I thought that it might be interesting to share some stories of how complete strangers will stare, gawk, change lanes, or just start talking about our cars. Pretty much every time I get gas I can count on someone talking to me about my car.

Here are a couple of my stories:

A couple nights ago I happened to stop at Burger King with my wife and two kids. While we were inside eating, a couple of teens that were sitting near us asked me if the Rx-8 was mine. After I told him, “Yes it was”, he proceeded to ask me lots of questions which I gladly answered. After we were finished talking, the last thing he said was rather interesting. He said, “Thank you sooo much for buying it. You really made my day.” I never really thought about the pleasure that I can bring to others just by driving it around!

Another time a guy drove by me with his jaw practically on the floorboard of his car. I needed to change lanes and happened to be right behind him at the next stoplight. It was so funny to watch him. He would sit up, turn his head around and stare for a bit and then turn around and sit back down. Then he’d do it again … put his hands on his head … do it again. It was hilarious! As we drove on, I had to get over one more lane and happened to be ahead of him by a couple of cars and I could hear him yell, “I love you car!! It’s awesome!!!” I just gave him a thumbs up and drove off when the light changed.

What about you? What are your stories?

FUnny stories. Since I haven't gone anywhere far since I got my car I've not had very many good stories.

Yesterday I had one guy follow me into a parking lot and say, nice car, I had to pull in to see it.

A few days ago at the liquor store a bunch of guys (clerk included) were saying look at that car out there man! It's awesome, RX-8 bla bla bla. I was laughing thinking hehe that's cool, I wonder if this is happening in other stores when I'm not around.

I've experianced the many gawkers that are out there but this one goes a step further......

I was driving home from work (a 30 min. commute) and this white prelude came flying by me and then started to slow down and got in my lane. I proceeded to change lanes thinking this was an idiot, but as I started to pass him he stayed a little ahead of me and matched my speed. I then noticed something in his side mirror, couldn't tell what it was at first, then.... FLASH..... he was taking pictures while driving on the freeway....... He then slowed down to be behind me and handed the camera to the female passenger. She then took at least half a dozen or more pictures as they tried to get all sides of my car. I was laughing and loving it the whole time......

So far I'm having about 2 thumbs up or "positive comments" a day. The funniest thing is when I go to the restaurant and eat on the terrasse (outside) and watch people stop by the car, looking thru the windows... getting down on to look under the car, making comments... one big disadvantage is that I've a lot of fingerprint cleaning to do...:D

The funniest so far is when I went to the dealer to get my floormat... as I was about to turn into the parking lot, out comes a red miata with a beautifull blond woman with a big smile.. then as she passed by me, she blew me a kiss:D ... right at that moment I knew she was in love... sigh ... not with me ... but with my car :p ... I guess my girlfriend won't complaint ;)

I was filling up at a Sam's Club gas station a couple of weeks ago and a guy filling up his pick-up next to me kept looking over and then started walking around the front end -- like four or five times! Finally he asked what kind of car it was so I say "It's a Maserati" ;) They guy makes all kinds of faces and says "HOW MUCH does that thing cost?" -- I say "About $125,000" nonchalantly. The guy then says "Awesome car!" I then break the news to him that it is really a Mazda -- RX-8 as a matter of fact -- and runs about $30k. The guy couldn't believe it -- he said it looked more like $125k than $30k. I just got in the car and LMAO! :D

this is awesome
for the 2 wks i had the car, i got so many thumbs up and stares that i lost count. a couple of civics and crx tried to show that theirs are faster but all end up just right infornt or on the side gawking :D

couple pulled up next to me, roll down their windows to give my car thumbs up

and the stares from cops... omg :D Intersection, he's making a left turn, i am inline to make my left turn, he wasn't looking at his turn, the whole time, both of them were lookng at my car :D

when i had my wrx wagon, i got people come up to ask me, "Is this car really fast? It's a toyota right?"

Great thread!

A few experiences here so far...

