A Heartfelt THANK YOU
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
December 2020
Make no mistake, It’s About the People! While the cars are amazing, they are a means to the end of pulling us all together. For the past four years, as PCA zone rep, I’ve attempted to support our seven regions as they collectively cycled through about 10-15 sets of changes in leadership. In some cases, the new teams were fully prepared and needed little help. In other circumstances, “a deer in the headlights” might have been an appropriate description for new leaders. My job has been to help the newbies, and alternatively to support the well-prepared teams in pushing the envelope to grow a better PCA region. The common element has been the positive attitude and spirit of all the volunteers throughout the boards and committees of those regions. At times the “job” has been a breeze. At other times it has been a delicate dance acting as a buffer between regions and the national office. Regardless of the conditions (including the challenges of 2020), I would still agree that being a zone rep is the best role in PCA, and I’m eternally grateful for having been blessed with such a unique and challenging opportunity.
Each year, PCA rotates through about ¼ of the fourteen zone reps. Beginning in January, we’ll have new assignments for zones 1, 3 and 9. Since 2019, I’ve put out feelers for anyone interested in succeeding me in the role, to make themselves known. I’m pleased to say that by the time that all names were turned over to the Executive Committee of PCA for consideration, five very qualified people had expressed interest in becoming my replacement. And even one more chose to discuss a PCA “career path” to be aligned as a choice for 2025! Having this much talent on the bench is an enviable position for zone 9. And just to be clear, current zone reps do not play a role in the selection- that’s for the EC to decide. Regardless, I’m especially delighted in their selection of my successor.
So…..(drum roll, please)…., effective January 1. 2021, your next Zone 9 Rep will be Denise Jordan.
Denise is currently completing her third year in her role as President of the Alpine Mountain Region. Denise has been involved with the board of AMR since 2014, serving as Secretary and Social Committee Chair, prior to becoming President. And even as President, she has maintained her role as Social Chair. While growing the quantity and variety of events in the region, she also created a focus on increasing engagement of female members. Outside of PCA, Denise owns and runs a small business which accessorizes those who love horsepower. But in this case, it’s the real horses and their riders! 2020 has presented Denise with challenges in both roles as Club and Company President. And through the pandemic challenges of keeping business doors open, and club activities rolling (especially tours and DE activities), I can attest to the fact that both organizations are doing quite well. Congratulations, Denise!
As for my plans, I expect to stay engaged in PCA, both in my local Intermountain Region and as a member of the National Audit Committee through July 2021. And now that I know about some of the bigger events in the zone, I’ll probably use those events to take a nice sunny drive with Julie in the Spyder!!! Until then I hope that you all remain safe and in the best health possible!
Over and Out!
Rich Sanders
Zone 9 Rep
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Installment 47
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
November 2020
This will be installment 47 of 48 “In The Zone” newsletters that I’ll get to write as your Zone 9 Representative. The zone representative appointment is a 2+2 year commitment. If you don’t mess up the first two years too badly, you get invited to do another two. The “job” requires acting as a liaison between the PCA national organization and the individual regions within the zone. That means that as of January 1, I’m done- at least in this role. I’ll still maintain another “job” as a member of the PCA Audit Committee where I’ll complete my second two-year term on July 31st of 2021.
Frankly, it’s been a fun assignment. In the process, I’ve enjoyed meeting with several hundreds of PCA members. Based on my interactions, I would actually prefer that PCA reversed the club motto by considering a modification to say “It’s not just about the people, it’s about the cars”. Coming into this role, several members of the Executive Council let me know that being a zone rep is the best volunteer job in PCA. During the tenure, I learned more about PCA’s internal operations than you would ever imagine. And inevitably, there are situations in the liaison role that become challenging and intense. But seldom if ever, do they become internally political. The professionality of our national volunteer staff, PCA headquarter employees, and elected Executive Council members is truly impressive. And we try our hardest to keep those challenging situations in the background, so that the general experience of all members is simply about Cars and People. So by and large, describing the zone rep role as the “best job” in PCA, is pretty darned accurate.
While I have no real role in the decision about my successor, I am aware that there are well qualified candidates in the pipeline. The decision process belongs to nationally elected leaders on the Executive Council. Hopefully, by the time that I write next month’s installment number 48 of 48, I’ll be made aware of the decision, and will be allowed the opportunity to introduce your next Zone 9 Representative.
Sadly, I’m closing out 2020 with a whimper. One of my favorite travel patterns at this time of year has been to head to our warmer southern regions to enjoy holiday gatherings, December drives, and Oktoberfiesta. And if there are no conflicting dates down south, I get to close out the year at the winter holiday party right here in Utah. But I fully expect that most, if not all, of those activities are destined for cancellation as the result of gathering restrictions. So as I’m reaching a long elbow-bump out to Carrera, Roadrunner, West Texas and Llano Estacado regions, I have to offer a socially distance COVID Good-Bye.
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The Virtual Zone Rep!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
October 2020
Perhaps “COVID-19 decision guilt” is a real thing. It feels pretty selfish. This past weekend, I skipped out on one of my favorite annual events in Zone 9. Rocky Mountain Region hosts the Rocky Mountain Thunder PCA Club Race every summer. Normally, I’ll drive the 560 miles to the race, and also run my own Cayman in the advanced solo HPDE segment of the weekend. Not so this year. Shortly prior to the race weekend the COVID-19 dashboards around here started blinking the wrong colors in a repeat of early summer. So I stayed home. The normal “obligation” for a zone rep at these events is to hang all of the signage in support of Pirelli and other sponsors, and to get photos with the race winners receiving their podium hats- a.k.a. “the hat dance”. As you might guess, things normally thought to be an obligation in normal years, have become “do it if you can” suggestions during 2020. Could I have made the trip? Yes. Do I feel like a slacker? Yes. Did I make the right decision? I’ll never know. You see, I’ve made the decision not to fly in the foreseeable future. I’m in that riskier demographic and they won’t take my car in the plane anyway. So half the fun is gone right there. And by driving I’m in 3 different hotels for a minimum of 4 nights due to my location in the northwest corner of this geographically large zone.
