The Tale

It was fall of 2003, and I had just gotten my car tuned at Z1 motorsports, and was really the first time I ever took the car on a long trip. I was taking the car to Rochester, NY to show all my friends the car and to take everyone for a ride. Of course, I had talked the car up so much everyone was anxious to actually see the car that "never existed."

So, on the 4 hour drive to Rochester, from Pennsylvania, the car was running so smooth, not a single problem on the whole way up. Motor wise, anyway. So, about 3 hours into the trip, after gently cruising the car, the roads were desolate, so i decided to peg out the speedo. I told myself, I will get it up to 160 and then immediately shut it down. I just wanted to see how hard the car pulled in the higher gears. WELL, the car pulled hard, very hard, It got to 160 with no problems. AND I STILL HAD PLENTY OF GEAR LEFT!!! The only problem was, the convertible top didnt like when i left off the throttle at 160mph. Soon as i left off, the roof came tearing off!!! Not only did this scare the beh-jesus out of me, my school papers went flying out the roof, my hat disintegrated (j/k), at least i think, because i never could find it.

Well, the damage was pretty severe. The top broke the aluminum skeleton/frame of the convertible top, broke the back window of the top into pieces, and smashed the shit out of the trunk lid, as you can see in the pics. The top broke right at the joint, and basically did a tomahawk chop to the trunk lid. The convertible lid survived, as did the wing. The brake light also survived, which is an absolute miracle; for those that know, these things are basically made of glass. The top frame i had to completely dissasemble, and have welded. It still is not up to its brand new condition, but i rarely drive the car with the top up anyway. I also put on a brand new canvas top, which was an ABSOLUTE pain in the ass. I would not recommend it to anyone. Take it to a pro to get it done.

Since the happenings I ordered a new trunk lid from Z1, and bought a new top I found on ebay. Had the lid painted to match, and re-installed the wing. The new trunk lid will be on the car for the EZCA meet on the weekend of 4/25/2004.

Moral of the story. Don't loose your hat. The convertible top's on the Z car are not made for 160MPH, so do not try this at home. I almost cried when i saw what it did to my fresh paintjob, and not to mention when i couldnt put the top up on the car cause the frame was shattered.