1) Driving on I-20 back into Atlanta on Monday... this older pickup truck pulls into the left lane and slowly accelerates up beside me. I look over and there is two young guys in there. The driver gives me a thumbs up with a huge grin on his face. So traffic waxes and wanes, and a little later I notice the same truck just a little ahead of me. Looking out through the back window this time is the passenger, just staring.

2) Pull into the gas station yesterday. I'm filling up when I see this head poke out around the edge of the pump. It disappears, than appears again. Finally this guy steps around. "Is that the new RX-8?" We chat for a couple of minutes and finally he says "Sweet ride" and gets into his truck and drives off.

3) I go to the airport to pick someone up... come up to a crosswalk in the covered parking area. Three blondes were waiting to cross and I stopped and waved them across. They are walking and one of them looks over at the car. I see her say something to the other two, and in unison three heads turn around to stare. They finish crossing and instead of walking off, they all stood there, turned around and looked at the car until I drove off.

These all happened in the space of 48 hours after getting my car :)

Seriously, I keep a paper towel in the car to rub the nose prints off the glass. I've been chased on the freeway just to get gawked at. People change speeds oddly, fly by, slow down, everything to get a better look. People motion for me to roll the window down and yell "what is that!".

Last week, backing out of a space in a parking lot a driver hailed me -- motioning me to stop. I pulled back in and he came over to get the whole story (fortunayely I was not in a rush). When I'm pulling out or merging, people are always waving me in, just to get a better look. People point at virtually every red light. It is funny though, you can see different cultural trends. Most white guys think they're just too cool to show interest(I like to catch them looking out of the corner of their eye), especially if they're with a woman. Though similar to my old 911, it is a car that women seem to love the look of. I get thumbs ups and "nice car" a lot.

People pay A LOT more for these treats. I know it will pass soon, but it is a trip.

But the strangest thing is -- I've had my 8 for a month now and I have yet to see another one on the road. So... I can't say that I actual know what it looks like driving in traffic. Weird.

RM

Coming back from Target the other day, I saw a guy get out of his new 350Z and looking into my car with amazement. He was circling the car right when I walked up to it. it was pretty cool to see an envious 350Z owner gawking at the car.

The good news: 100 thumbs up.

The bad news: 98 male appendages.

I have 28 days left to get a Penthouse Forum story out of ownership of this car or back it goes :)

Originally posted by rotarymotory
Seriously, I keep a paper towel in the car to rub the nose prints off the glass.


I had a paper towel, but after using Zaino on my car, I keep a cotton towel :-)

Like TT2RX8, I've been averaging 2 comments a day. Unfortunately, most of the comments I've recieved have been from men, middle aged (like me) or teenagers. Not a chick magnet. so far.

The RX-8 impresses most, that is for sure. Young & old alike, male, female....Mazda did good in making the looks attractive to a broad range of people.

While I have had many of the same stories, my best one so far was when I was walking out of Best Buy, making my obligatory purchase of a new DVD. There sits a beautiful Honda S2000, yellow w/ black leather. Like a magnet I am drawn over to the empty cockpit, and the owner kept the top down, so I was able to just galk at the overall package. The S2000, after all, was my next purchase before I stumbled upon the RX-8 & pre-ordered.

While I am still staring, the owner comes up, impressed that his scooby is drawing the attention of me & my teenage boy. I asked him his opinion, to which he replies his love and admiration of his sports car.

I compliment him on his choice, and continue our walk to the far end of the parking lot where the RX-8 is waiting to come back to life. As we take leave of the lot, the S2000 is still waiting in line to exit at the light, so we decide to pull up next to him & stop. He looks over, and then I finish our conversation we started at his car by saying, "... but I really like my RX-8 sports car much better".

The last thing I saw as we pulled away was his dropped jaw.

now THATS a good story!

Sounds like me!

I saw my first 8 about a week ago. Winning Blue. Sexy, sexy, sexy. I had to see it! He was making a left into the lane going the oppopsite direction as me in an intersection. When all of the cars making their lefts, I pulled into the intersection to make a U-Turn and proceded to do a 180 degree doughnut on accident (tires are getting a little worn I think). I chased the guy down for a half of a mile until I came up next to him. He looked scared as hell. Then I did a little bowing motion, gave him the thumbs up, and sped away into the night. He looked happy.

