As you'll read on, it was quite a day and quite a good gathering of the faithful at Autobooks. There was a book-signing for an important new biography of the Nissan model Z, a drive-it-on-over car show on streets surrounding the iconic bookstore, and a visit from a fairly-well-known local car collector ... needless to say, great camaraderie was enjoyed by one and all.

I really can’t say much more about last Saturday than to really thank and compliment everyone involved from our content manager Collin Morgan, to the friendly people at AutoBooks-AeroBooks in Burbank. Putting events/gatherings like these in a safe environment is just one more challenge that was faced.

In this case I can report that good (socialized distance) time was had by all. A lot of hardcore Z people got to meet author Pete Evanow, hang out with Jay Leno, show off, or marvel at (or both) some stunning examples of Nissan design and craftsmanship, and wander through one of the seven wonders of the Automotive World … an entire bookstore dedicated to the love of the automobile.

Thousands of books, hundreds of magazines, and a cordial atmosphere that makes the place more a clubhouse - where all car people are charter members from the first time that they walk through the door - than just a bookstore.

From the Enthusiast’s viewpoint.

The yearlong celebration of the 50^th Anniversary Z car continues in Southern California. This time it was an event hosted by the famed Autobooks bookstore in Burbank, CA to sign Pete Evanow’s great new book, Nissan Z: 50 Years of Exhilarating Performance.

To add to the atmosphere, Empire Z Club president Mike Rocha coordinated with other Z clubs, including SoCal’s Group Z and the Desert Z Association of Arizona, to hold a socially-distanced gathering of some very special Z cars at the bookstore.

Among the guests were Johnnie (Gable) Ueda and her son, bringing Mr. K’s famous yellow Z with the famous license plate “240 Z1,” which she still owns, and Jay Leno, renown automotive aficionado, who delighted the Z fans with his 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce-powered roadster one could hear at least two blocks away.

The rare car lineup included a 1979 280ZXR (1 of 1009) race homologation special, a 1980 10^th Anniversary “Black Gold” edition (1 of 2500), a pure white 1988 Shiro Special 300ZX (1 of 1002), a 40^th Anniversary graphite 370Z (1 of 1000) and a new black and silver 50^thAnniversary 370Z (1 of 1000).

Those in attendance also enjoyed coffee and donuts, perused the bookstore’s incredible collection of automobilia, and shared stories with fellow enthusiasts.

“Nothing gets one’s heart racing than to arrive on-site a special event that happens to be Z-related and find a huge turnout of multiple model year machines – from S30 to Z34 – all beautifully positioned in the early morning light”, said Pete Evanow, author of Nissan Z: 50 Years of Exhilarating Performance, who was on hand to sign his new book at the renowned bookstore. Books were sold and very happily personalized and signed by the author. “It was a great event,” said Tina Van Curen, co-owner of the decades-old LA car culture establishment. “It’s easy to say we had the biggest showing of Zs ever at Autobooks.”