JHof – an introduction

I just recently said a short goodbye to another forum after being a regular member there since April of ’03 when I finally got a hold of my new Z and had tons of stuff to post about. But, that website is devoted solely to 350s, and has no room for an Infiniti driver. So I left with having nothing more to post about. NICO is my new home and I hope you enjoy my writings.

I traded in my Z–my fifth Z–and got an Infiniti G35 Coupe.I did that sad deed because I just had a new Granddaughter added to the roster and a 2-seat car just wouldn’t cut it anymore.Among friends and family, the G is just what they would expect me to drive as I have always had sports cars.

At 63, I may be one of the oldest members on NICO.I retired at 55 and I have done nothing but travel ever since and always in the best car I can afford. Living that great span of time has allowed me to own and drive some of the most interesting cars that have come along since the Kennedy Administration came to an abrupt end. It’s also enabled me to teach my kids how to shift, then years later, teach THEIR kids how to shift–on the same car!!!

I guess I’m a car guy. I have a library filled with car books, I used to make intricate models of the cars I especially liked and I have been fortunate to own exactly the car that I deserved to own at the time when I owned it.

For example, my first car–not counting the ’56 Packard hearse that myself and my 2 co-owners watched crack through the ice and sink into Irondequoit Bay– was a 1960 Triumph TR3A with the second being an MGB which successfully got me through college and beyond. I have had two VW Bugs, a Firebird, a couple Cadillac’s, some Chevy’s (a ’56 Bel-Air sedan and a ’65 Impala SS. Wish I had THEM now) a 360 cid Ford Galaxy and other family-type cars. Mostly, I gravitated to the sporty cars, since REAL sports cars like Corvette or Porsche were way out of my pay grade.I had a Chrysler 300J with the humungous 440 block, had a leased E-type Jaguar when I lived in Dallas, had a BMW 330i that went back to the bank after a divorce, and I have even owned an Oldsmobile.

It was in ’74 when I discovered Japanese cars. The first was a Datsun 610 which turned out to be a really neat little 4-banger coupe and a car that nobody knows ANYTHING about today, and they didn’t in ’74 either. Since then, I’ve had 10-11 Japanese cars, along with a dozen “others”.

I guess the easiest way to introduce myself to this forum is to say “…hello, my name is JHof and I’m a caraholic…”

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