Made my day, and I'm sure it made his.

:D

My first drive of my car.
Going down 4 lane divided road.
Guy goes slowly by me gawking.
I slow down a bit, he does too.
He does not notice that the reason I am slowing down is the light in front of us has turned red.

He broadsides a white Ford F250 pickup truck.

Worse news:
Acress the red light, facing us, are two RCMP cars, waiting for the same light.

Life probably sucked for him that day.

As for chick magnet, left a restaurant with wife and friend couple of weeks back.
Gettingin in my car.
Chick walking by with boyfriend/husband says "Wow, I like your car.

Evil eyes from her companion and my wife..

Honestly, I tried to keep a straight face!

Went to a local used car dealership. All of the sales people came by and gawked at it. About 15 minutes later when I was about to leave one of the dealers jokingly asked if they could rent it from me...they had at least half a dozen people pull into their lot to check it out!

I live on an Air Force base, so everday when I get my ID check driving on base the cop at the gate asks what kinda car it is and the usual response "nice ride" or "sick" or "damn thats nice"

Sure am gonna miss that part of the deal!

Here in New York I have gotten only a dozen or so comments over the last 2 weeks. But a few times I have had the both front and rear doors open one one side and that gets the most people stopping to look.

I gave a ride home to a friend of a freind, this beautiful Italian woman, and she loved it, but after looking in the back seat commentted, "there is no room to make love in the car."

I realized she was right about not having a bench backseat, but today I happened to put the fron drivers seat all the way reclining, and nocticed it gets almost completely flat, so it seems it just may be possible. I'll have to report back on that one!!!

My new standard line is now:
"I would have gotten here sooner, but I had to show my car to somebody."
It's true!

Saw a Titanium Gray 8 the other day in McKinney/Allen TX area at a stop sign. Flashed my lights at him, didn't see a response. He sat there for a while tho, probably completely dazzled by my brilliant Lightning Yellow. haha

I've had the car for about two weeks and I have received a lot of comments - on a daily basis I'm told that my car is: "Phat", "Tight", "Awesome", "Bad-ass" and a plethora of other comments! We are all cursed with this! I was washing my car yesterday and the "girls" from the office across the street came out to look and gawk at the car! They spent about 10 minutes asking questions and even sat in the car! One of the ladies even ask to look under the hood! For those who have not received their car: Be afraid...be very afraid!

Owning this car is just too much fun!

I have gotten plenty of looks from this car. 3 people stopped while I was washing my car to ask about it, and I live in a cul-de-sac (?). But the best story as follow:
I go to the seven eleven to buy Lotto tickets. Standing in line is a redneck. He asks me, "Is that a Maseratti". I told him its an RX8. "Either way, that's a good looking car". As i finished purchasing my tickets, the clerk looks at me and says: "If you win the Lotto, can I please have your car?".
In addition, my female coworkers have been more than eagered to go to lunch with me, I just hope my wife doesn't catch me cruising around during my lunch break. Did I mention I love this car?

At rush hour, exiting a parking building, I found myself on the sidewalk waiting to exit into traffic. The sidewalk was crawling with people leaving work. The foot traffic came to a stop on either side of my car (instead of flowing in front of behind me) and people were bending over to look in, pointing, commenting, smiling and the 8 was causing quite a stir. I had to try to wave they away so I could see to get onto the street.

I was amazed that so many people seemed facinated by the car. It was nice to get the attention, but it was also a pain to try to get through the crowd onto the street.

On the way home, a TT pulled along side and the guys head was weaving all around to get a better look. Then he smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

Originally posted by RX8Lover
Coming back from Target the other day, I saw a guy get out of his new 350Z and looking into my car with amazement. He was circling the car right when I walked up to it. it was pretty cool to see an envious 350Z owner gawking at the car.

