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Lou Pereira

Nicknamed “Sweet Lou” since grade school days, OZC is fortunate to have this jokester front man and all round fun guy serving as the VP on its executive.  (The nick name originated from his coach who likened his suave basketball skills to that of “Sweet Lou” Dunbar of the Harlem Globe Trotters.  Who knew that back in the day he was an awesome player, certified official and even coach for a number of years!).

Lou joined Ontario Z Car back in late 2012.  He’s had his white 1990 Z32 since 1993 and the first car show he ever entered was at ZCON 2013 in Nashua, New Hampshire where his car took the first place prize.

Most of you will remember Lou as the Master of Ceremonies at Toronto ZCON in 2016, but you can find him at just about every OZC event with a smile on his face and great company in tow.

Affectionately known as “G-pa” by his grandchildren, Lou spends his spare time working on his Z32, rebuilding a new motor (you should see how shiny it is) and other stuff.

Nigel White

Nigel has been a club member since 1994. He has had two terms as club President – first in 2004 and then 2005, and prior to that he was the club Webmaster for 2003 and 2004. During that time, being an inveterate tinkerer, his one and only Z, a 1973 240Z, has probably been off the road as often as on. In fact, his Z was not on the road at all for his first 7 years of club membership as it went through a complete restoration down to the bare frame by his own hands. Following that, it has gone through a never ending evolution in his pursuit of owning a classic car with modern performance and convenience.

The demands of his career in the Nuclear Power Industry have meant that the scope of his automotive projects often exceed his available time to complete them prior to the driving season. But he’s dedicated to the club and the friends that he has made through it, and cannot picture a point in his life where he will no longer be an OZC member or part with his beloved Z

Derek Matysik

Although Derek only joined Ontario Z-Car in 2023, he became a Nissan 370Z owner back in June, 2015 with his first 2016 370Z Enthusiast’s Edition.

His story began with a random visit to the car dealership where he saw them unloading a vehicle that caught his eye.  He asked the salesperson if he could sit in it because he’s 6’3” and every sports car had always been a tight fit versus any larger muscle cars (his very first car was a 1969 Ford Mustang he restored… but don’t hold that against him as he was young and misinformed).  To his surprise, it fit him perfect.  He made the deal alongside a deposit to hold it for a week… until he told his wife.

But that was never the real problem as he had to get final approval from his son who was only 7 years old.  They arrived at the dealership and the car was sitting out front with a sold sign on it.  “That’s a cool looking car dad… but it’s already sold”.  The sales manager immediately arrived and said to Derek’s son, “if he asked the new owner, maybe he could get a ride”.  To his surprise the sales manager passed Derek the keys and said “go ahead, ask your dad”.  The look on his face was priceless.  Derek said “let’s go for a spin and you make the final decision – OK dad”.  They took it out for a test drive, arrived back at the dealership and went to the sales managers office.  The sales manager smiled and confidently asked Derek’s son how he liked it to which he politely replied “I don’t like it…”  The sales manager was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do… but then he quickly finished his comment, “I love it!”

Whew, that was close… but it all worked out in the end and to this day that’s how his adventure and journey started with his first Z car which he plans to keep and hopefully pass on to his son someday.

The picture above is from when he got the car that summer!

Steve Edmonds

Steve’s appreciation for Datsun engineering began with rallying as a navigator in the early 70’s in a 510 that stood up well in that punishing environment. Convinced by that experience, he bought his 72 240Z in 1978 after a long search for a “relatively” rust free model that he then added 130K miles to the odometer over the following years. It is the Z that he still owns today.

An Ontario Z-Car member for over a dozen years, Steve stepped into the Treasurers role with the sad passing of Howie Yoshida and has been catching up ever since. A retired mechanical engineer, he towed home his first car at fifteen and has been a confirmed gearhead ever since. He is a regular at Mosport with wrench in hand and can usually be found either in his garage, woodshop or at the cottage. With the 240Z rebuild still a work in progress fighting to get to the top of the to-do list, friends now scoff at its “almost finished” status.

Bob Chwalyk

Bob joined the club in April of 2000 after purchasing his 1979 280ZXGL. The car has undergone extensive performance modifications but maintains a “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” appearance and is still in the process of undergoing further enhancements.

Club wise Bob took over the Membership Director’s position and has been involved with many club events and road tours. Since retiring from Dofasco in July of 2009, he is looking forward to getting involved with more club activities.

Scott Robertson

Scott has been a member of Ontario Z Car off and on since the early 2000’s. He got fully involved in the Club in 2019, and joined the Executive and became its Instagram Director in 2020. Scott and his wife, Angie, enjoy hosting, OZC Tours around their home in the Collingwood/Blue Mountains region. He enjoys working with the Executives, members, and other Z enthusiasts in making Ontario Z Car a welcoming club for all to enjoy and to celebrate our passion for the Z car!

Scott’s introduction to the Z car occurred at the age of 10. His brother Glen, brought home a, 1971 Datsun 240Z in Regina SK. Scott immediately fell in love with that car and dreamed of owning it some day. That dream became a reality when he turned 18. He was able to drive his recently purchased 240Z, with his brother from Saskatoon to Markham ON, nonstop in over 22 hours. It was an awesome drive for both Glen and Scott to experience.

