An interesting aspect of the event was that enthusiasm for the return of the Z was crescendoed by near cult praise for the founder of Nissan North American forty-three years ago, the creator of the original 240 Z, the man who would take no less than a "sports car" for his US market, the father of the Z, Yutaka Katayama, Mr. "K". The day began at 8:00 AM for show organizers and participants, one hundred entrants planned for display and every one sharing the anticipation as we waited Mr. K's arrival, Anxiety peaked by the time he arrived Blackhawk's promenade at 10:00 AM. He entered waving his black cowboy hat out the passenger window of Carolyn Dudley's pristine 1990 yellow 300 ZX Z, Mr. K's favorite color. Following greetings on the promenade the crowd adjourned to the museum where formalities in preparation for the 350Z's unveiling ensued. After a few words of thanks amongst the ZONC and Museum officials the star, Mr. K took the stage. Mr. K declared Nissan Motorsports International's (NISMO's) intent to support the new 350 Z in the United States and asked that new and classic Z owners come together for the good of all. He thanked all for their past support and smiled enthusiastically when he talked about his newly ordered 350, serial no. 13 which he explained has been a tradition for 's him, "the forever number", a unique number because of it's difficulty in divisibility. He closed the segment with his golden rule: "love people, love cars, love life". Fred Ball, representing the Nissan Northern California Region, announced the 350 Zs unveiling giving credit to Mr. K, his birth of the Z car giving the heritage to this Z, and this Z contributing it's DNA to all the new Nissan products where the focus will be on performance and styling. When the ceremony had completed the base 350 Z set in a blue, nearly mystifying under the museum's display lights, flanked by a bright orange 240 and Mr.' K's personal yellow 260 Z. Then as Mr. K climbed into the 350 with key in hand the crowd called for the sound of the engine. Had the museum proprietors not wisely disconnected the battery we would most certainly heard the VQ35DE spring to life. Those who had preordered their Z were invited to receive a photo with the new 350 and Mr. K. When the photographs were complete Mr. K was ushered to the front of the museum to provide autographs for the next few hours. Autographs, Mr. K will autograph anything he can get to or that can be brought to him including car parts like sun visors, glove boxes and the crowd had the usual variety including my NISMO California personalized license plate. While we were not around when the "peoples choice" show winners were announced I'd of voted for Carl Merritt's 300 ZX, the one Z which there was no doubt about it's purpose, Open Track Challenge (OTC) decals adorning it's flanks. Many of the displayed vehicles were pristine examples of what a sports car should be but none looked to of lately produced equal amounts of adrenaline to Carl's Z.