That's as believable as peace in the Middle East. ;)

Just yesterday: Sitting in traffic at a stop light heading home. I see a guy in my rear-view mirror jump out of his '94 Accord and runs up next to me IN TRAFFIC. He yells out, "I'm a Rotor-Head! I had to see it up close!" :) Gave me a good chuckle.


A few weeks ago, right after getting the car, I had my car valet parked at a restaurant. When the car was brought up front, a group of guys stopped their conversation to exclaim, "That the new RX-8?" My friend, who's car was brought up first, noticed all the folks staring at it as I drove off. He told me later, "Everyone you drive by turns and stares. Now you know what it must be like to be a blond with big tits." :D

Today I pulled up to a 3 way stop, after a yellow miata. I wait he waves me through, I figure he's probably looking at the car.

Yup, I drive slowly past and look in my rearview. He turns left and his head is looking BACKWARDS.

LOL

EDIT: 2 younger girls (16ish) said they liked my car today :D

And a younger guy too, he was 5 I think LOL

Hi,

I've had the car for 3 weeks and haven't seen another one on the road. It has been a lot of FUN!! I am "the chick" in this story, and I have had guys "approach" me because of the car.

I guess it is a "guy magnet"...

At least, for me it is ....

:D

LMAO! All great stories! I have a few myself...

First one is... I work with 128 other people. 117 of them are women. I've had a lunch date almost everyday since I've gotten this car. LOL... my poor dog. She's got a small bladder and I usually go home to let the bitch (that she is) out during my lunch hour. I usually either get my lunch or gas purchased for me. hehehe. Everyone whos' seen my car, makes an enthusiastic comment about it. It's mostly the women who ask for a ride though. :D I did have one negative comment. "It's a real nice car... look better if it was cleaner though."

Which leads me to my next story. "Hey, I just got the car 3 days ago, and it hasn't stopped raining long enough to wash!!!!" So I took it to a SuperWash during a lunch hour and pressure washed (from a safe distance) some road dirt (and bugs... damn those bugs!) off to make it shine again. As I pull out to chamoi off the car, some pimply faced teen comes over and starts up a conversation. He finally asked what it was and I told him it was a Mazda. "That's a Mazda? I thought it was a "foreign" car." If I was in the middle of drinking something... I would've spewed. Off he went to finish drying off his mommy's lovely teal mini-van (very lovely color... would look awesome on a vette). Oh well. Guess japanese cars aren't considered foreign anymore. LOL

Going back to work, I'm stopped at a red light. I see a super tricked out white probe rolling down the overpass, coming from the opposite direction. He slows down and rolls down his very black tinted windows. He's gawking at my car over his equally dark ray-bans. He's not paying attention... smacks into the back of a powder blue caddy stopped at the light. Looked like the driver had equally light blue hair so I think it was a granny. The look on his face! I could see the profanities flow out his mouth... never knew I could read lips. It was around 3-4 mph, so there shouldn't be any bodily injury or vehicle damage. I drove by.. shaking my head like the Michelin man in that commercial.

I took a close friend out for dinner... when we were done and walking out to the parking lot... she says. "Where did we park??? oh well, I'll just have to look for the best damn looking car in the lot." Holy crap... can't tell you how good that felt.... hey guys... make that statement to your gf/wife more often... it'll do you good. She didn't have to look far... there were about 7 people (big family) surrounding my car (yes, I got about 6-7 lil hand prints on my car). We spent a 1/2 hour talking to them. The dad was really hot over this car... I think he would've soiled my car had I left him alone with it. He said he was looking for a "pleasure" car (or Harley) so he and the wifey could spend some riding time together... and when I told him how much MSRP was... he said he'd rather have THIS than an "ole hog" anyday. I told him he could probably get a loaded 8 for less than a new HD and below MSRP. I gave him a business card from the salesman I dealt with... I may get a birddog fee or some comp accessories if he buys. LOL And... he might be the second RX-8 owner locally. Maybe he'll go for yellow... he owned a tan suburban. :)

Driving around town and on the highway, I've noticed a trend...
Around town, guys mostly ignore the 8 unless they can see me directly on. The women on the other hand... they slow down, chase behind and pull along side and really like to get a good look at this car... lol, maybe it's the color... since it was labeled a "girl" color elsewhere on this board. On the highway... it's a different story... it's the guys who speed up when I pass em to get a closer look.

