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Activities
Nor'easter News
Car Care
Membership
Other Cool Stuff
Sponsors & Advertisers
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Porsche
Club of America
By
Win Perry,
wperry@winbro.com
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This being my first column as Administrative VP (i.e. the Meetings Guy), I would like to start with a big thanks to Susana Weber for a great job of thinking up and organizing meetings in 2005. Susana may have some time off the Board, but I know she will still be a big contributor to our club. In fact, whether or not she realizes it, I’m recruiting her as my mentor! When I attended my very first Drivers Ed event at our Watkins Glen DE in July of 2002, veteran instructor and club racer Nick Eframow had the misfortune to be assigned as my instructor. Every time we entered a straight, and there are quite a few at the Glen, Nick would tell me to “take a deep breath, check your gauges, and check your mirrors.” I’m sure Nick was trying to get me to relax and also to be aware of the more experienced drivers behind me and to let them pass. However, in the larger scheme of things, his instruction to check your mirrors seems good advice. When you’re not 100% preoccupied, it’s smart to look for what (and who) is going on around you. As far as club meetings go, I want to be aware of what members would like to do and am very open to suggestions. We have around 1,500 members in NER, but a typical meeting draws 50 to 100 people. I see this as a glass-half-full phenomenon. NER has so many different activities that few of our members can do them all. So if you have an idea that might draw 50 or 100 members, send me an e-mail (wperry@winbro.com). Remember, our meetings are about fellowship as well as about cars. I was recently in the UK on business. My company has a factory up in the East Midlands near Leicester. When I visit there, I always try to rent something small with a manual “gearchange.” If possible, I look for a car we can’t buy here. I’ve driven Renault Megane’s and Citroen Xsara’s; the French still build weird cars, but their little common rail diesels have a lot of grunt at low RPMs. However, there’s little point in revving the engines past 4,500; there’s just nothing there. Another fun car is the Ford Focus hatch; at least for the Euro version it handles well and has decent power. Driving in the UK is usually interesting. Driving on the left side is no big deal once you are underway, but driving around their numerous rotaries (“roundabouts”) in the wrong direction can be strange. Also, shifting with your left hand is a bit different. At least the pedal layout doesn’t change. UK Motorways aren’t much different than our Interstates. The speed limit is 70 MPH, but all the faster cars are all doing 80 - 90 MPH (the British are metric except for speed and distance). However, the country roads are more fun. The secondary B roads are usually narrow and curvy. Unless otherwise marked, the speed limit is 60 MPH. A big car would be nerve wracking on these roads, but zipping along in a little hatchback at 60 or 70 MPH is a blast. Leicestershire isn’t a big tourist destination, so if I’m staying over the weekend, I usually head for London. However, we had the company Christmas party on Saturday so I had some time to kill. Looking over a list of local attractions, I found I was only a few miles from Donington Park race circuit. This track was built in 1935 and was used for prewar Grand Prix racing. It fell into disuse, but was rebuilt in in the 70’s by Tom Wheatcroft, a local property magnate and racing enthusiast. The 2.5 mile track is used for vintage and club racing and was the site of the British Grand Prix in 1993. It also hosts Wheatcroft’s Donington Grand Prix Collection. There must be 200 formula cars there: mostly Formula 1, but also some Indy and hill climb cars. The cars range from prewar Maserati’s, Alfa’s and Lancia’s through post war cars and into the modern era. They have the abortive Ferry Porsche designed Cisitalia GP car as well as one of Porsche’s F1 cars from the 50’s. There are Ferrari’s, Vanwall’s, Cooper’s, Lotus’s, William’s and what must be one of every model McLaren Formula 1 car ever made. These cars were driven by Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Hulme, McLaren, Senna, Hakkinen, Schumacher and God knows who else. This place is very impressive, but also a little numbing. There’s just too much! Unfortunately, the track was quiet that day; maybe in the future, I can go there for a race, or better yet, a track day event. So that’s it for now. Send me your ideas for future meetings, and most important, get involved in our current activities and have some fun. |
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