Summer 1998 - In the summer of 1998 I began to wonder where the car was. I knew that it was raced by Fastlane in 1993, and subsequently sold to someone in VA in 1994, but I lost track of it after that. So I did some casual inquiries.
After Fastlane let go of the car I heard it was sold to Alan Himes of VA and was used at an occasional Regional and National events by both Alan and Chris Reichel, also of VA. I had heard rumors that as late as 3 years ago it was still in Fastlane livery, and was seen at a Summit Point Regional events. A post to the "Wheel-to-Wheel" list netted some leads, one of which said he saw the car in flames at Summit Point a year or two ago. I made more inquiries about the car, but since I wasn't sure that I was VERY serious about buying it, I didn't want to bother anyone.
Summer 1999 - I got serious about finding the NX again.
I found out through various Internet inquiries that it has been sitting in the back of Datsun Dynamics of Vienna VA for over 3 years, after it tossed a rod out of the block at Summit Point. Inquiries to Datsun Dynamics confirmed that it was still sitting back there, after having been parked by its owner after the engine blew at Summit Point. It was dragged back to Datsun Dynamics on its trailer, parked in their back lot, and not even been looked at in 2-3 years.
After assuring the guys at DD that I wasn't a serial killer, they gave me contact leads for its current owner,Chris Reichel.
I called Chris and verified that he was still the owner of the car. He told me it had tossed a rod through the block, and the resultant oil mess ignited and pretty much caught the whole bottom of the car on fire. It even scorched the rear bumper! He was told that there were 20-30 foot flames shooting out the back before he got it stopped...
Since I have a buddy that lives in the area, I asked him to go by Datsun Dynamics and take a look. His report:
I visited the NX this afternoon. Read this before you look at the pictures.
Now, WAIT -- the pictures aren't going to show you much. That's because a number of wasps' nests have been built on the car, and the wasps don't care for visitors. I wasn't able to get up close to it; that will have to wait until it gets a little colder and the wasps die.
The bad news, beyond the wasps, is that the car is way into the weeds, with vines growing over it. It obviously hasn't been looked at in, I'd guess, two years. The car cover has disintegrated on the rear and the aft part of the roof, enough to let some sun through the backlight. Because I couldn't get close, I can't tell you anything about rust.
The good news is that it IS under a car cover, and that the rest is intact, so the interior was protected from sun coming in the side windows and windshield. However, given the amount of flora and fauna on the car, I wouldn't expect the CV boots, most rubber suspension bits, or belts to have survived. Given that we know he lunched the motor, it'll be a lengthy rebuild.
NOW look at the pictures, in the next message. Zoom in a bit if you can. Yes, that IS a giant praying mantis over the BFG logo in one picture. You can see the scorch marks on the spoiler; whatever he did to it was big. It looks like they trailered it back from the track and it hasn't budged since.
The guy at Datsun Dynamics (who looks startlingly like Bill) would be glad to have it out of there, but didn't have any details on condition.
I hope you save it.
The following photos are the ones that he included with his email. Disappointing...
I want to buy back this car from its current owner, along with all logbooks, so that it can be restored to its 1991 condition as a posthumous tribute to the man that prepared and maintained it. However, he's asking quite a bit for it, so I'm passing. Maybe I'll try again next year...
September 2000 - Well, I decided to go take a look at it. "Curiosity kills the cat" eh?
Wow! it took me a few minutes just to FIND the car; it's buried all the way into the weeds. Worse than last year's photos, it's a big mound of green vines. This stuff must grow like the Georgia kudzu...
I want it, and I'm going to try and negotiate with him. I know he's got a new member of the family on the way, so he's probably as motivated to sell as I am to buy. We'll see...
Click here for photos taken September 2000.
October 2000 - After several phone calls and lots of soul-searching, I purchased the car back from Chris Reichel in September of 2000. It kinda worked out best for both of us, because he's got a new addition to the family, and I'm willing to buy. My stopping by Datsun Dynamics to look at the car only kindled the desire...
As of the time of this writing the car is still in Vienna, but we're making progress towards getting it back to CT. At that point we'll begin repairing it and making it into an SCCA ITS car.
November 2000 - After tossing around the idea of driving down and picking up the car, or renting a U-Haul and dragging it back, we decided to pay InterCity Lines to pick it up and deliver it to us at Matt Kessler's shop in Wallingford CT. InterCity did it faster, less expensively, and better than we could have even if we did it on the cheap. The fully-enclosed truck that it was delivered in was very impressive, and the driver was very friendly and professional. Next time I need to move a car long distance, I'll use these guys.
The only down side is that we didn't get to keep the trailer that came with the deal on the car...
December 2000 - It's cold here in CT, and Matt's shop isn't very well heated...this may be a Spring Project...