This issue has impacted not just the Colorado club race, but most all of my zone rep travel for the year. In fact, if there were to be an award for “un-zone rep of the year”, I’d worry that I might be a leading candidate. But I’m certain that I’m not alone. Despite changes in travel though, the “invisible” work of the zone reps does still continue. While many of the 14 of us “ZRs” are limited in our choice to fly or to do overnight hotel stays, we still are engaged as needed in support of helping region presidents or board members with support and answers to questions. Mostly this happens by phone and email, as well as some group meetings via Zoom. For example, during the past month, Zone 9 region presidents and VPs concluded our annual “region president’s meeting”. Normally held face to face, this year’s “meeting” was 7 hours of virtual meetings, spread over 4 sessions, held through my Zoom account. I admire the patience and flexibility of your region’s leaders in putting up with this necessary approach.
If there’s a silver lining in all of this, my guess would be that zone reps collectively will be hard pressed to spend anywhere near our already downwardly adjusted budgets. That begs a much broader question about PCA, and how the club is weathering 2020. Without sharing information that I should not share as a member of the audit committee, I will go so far as to say that the response of the Executive Council, and in particular our Treasurer as part of that team, has been to respond to the COVID-19 related impacts on the club (i.e.: growth impact in the first half, sponsorship budget adjustments) in a manner that will ensure the financial health of PCA. How can you help? Well, I think the fall raffle is about to be published and I expect there will be some pretty exciting cars in the mix! So I encourage you to buy a ticket or three to further support the club.
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Awards are just as real, even when delivered virtually!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
September 2020
MOST of the planned 65th Porsche Parade didn’t happen. PCA merchandise sold out quickly online as soon as the cancelation was announced. Perhaps this was as a future collectible, since next year’s Porsche Parade in French Lick Indiana, will now become the “65th”. But there was ONE element of the 65th Porsche Parade that actually did happen. And it was one of the most important events. The event was a virtual alternative to the highlights of two banquet nights normally held at parade. This was the presentation of all of the awards, including website, newsletter, and other awards, as well as the four coveted National Awards. The presentations were held “live” on PCA’s YouTube channel earlier this week. As I write this, you can still go to PCA.org and navigate to a full video of the presentation ceremony. Kudos to PCA’s Executive Council and to Michael (and Lisa) Soriano, National Awards Chair (and first-award lady) for making lemons out of lemonade.
Zone 9 regions, while NEVER awarded to the degree that we all would like to see, were well represented during the ceremony. Here’s the rundown-
At the National Award level, the Alpine Mountain Region received honorable mention in the PCA Charity Award. Great recognition. Website and Newsletter awards are based on the size of the regions from 1 through 5 for websites, and 1 through 6 for newsletters (I know…don’t ask why). Our own West Texas region took 2nd place in the class I website category. And the Roadrunner region took two awards, a 3rd place for their “Ramblings” newsletter and a 2nd place for their website, both in Class IV.
As one who gets quite involved in pressing region leaders across the zone to submit nominations for all of these awards, I have to say that every year I come away proud and disappointed at the same time. You see, I get to read all of the nominations as they get sent to the awards committee. Despite the fact that the number of nominations this year was way up, I’m surprised that some of the nominations did not receive a National Award. The time taken and quality of the write ups from the volunteers who wrote the nominations was top notch. The contributions by the folks who were nominated, were beyond anything you would ever expect from volunteers to ANY organization. However, I trust the process. And all that can mean is that if our non-winners came in second or lower for each of the four National Awards, then that means that collectively PCA is even better than I imagined it could be. Not winning in this case, doesn’t mean losing. I’m as proud of the contributions of our “non-winners” as the contributions of those who won awards. Nominees, you PROBABLY know who you are. And I’ll leave it to individual region presidents to decide whether or not to share the actual nominations that were made, as this information may be considered personal and in light of not being the ultimate PCA National choice, may also be a sensitive issue.
Hopefully by next year, we’ll be able to have a face to face Porsche Parade at French Lick Indiana. Beginning in December, I’ll be chased down again as an outbound zone rep, to ensure that regions are submitting nominations for the four big National Awards for the year 2020 (Public Service, Enthusiast of the Year, Family of the Year, and Region of the Year). And given the current challenges in running our regions during this unusual time, I can help but think that next year’s award nominations will represent some of the most creative accomplishments that we’ve ever seen within PCA.
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Keep your cool
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
August 2020
Max, our Berne-doodle guard-dog, used to get mad when I’d head out of the house for a walk without him. He’d chastise me with frustrated barks as I walked out the door. Now he just lays on the cool stone foyer floor and picks up his head to acknowledge my departure. Too hot, he says. In fact, he’s probably sick of me as well, hoping I’ll spend less time in the house.
Given that Salt Lake City is in the northwestern corner of the zone probably means that, except for those of you who are living above 7000 feet, it’s even cooler here than where you are. But despite the heat, as regions begin to “open up” to normal activities, there seems to be a pent up demand among members to get out and DO SOMETHING. Tours, autocross and HPDE events are re-emerging. These are events that allow for regions to manage your health and safety to the greatest extent possible. Activities like indoor socials, cars and coffee events and other face to face activities still remain a challenge in most regions. Hopefully the situation will improve in the next months. But for those of us who are venturing out for the limited number of moving car activities, we are doing so right in the middle of the summer heat. The attached photo shows the top of an Intermountain Region member’s helmet reading 140 degrees. The tarmac where we stood as cone wranglers was even hotter. So let’s make sure we stay well hydrated.
And for those of you who enjoy “televised” racing, you are hopefully enjoying the fact that F1 racing (and for some, maybe NASCAR too??) is back in full force, at least for a limited season. IMSA is back as well with a limited schedule, and affords that only real US based opportunity to enjoy sanctioned Porsche racing from the confines of home.