Well, that's it for now... I've only had this car for about a week... I just turned the 600 mi mark. Now the fun begins!!!

Peace

Great stories, everyone! It's funny - there was a thread a LONG time ago on the RX-7 mailing list about people with 3rd gen RX-7's getting gawked at, asked questions, etc. Not to mention numerous stories of rear-end collisions from gawkers (not to the RX-7 at least!)

The other funny occurance was people trying to keep up with one on an off-ramp. An old buddy of mine had about 2-3 people in SUV's or minivans spin off the road trying to follow him on an offramp! They just weren't paying attention and we just following the leading car, then discovered they didn't stick as well through a turn! He stopped every time to make sure they were OK - no damages or anything, just confused drivers.

Have you guys noticed waves or thumbs-up from RX-7 drivers? I've seen an '8 in a parking lot, but have yet to see one on a road - I'm dying to give out waves! :)

Dale

Posted on this on the Canada forum, but will post here as well, and yes girls do love the car!

I drive it around Vancouver, and people everywhere roll down the windows and say either say "hey nice car!" or "what kinda car is that". Hehe Yesterday 3 blondes in a CRV caught up to me in a light and the following coversation occured:

"Excuse me sir, what kinda a car is that, is it 2003?"
"No it is a 2004 Mazda"
"2004! It is very cute! I like it! So it is a Mazda....?"
"Have you ever seen X-Men 2?
"Yeah"
"It is the Blue Car"
"Ooooooooh yeah it was very nice!"
"How much trunk space does it have in the back? A Lot?"
"Yeah, the back seat can fit 2 people as well? (hehe my bad attempt at seeing if they wanted a ride)
"Nice little car. Very Cute, I love it."
"Thanks" Light Turns Green, they drive off and and heads are still out the window looking at the front. I am the type of driver that just likes to cruise slow on roads hehe.

But with the good always comes the bad, I always attract Rice boy racers that speed beside me and they wanna race me. Most of them have been mustangs and civics. I just ignore them tho!

Hehe, see, so this car does attract girlies! Gasp. I dont wanna say it, but right now it attracts more attention then the NSX (hehe could be because it is 10 years older) but I still love my Acura!

Oh P.S, this car also attracts a lot of middle aged men, but I dont really remember any of those conversations!:D

it attracts more attention then the NSX

Really?? I have to say I'm surprised. I think the RX-8 is real nice looking, but the NSX, while slightly tame by today's standards, still has that 'supercar' look to it to me.

Maybe it's the new car 'glisten' that you just can't seem to get with an older car no matter how much you wash and wax.

Those are great stories.

A couple of days ago, I was stopped at a light on my way home from work. This TT convertible pulls up on my left, and the girl in the passenger side (incredibly beautiful blond) asked me what kind of car it was. When I told her "Rx-8", she smiled, reached over into my car, and gave my a H/J !

Her boyfriend looked pissed once she finished.

Originally posted by Lex
Those are great stories.

A couple of days ago, I was stopped at a light on my way home from work. This TT convertible pulls up on my left, and the girl in the passenger side (incredibly beautiful blond) asked me what kind of car it was. When I told her "Rx-8", she smiled, reached over into my car, and gave my a H/J !

Her boyfriend looked pissed once she finished.

these are supposed to be TRUE stories. :)

h/j?!

i doubt it.. she had to at LEAST open her door...

You know, I didn't even think of it at the time...yesterday I headed out of my office to drop off the car at the tinters. There was a 4-car pileup nearly in front of our building. I got in the car and left. Reading this thread I just realized that the pileup occurred no more than 7 feet from where my car was parked - facing the road. Speed limit is 25 (enforced with extreme prejudice!), and a relatively low traffic area. Can't think of what else would have caused a 4-car in a 25! :p

Fun stories, even though some stretch the limits of my gullibility. Thanks for sharing everyone.

