When it comes to my Wandering Leopard Trips, you will notice that often times there is a culmination to them.
Jim P has contributed to F31club content and information. I knew if I went out this way, I had to meet with him. Additionally, Albert and Jim know each other.
When I planned this trip, I contacted Jim and Albert and we planned to meet for dinner on the Saturday (I would leave Saturday evening). Albert had a change in schedule and spent Thanksgiving in Arizona, but planned to come back that Saturday. Albert’s flight was pushed back and unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet up.
With Wandering Leopard trips, gotta have a plan B. Additionally, public transportation is part of the experience.
That plan was me taking the bus and train to where Jim lived (just north of Seattle). Unfortunately, the Sounder train (which I wanted to try) doesn’t run on weekends!
Jim said he would pick me up from downtown Seattle. After he picked me up, we went straight to his place. He picked me up in an Nissan X-trail, which was never offered in the US!!!
Jim has so many awesome F31 and car stories… it is simply amazing! I am hoping he will write some of those up. There is official M30 history and then there are the personal accounts and history each M30 enthusiast/owner has or have experienced.
When we arrived to his place, we looked over his son’s Mark II, talked about the import processing. Then we went to the garage and checked out his son’s 240sx hatchback which was absolutely amazing!
Let’s get to the nitty gritty! It’s amazing when you find another enthusiast that is into the M30 and they start collecting parts! I’ve seen in with leopard owners, I’ve seen it with a few here stateside.
But the M30 convertible stockpile at this place, Jim reigns supreme! Then again, he has only really cared about the M30 convertible and has had multiple over the years!!!
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- Convertible tops
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- 1 of 3 convertible boot covers
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- Large manual
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- bins
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- bins
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- buttons
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- dashes
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- 2 convertible boots!
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- side glass!
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- boot bag
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- interesting info!
checked out Jim’s Vert:
Also his 007 edition Thunderbird!
We also went over the damaged vert.
He then took me to Mukilteo beach nearby.
It was getting late and my wife was texting me (she was in Downtown Seattle). Jim said he would drop me off in downtown. We talked about the vert in email and he mentioned he didn’t want to part it out unless he had to.
I asked him if would it be okay if I had the convertible and he said it was okay! Rather than part out another vert (which he did recently), he’d rather have someone willing to fix it and keep it on the road.
This will be on the next post!!!!
In all, it was a great short, impromptu trip to the PNW. The main thing is I was able to meet Jim! That made it superiorally a Wandering Leopard trip!!!