But if you want to see some serious racing excitement, with professional commentary, and ONLY Porsches on the track, YOU MUST check out PCA’s rapidly growing SIM racing competition. You can watch “Live” or “On Demand” races by PCA members throughout North America broadcast on YouTube (either on your computer screen or through your Smart TV) in your home. There have been multiple “Series” so far this year. Series 4, at popular race venues throughout the U.S. is now complete and can be viewed FREE, and on demand. The fastest way to navigate to it as you read this, is to simply Google it, using the words “PCA Sim Racing YouTube”. Up will pop a selection of the past races. Series 5 will take place in September and October. At that time you will be able to watch the races “Live” as well. Keep in mind that ALL of the racers are PCA members. So if you find the idea intriguing, you too may join the fray. A decent in-home set up is probably in the $1000-$1500. (Use some of that money you are not spending due to our current situation.) At PCA.org, you can search SIM RACING in the search bar, and it will take you to all the information that you need, including a list of recommended items needed to get started. PCA has also established an eDE training program for those of you who will be new to the I-Racing program. And just as in the physical PCA DE program, virtual racing groups are segmented by experience level. So don’t be intimidated by the videos that you see on YouTube. When you do get onto that “virtual” racetrack, you’ll be with similarly skilled drivers! Next year we are expecting also that there will be competitions between zones. I know of only a few members in the zone who are in the program today. So check it out. Hope to see your name on the drivers list!
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“Back to normal.2” – a mid-cycle update.
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
July 2020
By now you all probably get that I like to write about more than current events. But I figure that in times of important changes in our routine of operating PCA regions, it’s probably a priority to err on the side of over communicating on the topic of “what’s going on”.
Last month, I addressed the higher hurdles that your region leaders are now required to address prior to gaining insurance approval for any moving car event. The inevitable result is going to be that your club’s committee leaders will face one of two choices- either earn permission to run the event with lots of health and safety hurdles to assure to the national office; or cancel it. You can trust that it is heartbreaking for an organizer to cancel any planned activity. A lot of work goes into simply getting it on the calendar to begin with. Further, if the stars align and an event is proven to be insurable, then it’s that much more work for the unpaid, unreimbursed, volunteers that give up their time to bring it your way!
Not to beat a dead horse, but the reason for stressing the work in the paragraph above is to restate one sentence from last months “Back to Normal?” column. It said, “Please be patient with your region’s volunteer activities leaders who will be responsible for implementing this new expectation”. Last Sunday, I attended one of the four (yes- four versus maybe 20 in a normal year) moving car happenings approved across the zone for June. One of the restrictions that was required to hold the autocross, was that no car could contain more than one person. Among other things this meant no in-car instruction. This conflicted with one of the guidelines in the region, which is that every first-time autocross participant, must be released to solo, by an experienced person approved by the committee chair to instruct. So mid-way through the weeks of online registration, three of the allowed twenty participants (yes- local restrictions limited the organizers to a total of twenty people on site) needed to be informed that their money would be refunded and that they could not participate. This put the very people-oriented volunteers in a position they did not enjoy at all. And to make things even more awkward, one of the denied participants chose to show up, make a scene, and make critical comments about the organizer who had already been through lots of anguish, just trying to keep the program alive. This was disappointing, heartbreaking, and embarrassing. We need to keep in mind that ALL OF US, both members and volunteers are likely feeling a lot more general frustration with 2020, than most years in the recent past. So let’s all just count to ten. Then count backwards, if you need a little more time. Then try to find some hint of a silver lining in whatever just set things off.
At the time of this writing, Friday June 20, I was to have been on the road to the 65th Porsche Parade in a new toy. Parade was canceled, but our meetings are still on. So instead of being in the California sun, I’ll spend tomorrow on a 6-hour Zoom call with all of the other zone reps. And then, Sunday will be a several hour “Go to Meeting” call with the EC and the rest of the national staff. Further, the new toy, originally due in May, isn’t here until next month due to the March corona virus shutdown of the Zuffenhausen factory.
So I’ll count to ten. And then backwards. And then I’ll look for the silver lining. The highs in Palm Desert during the planned days of Parade, will range from 106 to 113 degrees. Here in Utah it will be 70- 90 degrees. That’s silver lining #1. And as to the delayed car delivery. Well, I guess that’s 1200 miles I won’t be putting on the car on a boring I-15 between here and SoCal. The car deserves better! So that’s silver lining #2. And besides, both problems are a first world issue, and a selfish concern if I seriously consider either in the context of everything that’s happening around us at this moment in history. So I have ZERO reason to be upset and simply count my blessings in addition to counting to ten. I hope we can all do the same.
It’s about the cars and the people. We have our cars, however if you are anything like me, you are missing the people part as well. But this too shall pass! Until then, keep your cool.
Photos from the “re-opening” autocross in IRPCA:
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Back to “normal”?
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
June 2020
Zone Reps meet on a monthly conference call with the Executive Council of PCA. Each month an agenda is organized by an assigned zone rep and presented in advance. The month of May was my month in the rotation to organize the agenda and manage the meeting. Needless to say the request for agenda discussion topics by zone reps, as well as the update portion presented by the EC, revolved largely around the corona virus. And specifically how PCA nationally, and regions locally, will prepare for re-opening in this new environment.
As many of you are aware, PCA requires that any moving car event be insured under a policy that is organized by the national club. You probably also know that depending on the event type, regions are bound to adhere to guidelines or minimum standards specific to each type of event. As of now, we have an additional set of requirements related to the health and safety of our club members which will apply to every type of insured event in every region. As these requirements are just being rolled out, please be patient with your region’s volunteer activities leaders who will be responsible for implementing this new expectation.
To give you a look into the planning process, your event chairs are going to need to provide documentation in advance that the planned activity is allowed under all applicable limitations at the location. This will include state, county, town, and even venue restrictions that may be in place in response to the corona virus. As well, organizers will be asked to answer questions about how issues like social distancing, waiver signing, volunteer safety and other issues will be managed. All of this will happen before an insurance certificate can be issued. Additionally each certificate, for the time being, will require approval by an assigned member of the Executive Council. So for now, this is the new normal. As I am writing this, two events in the zone have been canceled or modified as a result of this new set of expectations. It’s going to take a bit of time and some experience on all sides to adjust to our new criteria.
This is a higher bar for all of us. But in my opinion, it’s the right thing to do. Looking out for our own health and safety is important. Being respectful of the fact that each one of us has the potential to unwittingly impact the health of our fellow club members may be even more important.