While I've not had any particularly outstanding experiences, I still marvel at how many stares I get and how many people I never spoke to before suddenly approaching me asking about my car and saying how great it looks.

One kind of funny moment --
The other morning it was raining as I was driving in to work, so the pavement was a little slick. There was a black Mustang with a silver racing stripe in front of me at a red light. I noticed him looking in his rearview mirror and then he started revving his engine really high, making all kinds of racket. I knew he was going to try to show me up when the light turned.

Sure enough, when it went to green, he put the pedal to the metal and .... his car hardly moved as it was fish-tailing so much on the wet pavement! :D Of course, I'm right up on his butt rolling my eyes as if I'm put off at having to wait for him to get going.

When he finally got his traction, he took off, but I'm sure he was very red-faced. heh heh

Too many stories to mention, but 2 stand out.

The first....washing the car at one of those pressure wash places (no, I didn't let the pressure wand get too close to the car. Only reason I was there was because my driveway was being worked on). Aside from all the comments and fingerprints from others who were washing their cars too, I saw 3 cops pull into the car wash to go to the "drive thru" portion of the car wash with their cruisers. I thought, "that's odd....so many cops pulling through within a few minutes of each other". The last cop to pull through actually came up to me to talk about the car. He knew all about the RX8 (and rotaries in general) and was a real fan. We talked for about 10 minutes and I finally asked him why so many cruisers were coming through the car wash within minutes of each other. He said the first cop that pulled through the car wash got on his radio and broadcast to all the other cops about seeing a "some sort of super car" at the car wash. I live in a small town. The most exotic car we see around here is a Corvette. So, they all came to the car wash to check it out.

2nd story...I was at a "church festival". They usually make the festival goers park in the grass adjacent to the church. When I pulled up, the teen that was directing traffic, stopped, gawked and signaled me to park right in the "priest's driveway" attached to his house next to the church. After being at the festival for about 10 minutes, the priest, who is the pastor at the church, comes up to me and asks me if that's my car in his driveway. I said, "yes, Father...it's mine but the parking attendant told me to park there". He said he didn't care if I parked in the driveway. He just wanted to know if I would open the car so he could look inside. Of course, I obliged. Ended up, the priest was a "tuner" before he went into the seminary. He loved the car!

When my wife got my car from the dealer for my birthday, she stopped at the store, went in, came out and guys were all over the car. Two guys asked if they could get a picture of them next to the car.

Now, my wife will not take it anywhere. She thought she was going to get car jacked!!!

Sounds like driving an RX-8 is the next best thing to attending self-esteem camp.

thumbs up, questions, gawking, rubber-necking, pacing, etc. The best was a guy yesterday in a new black 350Z convertible with dealer plates pacing me, slowing to get behind me and following me to my house to get a better look! Same day, another guy in a red Eclipse convertible pulling up next me in the rain, window down, asking me if it's what he thinks it is and then telling me that he thinks it is so much better looking than a Boxster?
Both are true!:D

Take advantage of this time... Sometime, as more are sold, the limelight will go away..

My two favorites: Middle-aged, pleasant-looking Civic driven next to me at a stop light by middle-aged, pleasant-looking woman.
"Nice car," she says. "Wanna trade? I'll throw in a CD."

As I park on a neighborhood street, a sedan pulls alongside and the driver makes enthusiastic comments. I tell him I'd be glad to show the car off, and he parks. He gushes about the car, but of course can't ignore the $3,000 goring an 80 year old lady gave my left side with her Caddy (her insurance co. is paying for the fix, which begins tomorrow), or a small ding elsewhere. Not to worry, he says; he works at a body shop and was cruising to find moonlighting work. He'll fix the ding that very afternoon, and throw in a wash, all for $450 -- after a small hesitation, down to $375. I took his phone number -- anyone want it? :>)
Mitch

When I received THE LETTER, I wanted to make certain I wanted to keep the RX8.

