Porsche Club of America, Northeast Region

Activities

Nor'easter News

Car Care

Membership

Other Cool Stuff

Sponsors & Advertisers

Administrivia

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Dave Weber, 38RSR@PorscheNet.com
NOR'EASTER Online - February 2001

A little brightness has shown through the gloom of another ugly weather day. A conversation with Tom Bobbitt brought news that I could register online for the mid-May Virginia International Raceway Zone 2 Driver's Education event. Of course as soon as our conversation ended, I was on the web connecting with the Zone 2 web site. A few quick clicks brought up an application blank which I quickly filled out. A few minutes later I was able to confirm our registrations, the bill will follow in a few weeks no doubt! My disposition immediately brightened with the thought that I was into the planning for another year of on track entertainment.

I was already feeling a bit better, after our January board meeting where we put together the schedule of events for the year. I get great satisfaction out of placing yellow Post-It Notes describing events on the yearlong calendar. I start daydreaming about tracks, car shows, competitions, and great times with friends in the Porsche Club.

Our car-focused hobby certainly has many dimensions that keep it entertaining. For Christmas I received a 4 lane 45 foot long slot car racing set, complete with 13 different cars. Chris and I set up the full circuit in our front entranceway over the holidays, so we could do a little testing. The set came with 7 GT cars and 6 Formula 1 cars. We of course started racing the GT Porsches, Mercedes, Audi and BMW models. Then we shifted over to the Formula 1 cars, which included a McLaren, a Stewart, a Sauber, an Arrows, a Minardi, and a Jordan. Typical fans that we are, we started with the McLaren and Jordan, leaving the Arrows and Minardi to the last. Much to our uniformed surprise the latter two cars were easily the fastest of all the cars - most unexpected and not at all like the real world! A little examination revealed the reason why, both cars have larger rear magnets that keep the tails of those models stuck to the track, when the others are oversteering right off the track.

With this new insight we were off to the web to learn more about modifications to improve handling, which of course includes bigger magnets and stickier tires. Even at 1/32nd scale the search for better handling is a constant theme! The store from which this set was purchased is just down the street from Chris's home north of Atlanta. His task of course is to visit the store to get the low-down on just what modifications we should make, and to perhaps purchase the latest control gear along with bigger magnets.

Another aspect of our car-hobby showed up on the Today show. Apparently two young entrepreneurs have recognized a real fun business opportunity. In New York City they've set up a business, dealing in used 60's and '70's muscle cars. They find the cars, clean them up as necessary (but don't overly restore them), and resell them. Business is terrific, I suspect because many of us boomers are looking to relive some of our earlier less serious years. That crowd is apparently looking for those high horsepower good time cars in large numbers. The two entrepreneurs, car guys no doubt, are having a blast! I may yet have to find a '70 Boss 302 Mustang for my garage.

Yesterday I hear from one of our region members, who extends an invitation to me to visit his new Porsche restoration operation. Several months ago he decided he rather be working on restoring vintage Porsche racing cars, than working for someone else as an engineer. I'm off to visit his shop in a couple of days, and will share more with you when he chooses to go public. He's just finished a 910 restoration, and has a couple of 907s to work on and a 917 coming soon. I must admit to feeling very jealous, picturing myself making a similar career decision - particularly if it were to involve spending more time on my car hobby.

My last cathartic act of the month involved the purchase of a new piece of automotive art. I've periodically purchased fine motorsport art for my office (one does need to have constant reminders of one's priorities), and really enjoy the work of Randy Owens in particular. So with the prospect of a new home office soon to be completed, I visited his web site and selected a serigraph titled Porsche at LeMans. The piece features the 1st and 2nd place winning Porsches in the 1998 race and is very colorful.

While looking for this purchase I found a very complete web site focused on the automotive art of a number of artists. If you are similarly inclined you might want to visit www.motorsportcollector.com. There you'll find links to a number of automotive artists each with a different style and approach to the subject matter, be it vintage cars and racing to more current fare. You can buy originals or prints, in a wide range of prices.

To make sure I keep feeding the need for automotive material, I'll be attending our region's February Monthly Meetings with guest speaker David Murry.

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region