Car shut off on me (Not the same as below)

I was slowing down today and my 99 zx2(116k miles) shut off on me. I had only driven for 3 or 4 miles when this happened and when I popped the hood it was very hot. I did not notice my temp gauge before it shut off. The car started up fine and I drove it another couple of miles home. In the 3-4 miles before this happened it did stutter a little but for the last few years it has been a little sluggish to start.

The complete history, if it matters, is the car has shut off on me a couple of times but I just started it back up without pulling over. These 2 times were spanned over the course of a couple of years with the last one happening a little over a year ago.

The shutting off as I'm driving every year or so doesnt really bother me, its more the fact that the engine was hot enough that you could smell it that bothered me. The oil level is fine and there is no sign of any oil leaks.

Is this a problem any one else has had, is there something that I should look for?

I am worried about taking it to the garage without a clue of what they are looking for but I would really like to keep the girl for a little longer since other than tires, oil, and filters it has only cost me about $600 in 7 years.

Do you have a check engine light? If so, go have the codes checked, that'll at least point you in the right direction. Do you have an S/R? I'm guessing probably not, but if you do, are you running premium or at least mid-grade fuel? If not, that could be the problem. S/R's have aggressive timing, aggresive timing + 87 octane fuel = detonation which means heat and melted pistons and new engine.

Also, my car was dying often, especially when slowing down/trying to idle, it was the timing belt, you should probably have your timing belt changed anyway as routine maintenance, that might help out quite a bit.