Copyright © 1998

Porsche Club of America Around The Cones October, 1998 Steve Ross SLR944@aol.com

While reading the last issue of this publication, I noticed that Paul Dudley, our Membership Chair, commented in his column that the region now has more than 50 members who own Boxsters. I hope we can interest most of those new members to attend our forthcoming Boxster Tech scheduled for December 12th at Clair International. The program for that day will focus on helping those new Boxster owners learn more about their vehicles. Subjects to be covered include a very basic overview of the car, operation and upkeep guidelines, and key features. Look for a registration form for the session in next month’s issue of the NOR’EASTER.
 
I found Bruce Corwin’s column in last month’s issue to be most entertaining. Bruce has become a highly talented and tough competitor in my autocross class. His column detailed his previously secret efforts to upgrade the performance of his yellow 968. Some of those efforts were obviously useful as he clinched the class championship early in the season. As I have said over the years, power is not the only answer to going faster. You must get what power you have to the ground. Bruce did the right thing by concentrating on his Porsche’s suspension setup. His efforts to increase the power output of his 968 were less successful, and certainly have saved Charlie Learoyd and I a lot of time that might have been spent on useless power enhancer experiments. The Porsche factory does a very nice job of wringing the maximum power out of their engines in stock configuration. Efforts to improve upon their efforts, using bolt on parts, are likely to fail with the possible exception of turbos.
 
I’d like to add a few more insights into our recent trip to Monterey and nearby environs, as detailed by Dave Weber in his great story in last month’s issue. I was first most impressed with the incredible organization at Laguna Seca, the famous track near Salinas that hosts the Historic Races each year. Their first challenge was to find room for almost 500 vintage racers and their accompanying trailers, semis, and support vehicles. Then there was the crowd of almost 70,000 fans (a record for automotive events at the site – and second in size to the Pope’s visit!) to accommodate among the many great viewing locations around the track. To keep the crowd entertained a myriad collection of displays, food vendors (including a McDonald’s), vendor booths, and finally the spectacular “Porsche Experience” tent were all fit into the multiple paddock areas. Our three-day pass ($75) entitled us to access everywhere but the hot pits. All the event workers were exceedingly polite and cordial.
 
On Saturday, we entered through the back gate, an interesting ride through the ghost town like remains of Fort Ord, the large base that abuts the racetrack. Chris Weber and John Sweeney were visualizing the neat mountain bike opportunities as we traversed this seemingly endless entry road, but reality set in when we saw signs warning of live ordinance remaining in some areas. When we finally reached the parking area, we were directed to the far side of a fog enshrouded hill (straight out of Withering Heights), after which we hitched a tram ride to the back track gate. As it turned out we were ideally located in proximity to our Saturday viewing location at the famous “corkscrew” turn – probably one of the most famous racing picture locations in the country.
 
Some random observations come to mind. First one well informed region member speculated that there were more RS Spyders at the races than were ever built by Porsche! In the future, if you go to these events, press credentials will get you into the few places your regular pass will not! The hospitality suites, while not on the level of pro racing, were none the less impressive and a neat place to watch the action. The management of the track was so well organized that they even had a trio of ATM machines setup in the pits. The overall atmosphere was so “laid back California” that famous people almost went unnoticed in the pits. Jay Leno was seen in the pits alone, with no one hounding him for an autograph or picture!
 
Now some thoughts on the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. This is a truly first class event, but surprisingly similar to our better concours efforts. The only difference being the level of car preparation. The setting is absolutely fantastic, on the coast at the 18th hole of the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course – a definite must see, even if the $50 entry fee does seem a bit much. The rumor is that this too will increase to cut the crowds which this year was an estimated 18,000 soles. As at Laguna Seca, the logistics were excellent. Parking was located a long the famous 17 mile drive, a few bused miles from the concours site. The volunteers made sure everything was orderly and well executed. If you do plan to go, and everyone should at sometime, take the advice got from Concours veteran Jack Styles, go early, real early! We arrived before 8:00 am and left while we could barely see the cars. For those who arrived later, the site was a madhouse – why go if you can’t see the cars!
 
Finally we attended the Concours D’Italiano at the Quail Lodge in Carmel. Although that event is devoted to Italian cars (even though some mongrel kit cars were in attendance), the scope of cars within the marques of Alfa, Ferrari and Lamborgini was utterly phenomenal. I have never seen so many and so perfect a collection of those brands. In addition there were as many as 100 vendor and food tents circling the entire display field. Another “Northern California” easygoing crowd was in attendance – very polite with few hassles from the organizers.
 
Locally it’s time to think about elections – we’ll be electing our 1999 Board of Directors in November. The recommendations of our Nominating Committee are detailed elsewhere in this publication. I encourage every region member to vote when given the opportunity.
 
Next month I will review my picks in the autocross series (yes Dave it does fill my allocated column space!) that I made last spring.