More than ever, it’s not just the cars. It’s the people. We’ll all get through this together.
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I guess I shouldn’t be “that guy”.
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
May 2020
Hunkered down is the term I’m hearing most. As I write this, my home city, Salt Lake, is the “hot spot” for Coronavirus in Utah. Hopefully we’re entering a plateau in virus cases. Perhaps by the time this monthly letter hits your computer or mailbox, we’ll all be in a phase that has us coming out of hibernation. For now, though, I like the term “couped” up. It sounds the same as being cooped up, but I like the comparison to our car models. You have an extra escape hatch from a targa or a cabrio. But a coupe, really fits the bill for this semi-voluntary full enclosure, with a limited number of doors.
Shortly after the Utah Governor announced our program called “Stay Home, Stay Safe”, and our local mayor put into place even more stringent measures, I got an invitation from a local P-car owner to join him for a morning drive up a local canyon. All official PCA drives had been canceled. And the invitation was to just 3 others from the immediate neighborhood. Feeling cooped up, I jumped on the opportunity. We had an enjoyably spirited mountain drive, while maintaining our social distances. I referred to it as an analog version of a “Zoom” meeting. I even posted it on my personal Facebook page.
After returning home that same day, I began to see a very active email thread among members of my former “pre-retirement” region- not in this zone thank goodness. The discussion was among PCA members, communicating on PCA club mail servers, to arrange a similar kind of planned drive, as an alternative to an official PCA activity. While the discussion started small, lots of people chimed in with ideas very quickly. It appeared that the drive may not eventually be contained to a small number of cars. People were clearly wanting to get out and drive with their friends. And it took quite some time before one or two PCA members mentioned that, should anyone from the public be into “entitlement shaming”, that the event could bring a lot of embarrassment to members individually, but more likely to Porsche ownership in general. Even then, some members tried to wrap the proposed “non-event” into a charity fund-raiser. The hospital charity idea was well intentioned, but still contained the same public relations risks. So I pointed out this email thread to my counterpart zone rep, who in turn worked with the region President to provide the direction needed to stop the discussion.
That whole situation pointed out that I must own up to some level of hypocrisy in having made my own canyon run earlier in the day. Yes, our group was small. It was VERY local. It was not a PCA event. In fact it was not all Porsches. Nonetheless, I’ve now declined the invitation for two subsequent Saturday morning canyon runs, and any future runs until our state restrictions are eased. Perhaps, in my role as zone rep for PCA, the negative PR risk would be higher should anything go wrong with our drive. But regardless of my personal profile, in light of all of the challenges people are facing in terms of physical, emotional and economic health, I made my own decision that it’s the right thing for me to do. I’ll just have to make up for it, as soon as this countdown hits “zero, blast-off”.
Hopefully, I’ll be in your region having fun with lots of you later in the year. Until then…please stay as safe as you can!
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Staying engaged in PCA while social distancing!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
April 2020
It’s hard to think of membership in PCA as a computer based pursuit. But I guess in these unusual times, it’s the right thing to do. Last month, I recapped all of the face to face, super exciting things we have in front of us for 2020. And as I’m sure you’ve read, most events in regions across the zone have been put on hold or canceled. Just an hour or two before wrapping up this month’s letter, I read the official notice that Treffen at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs has been canceled. I’m sorry for the disappointment around the zone among planned registrants. Even more so, for all of you who volunteered for the preparation and execution of this wonderful weekend, I’m sincerely sorry.
Now we’re all talking about “social distancing” and wondering if more great events in the zone and beyond, are going to happen. So if you’re stuck at home waiting out the Coronavirus, how can you get your Porsche Club fix. Of course there will be nice days for driving. But you can’t do that all the time.
Well, of course there’s Panorama. I suspect that a fair percent of PCA members are “Panorama members” who get the majority of their PCA experience from reading the magazine and seldom or never attending a scheduled club activity. But, then there’s you. If you are reading this, it’s probably because your region magazine covers all of the goings on in your region and you want to see the local cars and people. If that’s the case, perhaps you could spend a bit of social distance time either writing up a recent region event for a Panorama article or a similar article in support of your region’s newsletter editor.
What else? Well there’s PCA.org. There are several hidden gems to be found at the national website. Are you a member of your car’s registry? PCA has about 20 model specific registries. The newest is that Taycan/Panamera registry. Join up. Each one has its own website full of history and includes forums for model specific ownership experiences. You can chat live across North America with other owners of your model.
While you’re in there at PCA.org,, how about a little spring cleaning. Is your profile up to date? No? Well then log in and clean it up. And if you’ve forgotten your password, just reset it. Need help? Call Charlotte at 401-381-0911. She’ll be happy to help. It’s amazing how out of date the information is in the database. So let’s get your current garage occupants listed in there, as well as getting your associate or family member correctly listed and with the current email address. THANK YOU!
Do some online shopping at the PCA webstore under the membership drop down menu. It’s virus free. Both Mother’s and Father’s Day will be here before you blink and there are some really nice clothing options in there.
Research the value of your Porsche using tools from Hagerty, Kelly, Leland and lots of others. These links are found at PCA.org and will help you value your car for insurance purposes.
And as I’ve mentioned before, use PCA.org to register your youthful children or grand-children into the PCA Juniors program.
And of course, make sure you browse “The Mart”, PCA’s classified toy store where PCA members are individually selling their cars to other PCA members. It’s a fun read, even if you’re not shopping.
Finally, there’s a very cool new PCA activity called PCA SIM Racing. “If you haven’t watched one of PCA’s sim races, you’ll be amazed at the quality broadcast and competitive racing. You can support over 80 PCA member racers from Regions across the entire club and even comment your encouragement.” Look for announcements at PCA.org.
Hopefully next month will be a better picture. But for now, let’s be aware of the need for the health and safety of ourselves, relatives and neighbors as we weather this challenge together.
![](https://amrporsche.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ITZ1-Mar20-300x225.jpg)
Lori Schutz, daughter of Peter Schutz former Porsche AG CEO,presents to a packed house at an IRPCA Cars and Coffee in Salt Lake City.
