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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Bruce Hauben, Bruce993@PorscheNet.com
NOR'EASTER Online - Janaury 2002

Many of you are probably aware of the Porsche Driving Experience at Road Atlanta. Porsche provides the 996s and for a hefty fee anyone may spend one or two days with pro drivers like David Murry and Hurley Haywood getting to know one's own limits as well as the potential of the vehicle's. You may not have known that through the Porsche Travel Club there is a plethora of interesting trips scattered around the world. Here are some examples.

Porsche Camp4 is held eight times during January and February in Finland near the Arctic Circle. Upon arrival at the airport (air travel is your responsibility) you'll be driven to your accommodations at the Hotel Sokos Vaakuna for a welcoming Finnish dinner. The next two days are spent under the tutelage of pro drivers learning the finer points of handling a 996 C4 on snow and ice. That third afternoon finds you aboard a snowmobile heading across the Arctic tundra for dinner in a traditional Finnish log cabin. Day four is spent in a C4 touring the countryside's snow and ice packed roads, putting to practice what you've learned. That afternoon you'll travel to Kemi harbor and board an icebreaker for a trip to the Gulf of Bothnia for dinner and a swim - in a protective thermal suit - this last item I'm told is optional. So, you get all of the above, 4 nights lodging, all meals, driving a C4 for 2,550 Euro. As of this writing the Euro is worth about .9 US dollars.

Maybe that's a little too cold for you. In June and August you may chose the Porsche Austrian Experience. You'll get yourself to the Hotel Gut Brandlhof near Zell am See in the unspoiled countryside of the Pinzgau region near one of the better golf courses in the Alps. Your first full day there finds you on the Austrian Automobile Club test track driving a 996 or Boxster S under 'expert supervision'. Day three is on your own to enjoy the Alps. This experience costs 1,020 Euro.

If that's too tame for you, head for the Test Drive Formula One experience. You'll get yourself to the five star Claris Hotel Gran Luxe in the center of Barcelona in mid October. The morning of day two is spent at Circuit de Catalunya getting your racing clothing and equipment and some classroom time on the basics of driving a 700 hp, single-seat F1 vehicle. That's followed by some track time in a 996 or Boxster S to familiarize yourself with the Circuit. Following lunch, you're on the track in an F1. Throughout the session telemetry is beamed to the garage for evaluation when you return to the pits. The obligatory champagne and diploma precede that night's dinner. Day three is on your own. I asked Porsche how much actual time one gets on the track in the F1 and was told 'about 10 laps'. The cost for this blast is not published but upon inquiry was told 'about 10,000 DM' or approximately 4,600 US, all meals and hotel included.

Too pricey, how 'bout the Test Drive Formula Three. Basically, this experience is similar to the F1 above except you get to drive an F3. This takes place at Circuit Du Grand Sambuc in Provence during September. Figure on around 1,950 Euro and 915 Euro for a non-driving companion.

I like the concept of this F1 Grand Prix Weekend at Hockenheim at the end of July. Get yourself to the Marriott Hotel in Heidelberg and then Day two you helicopter to the hospitality of the One Paddock Club at Hockenheim and take a guided tour of the pits and driver's paddock, returning to the hotel via helicopter. Day three you return to Hockenheim by helicopter for a day of Supercup and F1 race viewing with access to the Paddock Club and driver's paddock throughout the day, returning at night via helicopter. Cost for this experience is 4,600 Euro.

Back to winter with a three day Porsche Bobsled Holiday available in November and December at Remmeswiese. After arriving at Porsche AG in Stuttgart to pick up your 996 or Boxster S for the weekend, you'll drive to Winterberg to meet the rest of the group at the Hotel Astenblick for dinner. Day two finds you at Remmeswiese for a day of downhill or cross-country skiing followed by a ride in a four-seater racing bob at 130 km/h. Day three takes you to lunch in a sleigh before your return to Stuttgart in your borrowed Porsche. Cost is 1,275 Euro.

Count me in on the Porsche Tour of Switzerland. You'll pick up your 996 or Boxster S loaner in Stuttgart and spend four days driving to and around Switzerland. The first night is at the five-star Hotel Palace on the shores of Lake Lucerne followed by a morning of hang-gliding and then a drive to the Parkhotel Bellevue for the second night. Day three finds you at the Stockental driver training center for some professional safety and avoidance instruction. So, you get three nights hotel lodging, all meals, hang-gliding, driver training, use of a Porsche, etc. for 1,785 Euro.

Finally, stay home in the USA and enjoy ten days on Route 66 in a Boxster S. There are four of these tours from August to October. You'll arrive in Phoenix and be chauffeured to the Scottsdale Princess Hotel where day two is on your own to enjoy the area. Day three you'll drive to the Grand Canyon and into Nevada, staying at the Hotel Flamingo. Next night is in Lake Havasu City followed by the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs, CA. Day six and seven is on your own in Palm Springs for golf, hiking, Boxster S driving or bending the 'ol elbow. Day eight finds you driving to the Renaissance Beverly Hills Hotel, staying there for day nine and heading home on day 10. Plan on around 10,000 DM for this 'experience, all meals and hotels included.

There are many more trips, and experiences available from the Porsche Travel Club at www.us.porsche.com/english/events/travelclub/default.htm. Let me know if anyone is thinking about one of these or another trip as it would be great fun with a group of us. While Joyce and I essentially join Porsche Tours all driving season long - read DE and Club Race convoys from Florida to Canada to Wisconsin - it might be nice to participate in a leisurely one for a change. I say "might", because we haven't really learned how to relax yet -by choice (when forced to, we do).

The Irony Of It All
In a recent NY Times gift guide one of the items was a Victorinox (Swiss Army) Altimeter Knife for $95. This multi-tooled knife included an altimeter. Struck me as something of a paradox as I am no longer allowed to take my pocketknife on airplanes.

A recent Filene's ad in The Boston Globe for Levi's Dockers stated: "3 DAYS ONLY! IF WE DON'T HAVE YOUR SIZE, THEY'RE FREE"

This next one is absolutely true...and priceless. Joyce and I were recently on Mustique, a small private island in the Grenadines. How small you ask; 1400 acres with a daylight only airstrip wedged between 2 hills requiring moderate banking on takeoff or you'll fly into one of those hills. The largest plane we saw was an 8 seat Twin Otter. When we departed, the four of us on the flight walked through a little, segregated area containing the ubiquitous personal alarm contraption that buzzes when you walk through it with metal in your pockets. There was no X-ray machine to scan your carry-ons, only an island employee. After all, is anyone going to hijack a Twin Otter and fly it into a two-story hotel on Barbados? I doubt it.

Anyway the employee, very solicitously, took our carry on pieces before we passed through the contraption and then handed them back to us on the other side. They never went through, nor were they opened and searched. A bit inconsistent, eh?

Finally, while recently boarding at Logan I was randomly selected to have my carry on pieces thoroughly searched immediately prior to entering the Jet way. However, as Joyce and I were standing close to one another with the luggage between us on the floor, if one of us had a knife or bomb in a carry on, it would have been a simple matter for me to take the "clean" luggage to be searched and she could walk on un-searched with the destructive item. It is this gross fallibility of the "increased security" at airports that ticks me off. Do it right or fuggetabotit!

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region