I went down to the Port of Tacoma this afternoon to see what I could see. The Foreign Trade Zone is very visible from the road. In fact, one red RX-8 bound for Alaska was parked right next to the fence. I looked in to see if I could answer the question of the aluminum vent bezel question in another thread. Sure enough, the car (which had 18" wheels and was a MT, but I could not tell the package because it was all covered in plastic) had the bezel rings in it. It also appeard untouched, so I don't think ithey were Port Installed. The cars have definitely been moved around, and it may just be my imagination, but I believe that there are fewer of them. I know that they have been rearranged and it appears that they have been separated into groups. Some are interspersed with other cars and they have this little number sign on them (like when you go to some car dealerships they put that triangular number marker on the roof of your vehicle). It looks as those are to be loaded with other Mazda vehicle bound for a dealership somewhere. Others have been moved significantly closer to the building where they do the Port Installed Options. I do believe the delivery cycle has begun!

Here is the request for donations: I have some crystal cubes with a rotary engine cut-away laser inscribed into it. I give them away as special thank you gifts to friends in the rotary community and they have been used by RPNW as trophies for various events. They cost $70. I feel that it is appropriate to give one to the Port Operations Director for Mazda in Tacoma. He and his crew have been great to me and have allowed me to pass on information to the board without restriction. He allowed me to video tape the cars as they came off the boat, etc, etc. He even took a phone call at home from his boss over a blown out of proportion comment I made to Mazda's RX-8 orders line. If you feel moved to contibute, my paypal address is htforfun@hotmail.com. Donate $1, $2, $5, or whatever moves you. If I collect over $70 perhaps we could give one to ibfubar2000 for all of his hard work, or I will give the excess back to Ryan Scott who was collecting donations for server upgrades. Even though they have enough money for the moment, running this board ain't cheap.

Thanx,
Brad (3Rotor)

cool,i wonder if that red on is mine.just wishing mine is still on the water.

I just want to keep this thread alive as I have received a contribution - thanx
Also, I am sure that as the cars begin arriving this week, the board will be relatively slow, with everyone out driving their RX-8s!!!

Have you actually seen any trucks leaving loaded with the cars, or are there trucks down there ready to be loaded?

You got any pics you can post of the crystal cube thingys?

Have not seen any trucks actually loading.

I don't have pictures, because it is very difficult to get a good picture. I would need a 5 Megapixel camera (I think) to get a really good shot. They are beautiful. If I could get a picture of them, I would be selling them on e-bay!