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PCA Motors On!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
March 2020
In the past couple of months, two well-known monthly printed car magazines have announced that they will no longer exist, or will be offered only in digital form. That got me thinking about trends in PCA. It is a pretty common trend across PCA regions, including regions in this zone, for newsletters that used to be in print monthly to move to a less frequent print schedule or to stop print completely and move to digital form. There are lots of reasons for this. Print advertising commitments are on the decline as it is easier to measure digital advertising effectiveness by using “click through” data analytics. At the region level, finding the time and skills of PCA volunteers capable of chasing down members to write about club events, and then assembling and laying out a pre-formatted page count newsletter, is getting to be a more difficult proposition. Thank your newsletter person at your next region event. And if you had a fun time, volunteer to do a write up!
That brings me to PCA’s Panorama Magazine. To the best of my knowledge, it is healthy, improving all the time, and appreciated by PCA membership. Here’s some insight as to how is it bucking the trends in the first paragraph, First, a fairly fixed portion of your $46 annual membership is dedicated to publishing Panorama. That budget is a big help, but is not the full picture. Following that, the magazine is unique due to the very targeted audience that it reaches. This allows advertisers to continue to place value on the less measurable results of print advertising compared to more measureable digital advertising methods. Next, PCA is growing. It may not be so obvious, but each time a member joins PCA, that person adds another few dollars to the next year’s Panorama budget, while at the same time increasing the ability of PCA to “market” the growing circulation. So help protect Panorama by supporting our advertisers and also by getting your friends to join PCA.
This month, all zone representatives and national committee leaders met for a winter national staff meeting, led by the Executive Council. I’d like to highlight some of the initiatives underway that you are likely to hear more about in the next year. Here’s a list-
– the National Tours Committee has now finalized standards for off-road tours. It’s good progress.
– the EC, has now appointed a TRSS (Tire Rack Survival Skills) program liaison to help regions pull together teen survival skills programs in regions as well as to feed regional input to the EC.
– the Club Racing Committee has made changes to mitigate some of the financial burden of traveling staff on regions that host PCA club races.
– the National Autocross Committee has formalized rules for a “Taste of Autocross” program to generate more interest and participation in autocrossing.
– the EC has approved increased subsidy levels for regions who participate in new member welcome, multi-region, charity and other types of nationally subsidized events.
– Training sessions for region leadership by national committee member now fills a full 12 month calendar of “Region Focus” webinar events.
There’s actually a lot more to cover, but I’ll stop here for now. I’ll be sharing lots more details with your region leadership in our annual Zone 9 region President’s meeting at the end of March.
And here’s an update of the key events that I mentioned in last months “In the Zone” newsletter.
– PCA’s Treffen program remains on solid footing as a relatively new program. Treffen at the Broadmoor, led by the Alpine Mountain Region, sold out in 13 minutes. Registration includes 293 attendees from 60 regions, representing 12 of the 14 PCA zones across North America!
– Fiesta New Mexico, hosted by the Roadrunner Region over the Memorial weekend is nearing capacity. This multi-region event MAY still have room, by the time this letter gets to you, so check it out at www.FiestaNewMexico.com.
– And finally Phase 1 hotel registration is well underway for the annual PCA Porsche Parade event, held this year in Palm Desert, California. Phase II activities registration opens March 31st at noon EST. By now, we are probably approaching 1000 car registrations, on track to make this one of the best-attended Porsche Parade events ever. There is not a limit on rooms, so there’s still time and space for YOU! Go to www.porscheparade.org to complete your Phase I registration now!
I guess the final point is to say that PCA ran an analysis of all major car clubs. We’re the only one that is growing. All others are remaining static or shrinking. On top of that, PCA membership growth, both nationally and within this zone, is faster than the U.S. economy. It’s not just the Cars, it’s the People.
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Drivers Wanted!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
February 2020
Last Friday was spent sitting on a “Flixbus” heading from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. My purpose was be an additional set of critical eyes and a return driving companion for my son. His intention was to buy an Audi SQ5 in Nevada. The bus ticket fit his budget as last minute one-way airfares were nuts- especially considering that we may have needed to return the same way, if the car was not what it was expected to be. The risk of it being a bust had been minimized by a true PCA “It’s about the People” story. Prior to our visit a Las Vegas Region PCA member had provided tremendous assistance before we made the 500 mile trip. But that cool story is for another edition of this monthly tome.
Settling into the eight hour Wi-Fi enabled bus ride, I stumbled onto a live Hagerty panel discussion, sponsored by RM Sotheby’s. The discussion included three panelists among which was our own Panorama editor, Rob Sass. I was particularly interested in the discussion, as I had been reading and watching highlights of various auctions throughout the week. Yes, this was during that magical Scottsdale week in January when you can choose your auction coverage according to your real or fantasy budget, from Barrett-Jackson to RM Sotheby’s.
The panel discussion was of particular interest because each panelist chose “the one” Porsche that they would choose to have in their garage, if they had to choose only one. Discussions covered the 911 air-cooled era, 928’s, water-cooled 996 turbo’s and the first generation Boxster Spyder. To my delight most of the very colorful discussion described everyday use and practical enjoyment. Toward the end of the seminar, the topic began to include more recent trends in collectability, specifically since the introduction of the 918 and the associated VIP program. The conversation then narrowed even further to the introduction of the 911R, the aftermarket price bubble that ensued in the year(s) following, and then finally the market cool off to a lower level following the introduction of the GT3RS model. At that point, a question went back to the moderator from RM Sotheby’s who was asked (paraphrasing) – what is the one key variable in the creation of collectability. The answer was “scarcity”. So apparently, as there are only 991 of the 911R models, they are limited, but not totally scarce. Then the next question was related to what he would look for before accepting a 911R to be a part of an RM Auction. The answer was….and I kid you not…triple digit miles on the odometer.