Went to the local Nissan dealership to drive the 350Z yet again. I pulled up in the RX8. A couple who were looking at a Z came over and asker me about the RX8. Told them about the letter and wanted to drive the Z one more time. They wanted some "seat time" in the RX8 so I opened the my car for them. They asked me where I bought it. I told them and gave them my sales person's name. Got a check for $50 from my dealer today for sending them a "sale" for a new RX8 for the same couple.

While at the Nissan dealership, 3 sales people plus the sales manager asked me for "seat time" in the RX8. They were still sitting in and oggling over the RX8 after I had returned from the Z test drive 20 minutes later.

Originally posted by graphicguy
He said the first cop that pulled through the car wash got on his radio and broadcast to all the other cops about seeing a "some sort of super car" at the car wash. I live in a small town. The most exotic car we see around here is a Corvette. So, they all came to the car wash to check it out.

do you live in the boonies or something???

Ended up, the priest was a "tuner" before he went into the seminary. He loved the car!

did you get the -8- blessed? ;)

I had a couple of notable encounters yesterday. I was approaching an on-ramp to the freeway, and this pickup with ladders all over it came roaring up behind me -- I was thinking "I wish this asshole would get off my bumper", then the on-ramp curves sharply. Of course I can still maintain speed around it, but he has to slow down so I got a fair distance ahead of him.

Then a mile down the road I see him approaching fast in my rear view. I stayed in the right lane to let the jerk get around me (if he wants a ticket he's welcome to it!). He pulled up alongside me, gave me a big thumbs up and a grin. Seems he just wanted a closer look at the car!

Later, I was driving down another road, and a guy on a motorcycle pulled up next to me, beeped his horn at me, stuck his thumb up, passed me, then turned back to look again, a stupid grin on his face the whole time.

Yesterday was full of encounters like this -- I felt like some kind of celebrity!

Never thoguht of getting the RX8 blessed. Good idea, though!

Actually, I live in Southern OH. Closest "real" city is Cincinnati, but that's not that big of a city in and of itself. My 'burg counts a Krogers as its downtown.

Back again...

This car is a SCREAM! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! :D

This all happened on Friday (9/6), going to the SEVENDUST acoustic JAM.

I run my car through Superwash after work to clean off some bugs and road dust/mud. As the automatic door opens to let me out to chamoi my baby off and there's a SWEET Black Vette sitting 20 yards in front of me with the owner wiping off his tires. I pull out and park it about 25 feet from him. Once I got out and started drying my car off, he looked up and noticed me. He starting wiping faster. LOL! When he was done with his wheels, he mosied on over and started the conversation with... "Awesome looking car, wanna swap?" I laughed and told him it was tempting... he told me it was a 1970 w/454. Obviously it was something he said to break the ice... I'm sure he didn't mean it. I know I wouldn't swap if I were in his shoes. I think he must have said "Sh*t Yeah!" about 6 times while I gave him the $0.25 tour. He laid down some serious rubber when he left. :)

I go pick up my two 6'2"+ passengers a few miles down the road and get there pretty uneventfully... a few honks and thumbs ups. My stepdaughter's husband just had his 2001 (or was it 02) Mustang totalled by his boss. It was a lease, and he ended up with a 2003 Civic... His brother is driving a red.... errrr WAS driving a red escort. The paint is so faded it's now PINK!!! He was seriously considering getting a red 350Z, until tonight. While I hurriedly ate my pizza on the front lawn, they circled my 8 like a pair of vultures. They both commented how the real deal looked somewhat different that what they'd seen in printed ads and articles. They SAID "THIS CAR IS AWESOME! YOU SUCK!" I let them open up the doors after I made sure they had no pizza grease on thier hands. I just cleaned her damnit! More OOooooos and more "man... you suck" were heard.

We got on the road and made sure I took my turns 40-50% faster than "recommended" and they thought I was nuts. When we got to the highway... I opened her up (on the on ramp). They couldn't believe I was doing 95 in 5th before I hit the highway and had another gear to get into. They were amazed by how deceptive the speed was. We came up on a very nice new red 350Z. I was in 6th cruising aound 80. Dropped it a gear and passed him on the left. He did a good job of speeding up and catching me... but wussed out when I was pushing it to triple 1s. Again, my companions didn't think ("feel like") we were moving that fast. I sold another 8! He wants to get a 2004 RX-8 next summer instead of his old first choice (350Z). He wants it in red w/red int. My step-son-in-law wants to trade up his civic to an 8. LMAO.

