't agree more Harry - a single picture couldn't have captured the entire experience better!

[Roadster7]

What a blast that trip was. Your car is perfectly set up for those roads, and I'm forever grateful for the experience of driving up there. I wouldn't have missed the chance to encapsulate these moments; I'm glad most of the shots developed nicely!

[oldgrayleather]

What a blast that trip was. Your car is perfectly set up for those roads, and I'm forever grateful for the experience of driving up there. I wouldn't have missed the chance to encapsulate these moments; I'm glad most of the shots developed nicely!

[oldgrayleather]

Corifto arrived the next morning so while Benny was getting a detail, the three of us walked down to the Hermosa pier for a bit of lunch at Patrick Malloy’s and a bit of the salty air. Mostly we spent the time catching up but of course being Friday and all meant one thing, right? KINOD. On top of my house guests, Bo and Ian were down from Oregon and Washington respectively and Druz also made the drive down from NorCal (with a trailer!!). Great opportunity to meet up early for a bite at Chili’s along with Jon B, Matthew (and of course Lexie & Jack). This was the second time I’d seen Bo’s Roadster since he completed it but seeing it parked in his garage was completely different than seeing it out in the wild. And hearing it!!!!




Since I had two guests and only one spare seat we needed to bring along the “daily” so everyone could fit


And an end of the night fill up before we headed out at the crack of dawn to get to JCCS in Anaheim

[CLZinn2]

Love the louvers look soooooooooooo grrrrrrrreat!!! Outstanding looking car for sure. Thanks!
I hate that it doesn't post where you comment. Why can't this be fixed? (a note to whomever, not to oldgrayleather)
Best Always,

[CLZinn2]

Mom was only in hospice two days until she passed peacefully with us by our side Wednesday morning. When you receive a fatal diagnosis it doesn't make much sense to expect a different outcome but hope that the process can go as well as possible. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to be a part of this time in both my parents' lives and relieved they went without pain.

Certainly a lot of clearer ideas about life and how I want to ty and make the next 25-30 years to look. The 25 hour trip home starts Monday and cannot wait to be able to clear my head again in our Roadsters!


RIP Elizabeth Jane Royea
January 14, 1942 - October 14, 2020

So Very Sorry about you Mother's passing. My Mother passed in 2004 & Dad 2007. Not having parents feels strange. At times I feel like a 63 year old orphan. I believe it is something you never get over, you just get through on a daily bases. GOD BLESS

[oldgrayleather]

At this point I need to stop and take a moment to share some thoughts about a special someone. Druz was a member here long before I knew what Eunos was. He might be better known for his incredible orange V8 NA, experience with the most hard to find JDM parts and a love of old school SSR wheels. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and go learn a bit more about Road Star here…
https://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?821-Road-Star

About a year ago Druz also picked up another slightly more classic Roadster project, a Honda S600 which he’s also shared on here
https://mazdaroadster.net/showthread...822#post239822

Maksim has a few amazing shots because he can do that (Porta 400/ Nikon F3 if I recall)…


The greatest thing about the S600 is that might have been the motivation D needed to get a truck, rent a covered trailer and make his way down to JCCS.

I first met him at MRLS years ago and always thoroughly enjoyed both he and his wife’s company. As I’ve finally realized by now, authenticity is one of my most cherished characteristics in another human being and this couple has that in spades. And boatloads of kindness. Drew has many more skills than I, nonetheleast in fabrication. I’ve met few others who can casually approach a project for the first time and just love figuring it out. Also Willis, he can tell you. Anyways, Druz and I had been back and forth on a common rare part we had acquired with both our sets being incomplete. He felt pretty confident he could make the parts needed from the detail he had. On top JK had all the answers to any questions either of us could possibly have had. At KINOD and without any preview Druz nonchalantly handed me a box.

This was me opening said box (yes, that’s a genuine speechless moment.. I don’t have them very often).


He had fabricated and pulled together everything I needed to install a set of headlights I’d been sitting on for a long old while. He also brushed it off like it was nothing. I mean, wow. Seriously wow. So now just to get back to Canada, find the lights, clean up the FRP buckets and seal them and I should be good to go.


Isn’t life just spectacularly great sometimes? I’ll tell you, I definitely feel lucky…

[oldgrayleather]

At the crack of dawn on October 30th we drove out to Anaheim for JCCS.

Making our way in


The Miata paddock


Amazing the people you run in to at a place like this…


And such a fabulously wide range of JDM passion you could imagine








And thanks to Sonny for this one…


Super stoked that Bo walked away with both best Neo Mazda and the JNC award for the whole dang show!!!

And once it was all said and done we made our way to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for another dinner following by another wonderful evening of carrying on.

[druz]

Was an amazing weekend for sure. Pete, your enthusiasm and love for the Roadster community is unmatched and I'm sure provides an immense amount of motivation to many others besides just myself. I'm happy to be able return the favor in any way I can. Now maybe I'll get those patterns back out and finish my set

[oldgrayleather]

Was an amazing weekend for sure. Pete, your enthusiasm and love for the Roadster community is unmatched and I'm sure provides an immense amount of motivation to many others besides just myself. I'm happy to be able return the favor in any way I can. Now maybe I'll get those patterns back out and finish my set

What an enormous complement, thank you... Here's to chasing more ambitions and both of us getting these installed in 2022!

[oldgrayleather]

Andrew was driving back and Corey's flight left Sunday morning but Maksim's was delayed til Monday so we had another day to plan! JonB and Garrett were up for a drive to Malibu so we took the opportunity to grab lunch at Neptune's Net along with more chin wags.




Parked up along with Garrett’s Triumph (and yes, Roadster7 is in the back removing the rattling softtop latches that were driving me just a little mad


With Ian and Bo heading out on Monday we thought it best to end the week with a Korean BBQ before rolling ourselves back home to bed. I feel so lucky to have had such an exceptional week spending time with such an incredible group of the Roadster family...

[oldgrayleather]

Since I'm trying to play catch-up and have a long ways to go a few more updates from the beginning of November...

Visiting a good friend in Santa Monica. Classic SoCal and Roadsters do make for a fantastic pairing....


OC KINOD with Daniel and Sonny's roadsters (first Friday of every month!!)


A quick catch-up with Steve who always surprises with some treasures from his extensive wheel collection...

[oldgrayleather]

I don’t take many pictures but my late night drives over Palos Verdes truly provide for some of my most effective therapy…

[oldgrayleather]

Got invited to Cars and Classics in Anaheim so hard to pass up an early morning drive and meet-up with other car enthusiasts

New Miata friends




Some of the more interesting cars on show




And ending the morning with a couple group shots

[oldgrayleather]

To wrap up my last weekend in SoCal before my November trip back to see family, had the chance to get out for a drive with Kevin. We made our way down to Newport along the coast and stopped for a chat over Burgers before turning around...