For most of us, I’m assuming that owning a Porsche is primarily about driving it, and also about the experiences and memories that we make as we do. I don’t know about you, but when I pick out a next Porsche, the first criteria is that I’m going to love to drive it. While not the primary factor, another criteria might be to mitigate the downside depreciation risk. So for me limited production does have some sway, but not to the point of “scarcity”. The panelists in the discussion all seemed consider some of same decision process by either buying a newer car that has SOME scarcity appeal (Spyder), OR by finding a really iconic older Porsche that may be at or near the bottom of its depreciation curve (996TT or last of the air-cooled). Not one of the panel members seemed to aspire to going out and speculating on a “car as art” model to be put away simply for the sake of someday being sold for more.
It’s now two days following the close of last week’s auctions. It may be my imagination, but of the various models that I tend to watch, well beyond just Porsches, the results seemed soft in terms of price. The top, non-charity price at Barrett-Jackson was about $1.5M for a 2017 Ford GT40 with 141 miles. Yep- triple digit miles. The top Ferrari of the week was a 1995 F50 sold at Gooding for $3.2M. Softer than the $10-$20M Ferraris at past auctions, but still one of only 349 made. Yep- rarity. But the shocker of the week was lot #116 at RM Sotheby’s, sold within a day of, or actually ON the day of the panel discussion that was happening at the Biltmore Hotel. That lot was a 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series Cabriolet. The car had 12 miles on the odometer and was one of only 200 made. Scarcity AND less than triple digit miles. The car had an MSRP of $338k and sold for $280k inclusive of auction fees. I guess that REALLY makes the case for getting your enjoyment from driving the car. Someone, got a smart buy. And I’m curious to know if that person will treat the car like Certificate of Deposit with a bent toward collectible art, or like the performance automobile that the Zuffenhausen employees would love to see enjoyed!
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2020 – What a year it’s going to be!!!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
January 2020
It’s shaping up to be a banner year for PCA members around the zone. If there’s any year to really plan ahead and lock in your calendars EARLY, this is it. In addition to the stellar bucket of activities which support you in your “local” regions, there are big events emerging that will require that you actually enjoy a few more miles in your Porsche. And yes, you will probably want to travel beyond your own regional boundaries. If you are so inclined, you are going to need to do some advance planning. So here are the “biggies” in one document for your planning purposes….
#1. Fiesta. Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you’ve never been to a Roadrunner region hosted Fiesta, you are missing a long weekend of fun. I was lucky in my first year as a zone rep to attend “Fiesta 50”. Yes, the region has a LOT of experience putting on this event. I’m listing it first on this recommended “to do” list, simply because registration opens before the other events, on or around January 1, 2020 (perhaps a week or two in the past, for many of you reading this). Fiesta takes place in downtown Santa Fe on Memorial Day weekend. Check in is on Thursday May 21st and the weekend concludes on Sunday May 24th. More information can be found at www.FiestaNewMexico.com. Registration will be through www.motorsportreg.com.
#2. Treffen. Broadmoor, Colorado. While the “Fiesta” celebration mentioned above is a single region event attended by members from zone 9 and beyond, Treffen is a PCA nationally organized event, attended by members throughout the U.S. and even Canada. For those not yet familiar, there are two Treffens held each year. One in the spring and the other in the fall in order to avoid conflict with the Porsche Parade, held in the summer. For the 2020 Spring Treffen at the Broadmoor, PCA National has organized a leadership and volunteer team from the Alpine Mountain Region. Efforts have been underway for close to one year now, to plan for a great event at the Broadmoor. Treffen events tend to be a bit more upscale than Porsche Parade, and are almost exclusively focused on socials (meals included in the price) and tours, with a free day in the middle to just enjoy the resort or surrounding area. Dates for the 2020 Spring Treffen are April 29-May 3. Registration opens on January 22nd at 1pm MOUNTAIN time. Please be prompt, as Treffen events are designed for only 250-300 guests and often sell out in mere minutes. More details can be found at http://treffen.pca.org.
#3. Porsche Parade. La Quinta Resort, Palm Springs, California. This will be the 65th annual Porsche Parade. It seldom happens that this event is within a one-day drive of every member of Zone 9. So I’d love to greet dozens of you from June 21 to June 27. I have to admit to being really jealous of my fellow zone reps from all over the southeast last year in Boca Raton, as I stood at a banquet reception surrounded by only a few members who drove from the west all the way to Florida. 2020 is my chance for payback. So help me out. If you haven’t been, Porsche Parade is a week-long Porsche fest chock full of social activities, tours and competitive events. Stay tuned to www.PCA.org.
2020 will be my final year as your zone representative to the national PCA organization. I cannot imagine a more fun slate of “core” events to augment my regular visits to the regions. I hope to greet hundreds of you at these gatherings throughout the year.
![](https://amrporsche.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ITZ2-Dec19-150x150.jpg)
Happy 65th anniversary to Roadrunner and Intermountain Regions in 2020. We need to windshield decals!
![](https://amrporsche.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ITZ3-Dec19-150x150.jpg)
At Roadrunner car and coffee. Photo is of the hood of a Porsche 912- A (tree) trunk in a frunk.
![](https://amrporsche.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ITZ5-Dec19-150x150.jpg)
Changing of the guard. 2019 RRR President Vance Bass turns over the gavel to 2020 President George Watkins
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Some Peoples Kids….
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
December 2019
Walking the dog last week, I noticed that a neighbor had left the garage doors open. Noting the cars in the stalls, including a familiar 911 C4S Cab, another car caught my eye. It was a white Infiniti QX60, a small sport crossover. The reason that it caught my eye was the familiar Porsche “Cayenne” logo on the back, painted in white to match the car. Nice humor, right? Yesterday, I ran into a grand-parent who was visiting the family and asked about the Cayenne badge. Having been told that the car is used by the grand-son, I could only imagine that he aspires to own a Porsche. My own son falls into that category as well. Independent, mid-30-s, professionally employed, he is in the process of wringing out the last breaths from his ten year old VW Touareg. In the next year he should probably part with the car, and has begun to casually look around. Faced with lots of attractive year end deals on brand new VW Atlas’ or Tiguans, he’s not biting. Same functionality. Brand new. What’s not to like? Instead, he’s looking for a well-maintained under 50k mile Cayenne, of the S or GTS variety- probably 5-10 years old in order to fit into a “new VW” equivalent budget. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only Porsche loyalist, whose family experience has led the next generation to go down a similar path. As a Dad of a “mature” age, I still worry about whether that’s the right decision for my “child”, even though that child is a parent himself and nearing middle age.