We got to Fort Wayne, wayyyy too early.... think driving at 100+ most of the way there instead of 45/65/55/45 had anything to do with that? LOL. Most people make that trip from this town in 45-60 mins... I did it in 27.

We pulled into PIERRE's (5 bars in one, with a central stage) parking lot and it was only about 1/10 full. There was however a small "car show/drive in" in the parking lot by the main entrance. Some very nice cars... two rows of them with thier hoods up. I drove in at 5mph (speed bumps) through the parking lot and got a row of car buff at the show, rubber necking to check out the 8 as I passed thier line of sight. It was great!

After the concert... we hit a "gentlemens club" As we were getting out of the car, a few of the dancers were leaving to go home... at least they looked gorgeous enough to be dancers. They stopped walking in thier general direction and made a bee line towards my car. "Nice car... can we get a better look?" Tit for Tat I said.... LMAO, sure enough as I opened the car up for the ladies to get a seat... they started to loosen up their clothes. Oh baby. We got flashed... it was a beautiful site. LOL. I swaped cell numbers from one of the girls. :D Pickin her up after work on Mon. "Mom, I'd like you to meet Mistress Naomi." BWAHAHAHAHA!!! She'd have a coronary. We stayed till about 3am... which means it was 4 across the border.

I hit 115 several times on the way home... the first time they noticed what speed I was flying at... I heard a chorus of "you suck!"

When we got home, they both piled out... I asked how comfortable their rides were. The rear seat passenger (Escort owner/350Z shopper) said he was comfortable and everyone he knows is shorter than he is, so he's sold. He's gonna start surfing eBay, and if he finds a lighly used one at a price he can handle, then he'll get one before next year. I he can't, he'll just order a new one when the dealers have their 2004 Clearance sales.

All that in a 13 hour span.

Love this car.... time to go wash and wax her.

Peace

I brought my car to a "show" today, TONS of cars there corvettes like crazy, older cars 30's-50's etc.

Anyway, tons of people were checking out my 8.

This hottie comes up to me says, hey this your car?

I'm like yup, she says I've been waiting here for awhile, can I sit in it?

Sure, I say, she gets in, says she is going to buy one (she seemed rather knowledgable).

Anyway it was fun, love this car too :)

This weekend's trip brought another bought of "Let's drool over the RX-8" to light for us

1)before we left, we were filling up at a gas station. The station's on a corner, and there's a stoplight there- a car full of girls pulled up to the stoplight, and yelled out the window "Is that the new RX-8?" at my husband who was standing next to the car(I was sitting in the driver's seat). He yelled "Yep," to which she yelled "I love you!"- He yelled back "It's my wife's car" and the girl screamed "Then I love her!" and pulled away." Apparently, it picks up women even when women are driving it.

2) As we leave a restaurant with our friends, two bikers (there was a bike convention in the town were visited) came up and wanted to know about it.

3)A beat-up 325 came flying past us, acting like he wanted to race- instead, as he passes, we get a thumbs-up out the window.

4)Biker chick started yelling at us as we were pulling out of McDonalds because she was in love with the car.

5)Got tailed for 20 miles by a Millennia, who finally passed with a wave and head nod.

6)Got tailed by a Mazdaspeed Protege for a few miles- was weaving in and out of traffic to keep up.

And the list goes on- not a day goes by I don't get comments from strangers or coworkers about it. I'll almost be sorry when there are more of them on the road....

On my way home today there were 4 or 5 guys up ahead walking along the road in my direction. As I drove past, I glanced in the side-view mirror to watch every one of them turn around and stop walking. That was a good one. :p

I had a construction worker flag me down in the middle of the road a couple of weeks ago, then started showing off my car to all his buddies.

I've also noticed that more people instinctively get out of my way with this car - even when I'm not in a hurry!