And Then It Was Summer

In lovely British Columbia by the sea, summers are reliably dry & warm. Something which surprised us on moving here 4 years ago. We'd expected the West Coast's reputation for rain to persist all year, but instead, for perhaps 5 months, we get very little rain. So little, in fact, that water restrictions are usually in place by July.
It seemed a waste to drive around in an enclosed car, even with the sunroof open, as we were doing. And so, towards the end of a hot, sunny summer, my eye was magically directed towards a sports car. A real "sports car", not a "sporting" car like a Mustang or Camaro.
It only stood out from the other cars in the used car lot because of the lovely orange paint, & because it was mounted on a ramp to show off the elegant lines.
I really didn't know very much about the Nissan 350Z, except that it was the same rear wheel drive platform that our Infiniti was based on known as FM by Nissan, meaning "Front Midship". By this they mean the car is rear wheel drive based with the engine in the front but being pushed back as close to the middle as possible, thereby allowing the wheels to go ahead of the engine. This gives both more foot room, as a narrow inline engine takes up less side to side space than a transversely mounted one, as well as more even weight distribution. Even in a V-shaped 6 cylinder engine, the actual block is much narrower than the top - see this photo on the left:

If the engine were turned around transversely, all those cylinders lined up would take up much more room, which is what happens in front-wheel-drive cars - they sacrifice some "spare" width of the engine area to gain it in the longitudinal area. Space is saved, but at the expense of a little foot room. Following this philosophy, Nissan's Infiniti brand emulated that of BMW.  That orange colour is lovely,isn't it?

But, I thought, it was a coupe, not a "proper" open sports car like the 1972 MGB that I'd once shared with my ex. Still, I took that car for a decent spin around the area & was very impressed. The manual gearbox was a delight, the seats were quite comfortable & the engine, the same VQ350 as in older Infiniti FX35s, was a beautifully sounding delight. So I checked around. And found a lovely, low mileage, 2004 Roadster in terrific shape. And as well, equipped with almost everything - including navigation & lovely leather seats. These latter were a trifle worn, but I put that down to patina! The engine is the same as in the FX35 - a CUV replaced by the FX37 we had before. This model sold for almost twice the price of the base coupe! This is it here - yes, we bought it! I know, it isn't that lovely orange paint, but apart from that...it's perfect! The actual colour is named as grey, not silver, but there's not much difference between the 2 cars we have when set next to each other.
This Z car just aches to be taken out on the winding roads of Vancouver Island & has even been across the mountains into the desert-like interior of the province.