But as I look around, I find a lot of evidence that I shouldn’t be worried. Without naming names or regions our current region boards are filled with “legacy” Porsche children who’ve now grown up (sort of) and have turned their ownership into a life-style. One region VP recalls helping wash and wax Dad’s 930 beginning at age 6, and then the trauma of having the car “sold out from under him”, the day he got his license. (Give Dad a LOT of credit for that decision!). The President of another PCA region recalls lots of hours cramped in the back “seat” of a very early 911, which his Dad owned since before he was born. (Hmm…) A past region president and PCA Cup racer, has now raised 3 sons, all of whom are accomplished on the track. Within our general membership there are numerous examples of multi-generational P-Car families. We even have a member in the zone who doesn’t look a day over 40, and who just attended his 30th Porsche Parade. So I guess I just need to relax, and not worry about the kids. Yes kids…plural. I suspect our second “child” may go down a similar path when HER Golf R starts to get boring- which may be a LONG time.
So since you are probably reading this just before the year-end holidays, may I suggest a gift idea or two to support your progeny? The first is for that adult child. How about a day at the Los Angeles or Atlanta Porsche Experience Center. Run by PCNA, I’m told this is an unforgettable event if you’ve not really had the opportunity to understand the capabilities of a Porsche. The second idea is for you doting grand-parents to “leap-frog” your own children. You can sign your grandchildren up for PCA Junior, If you haven’t done so already. Run by PCA, it’s a program that sends “age appropriate” small gifts to the future Porsche lover. My 6 year old grand-daughter proudly wears her “rookie driver” PCA t-shirt. And it was free. Just go to PCA.org. All the details are there!
Worried about sending future generations down the “slippery slope”? Don’t. They are adults (or will be) and the evidence suggests that they are making their own decisions and not yours.
Happy Holidays!!!
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PCA and Switzerland
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
November 2019
Sometimes this monthly letter stares back at me from a blank page. At times I’m challenged to come up with a topic that I think might be entertaining, or usefully informative. And as you all know by now, I’m not really a writer. Having hit the wall this month as I was trying to find something interesting, I was forced to think about this question- “Are there common traits, across all of PCA regions, which allows members to get along so well?” And I think I came up with at least ONE answer – the courage to be neutral.
Being neutral may seem to some like a cop out. Not taking a stand. In reality though, being neutral is a position in itself, and it takes a lot of work. And I don’t think that you work to invest in being neutral unless you see the benefit of taking that decision. One of the things that I really enjoy about PCA, wherever I go, is that it has some of the same qualities of a Switzerland.
I firmly believe that within the first months of being active in just about any PCA region, it becomes clear to new PCA members that being a member of the club is about the cars and the people, and not about all of the daily distractions that are filling our media and airwaves. In fact PCA seems to provide a bit of an island, a respite, away from all of the other noise.
It’s probably safe to say that any reasonably sized gathering of Porsche owners is replete with more than its fair share of “A-type” personalities with strong opinions in just about any possible direction on any particular controversial topic. Yet, at least in my experience, subjects like politics, religion, or BMW’s (kidding on that last one), never seem to take center stage at PCA events. And in the past few years we’ve grown to the point that every region has its own social media footprint. That means that PCA discussions can emerge as fast as the weather can change here in the West. Yet, still, there seems to be a “code” that’s understood among most members- and even beyond our members when Facebook groups allow non-members to come visit our social media outlets. I’m happy to report that in the past year, I’m only aware of a handful of times that our region administrators have had to intercept a post, or have a discussion with a poster about a topic, or a bit of news, that may have stepped into turf that did not reflect the values of the club. In fact, I’ve observed in person on several occasions that when an individual wants to “go there”, others will politely steer the topic in another direction. Or defer it to a later, and more private time. This type of behavior which I see on occasion, reflects individuals protecting their PCA haven, by intervening on behalf of neutrality. It takes effort. And the benefit of the effort is in the bonding that takes place among members. Friendships get deeper. Relationships get stronger. And the club remains a healthy place.
Thanks to each and every one of you who makes the effort to keep PCA a comfortable and fun place for all of our members.
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The “Configurator Salivator”- Hurry up and wait!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
October 2019
Awareness, Trial, Usage.
With one-half of a career dedicated to marketing, I get it. As a marketer bringing something new to the world, you spend your waking hours finding new ways to get people aware of your latest really cool thing, then you find an enticement to get them to try it, so that you can finally get them hooked into repeat purchases. So at least I’m acutely aware of where I stand in this time tested process when it comes to my relationship with Porsche cars. Here’s the problem though. I’m fortunate enough to be a repeat purchaser- a loyalist. That means I know what I want next, and have been waiting for it to exist. My shopping list was “essentially” finalized back in January 2018 when I pulled out my credit card to place a bet that something might happen in the future that would match the shopping list.
The list went like this.
#1 Mid-Engine- I’m just partial to the physics on canyon roads and the practicality for long trips with the frunk AND a trunk. #2 Convertible- Ever since selling the RS60 Boxster for the Cayman R, Julie and I have BOTH missed having a long range, top down option. #3. Classic Porsche- a six-cylinder with a manual. Yeah, it is kind of a throwback. #4 Long-term potential- just maybe the possibility of some nostalgic collectability down the road, or at least a less steep depreciation curve. By this I mean “lowish” production numbers, a six cylinder sound with sport exhaust, the last of the mid-engine 6 cylinder normally aspirated engines, and finally (with tongue firmly in my cheek) the first mid-engine 911 with a 4.0 liter engine.
If you hung in through the last paragraph, and you’ve been looking at any of the recent Porsche news, then you know that all criteria on my shopping list have now been ANNOUNCED, in the form of the 2020 Boxster Spyder (718).
Kids aren’t the only ones famous for the cry- “are we there yet??”
Just ask the Porsche sales rep who took my payment back in January 2018.