Scott owned that 240Z for 30 years but reluctantly sold it, and now currently owns a 2010, 370Z, 40th Anniversary model . The production of this Anniversary 370Z is 1000 cars, and it was made for the USA market. Scott acquired it in 2013. He is trying to keep it stock with minimal upgrades or modifications.

Scott recently left his fulltime corporate job and is enjoying his re-direction into other opportunities and adventures. Look for him and introduce yourself at ZedFest , on Instagram and of course , OZC Tours.

Eric Zondervan

Eric moved to Toronto in 1972 with his first new car, a 1972 Datsun 240Z. There is a long story of how the car was used as a construction vehicle, was restored, was almost lost to the bailiff when the shop where it was being restored went bankrupt, then stored poorly so it had to be restored again, but it survived all of that and is now driven as much as 35,000 km/year.

Eric first became aware of Ontario Z Car when he pulled the car out of storage in 2005 to put it back on the road. The Toronto Star had a feature in the Wheels section called Autodate. Various car clubs listed their meeting dates there, so Eric attended one of the meetings and joined on the spot. The first Z Con he attended was Syracuse in 2005. The car wasn’t back on the road, but he got the bug in a big way. By 2006, Eric had the mechanical systems rebuilt and the car was on the road.

Around this time, Ed Burkhart was stepping down as webmaster and the club was searching for a replacement. It was obvious no one was coming forward, so Eric offered his limited skills. Fortunately, Zak Irvine recognized the shortcomings of the site and Eric’s abilities and approached Eric at a swap meet with an offer to rebuild the site and let Eric do the routine maintenance. This has been a satisfactory arrangement, although Eric had to rely on Zak’s technical assistance extensively. The site Zak created has been a phenomenal success with visits jumping from several per month to hundreds per day, and new users signing up every day. As of July, 2015, there are almost 1400 users.

Zak’s work commitments have left him unable to provide the technical assistance Eric requires, but Raj has come forward with a whole new package. Eric is quite looking forward to working with Raj in this new environment.

Terry Weston

Terry joined OZC in 2003 after purchasing his 350Z in the fall of 2002. His very first car was a 1971 240Z so the Z bug was planted early on. In 2004 he started  Zeetoyz Inc. that catered to Nissan and Infiniti owners looking for custom billet items and working with Nissan Dealerships on Accessory Items.

Terry has held the Presidents position for 2 terms and with the help of a strong executive implemented several changes in the way the club is run today. After that Terry chose to take on the Merchandise position and has held it since. Terry continues to be active in the club attending events and helping out the ZCON committee.

Terry and Sandra who also owns a 1993 Nissan 300ZX reside in Hamilton with their two sons.

Diane Dale

Loving Z cars as long as she can remember – Diane bought her first Z, a beautiful sleek black 1992 300zx with lots of Stillen mods back in 1998.  Immediately joining the Ontario Z Car club she got her first taste of the track at their fall event at Mosport.  

She was hooked, attending every track day she could possibly sign up for all over Ontario.  In 1999 she purchased a 1971 Datsun 240z (shown here) with her good friend Bill Dawson, and soon after purchased a Safari Gold coloured street version of the same car.

Diane took over full ownership of the racecar in the early 2000’s and started travelling to many tracks all over North America to compete in Vintage and Non-Vintage race events.  With the help of Greg Whitehead, Tony Silvaggi and others at Whitehead Performance (and countless dedicated and well loved friends) she accomplished many podiums and even CASC-OR Sprint and VARAC Group 70+ series championships.  

Along the way she maintained her membership and close relationships with her Ontario Z Car friends.  In 2013 Howie suggested she step up to help organize the track day for OZC’s pitch on ZCON 2016.  Delighted to help out she found herself surrounded by an amazing team of people who made great things happen.  Looking forward to continue that experience, she stepped in to help out with Social Media starting in 2017.  (As well as organizing the Winter BlizZard Karting Series – let’s go!)

Mauricio Gomez

Mauricio lovingly known as “Mo” to many of us is one extremely busy guy! He is the current President of the club after the successfully heading the organizing committee for the 2016 ZCCA car convention in Toronto.

He joined OZC in 2010 and has become one of the most active members in its many activities. A big advocate of using new technology, Mauricio is always promoting and chatting about Zed car and general car events on social media and forums. He owns 3 Zed cars, a red 1990 300ZX (2+2) a 2005 350Z Roadster and have recently added a  94 300ZX TT convertible with 800hp… and yes it’s RED too!

Mauricio has his own successful business and is also pretty handy installing electronics in a car. Starting as teenager, he could wire a car with all the latest gizmos in audio, alarm & security systems in a jiffy! He is another one to watch on the roads as he is pretty quick and is known to leave others hanging behind when leading car tours.

Having recently left bachelorhood, Mo & his pretty wife Shima can be seen at almost all OZC events, especially if there’s major partying going on!