“Dear Porsche AG marketing guys. I know what I want. You’ve told me it’s real. You hung a poster announcing it, as I visited the factory in June. You brought one- a REAL ONE- to the July Porsche Parade in Boca Raton. You let me take home several posters. You hosted writers in Scotland, including our own Panorama editor Rob Sass, to enable magazine and YouTube content everywhere I look in August and September. And as of this date, I don’t even know (nor apparently does my dealer) when I will be able to place my order for a promised delivery in the spring of 2020.”
I’d never send this to them, but telling you makes me feel better!
Configurator as a pacifier.
Apparently, I only THOUGHT I knew what I wanted- until my sales guy sent me to the configurator! I’m now online at the Porsche Cars North America site, fine tuning what is probably my 10th iteration over as many hours. It seems as though those marketers are telling me “Here suck on this, you make stop crying.” Well, they may be right. And thanks to the configurator, I find that I’m waiting for an 8th generation 911 (aka 992) to show up somewhere in Utah in a new color called “Gentian Blue”- a color also offered on the 718 Spyder. I just don’t feel that I can trust that the configurator image on my monitor- without actually seeing that color “live”. So after all the crying, if the phone were to ring today, ready to take my order, I might have to eat crow and let my dealer know that I need a little more time. So giving credit where credit is due, while the marketing types may have dragged out the “hype” cycle, they also found a way to keep me engaged during the wait. I call it the “configurator salivator”. Thinking about your next new Porsche? Go online and play around with it. It comes in lots of flavors!
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Authors in our Midst!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
September 2019
This monthly letter is being dreamt up during “Speed Week” at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Scheduled to start last Saturday, it looks like the shortened week will begin tomorrow, a Tuesday. The delay is thanks to two thunderstorms last week. Salt needs time to dry in order to become safe again for racing. Such are the narrow parameters needed to run the safest possible event for those who want to set world records. But thinking about one of the more unique records at Bonneville reminded me of a former Zone Rep, Sean Cridland. (Sean still holds a world record from “speed skiing” while strapped on the roof of a car at 162 MPH on the salt). And thinking about Sean reminded me of yet another newly minted author in our midst, Chris Lennon. And that finally led me to take stock in the overall level of talent that’s scattered throughout our regions. Let’s start there, and we’ll work back to Sean and Chris!
For those of you who have been to a Porsche Parade, you will be aware that the national awards for the prior year’s activities are announced throughout the week, at various banquets in front of nearly 1000 people. One of the really BIG awards was won by the Alpine Mountain Region. The award is the “Betty Jo Turner Award” for Best Overall Newsletter for AMR’s Mountain Passages monthly publication. Newsletters take a village to create and maintain. They also evolve in order to continually improve and pull in advertisers. So at the risk of offending those who chase down advertisers and content writers, or those who contribute to the process of getting each issue published and mailed, I’d like at minimum recognize the 2018 editor Matt Ardaiz. And realizing that it took a lot of formative years to get the newsletter to its current state, a lot of development credit should also be attributed to Bill Cosper, Matt’s predecessor for the many years just prior to Matt’s tenure. I should also mention that during tonight’s semi-annual board meeting conference call with 145 invited region President, Cindy Jacisin, PCA’s Vice President chose this award, as one of four National Awards to highlight as she recapped activities at the recent Porsche Parade. Congratulations to AMR and its leadership under Denise Jordan.
Four additional national awards within the zone were announced at the event in Boca Raton. These were awarded to the Rocky Mountain and Roadrunner Regions. The awards included a first place in the Region Website Class V category in RMR. Congratulations to Webmaster Scott Rogers. Next, RMR took 2nd place in the National Awards for Best Newsletter in a Class VI region. And Roadrunner Region also took a newsletter award; a 2nd place among Class IV regions. Nothing like a little neighborly competition with AMR, right? Congratulations to Tom Champion, newsletter editor RMR. And also to Steve Waller and Ann Mulhern who are collectively credited with a five year string of national newsletter awards. And a really special recognition to Bill Simon, who, if I understand correctly is instrumental in providing publication support for BOTH the RMR and AMR newsletters. Finally, a third national award was won by the RMR region; a 3rd place for Public Service. In other Parade competitive news, I also understand that we had two Concours entries from the RMR region who won their respective classes. Congratulations to Dave and Bette Seeland, as well as Jim and Randy Osgood!
No mention of awards won, should go without recognition of the nominations for awards NOT WON. Every year, the zone rep has the dubious expectation from PCA national leadership to pester region presidents to make or assign nominations for the top national awards. Considering and creating these nominations takes A LOT of time. And because it takes a lot of effort, no nomination gets written unless the person making the nomination truly believes that the national recognition should be warranted. Having read all of this year’s nominations it would be wrong to NOT recognize the intended recipients, and those who wrote the nominations. I’ll leave the specifics to each region announce, but special recognition should be made to Gigi Camarena and Jim Thorburn as Presidents of IRPCA and RMR regions respectively, and to John Mackin as Past President of RMR. You were all involved in one way or another in either nominating or being nominated for Region of the Year, Enthusiast of the Year, or Charity of the Year Awards. Your work is not lost on anyone, even though in each case, the BIG NATIONAL award was taken by another amongst the 145 PCA regions.
Now, coming back to recognition of mountain west PCA members who are spreading their writing talent around the world, I just want to make a short mention of two books published within the last year. I’ve purchased and read one of them and look forward to doing the same for the second. Many of you may already be aware of former Zone 9 Rep Sean Cridland’s “HURLEY: From the Beginning”, co-authored by Sean and Hurley Haywood. Sean traces his 9 years as the newsletter editor for the Roadrunner Region’s “Ramblings” as the beginning of his industry-wide Porsche-oriented article writing career. During his tenure, the newsletter placed on the PCA National Awards “podium” twice! The new book also includes a LOT of Sean’s incredible photography. Nicely done Sean.
Finally our perennial Pike’s Peak racer, Chris Lennon, from the Alpine Mountain Region, has recently released his own book titled “The Peak of Racing” (www.peakofracing.com). Chris’ most recent run up the hill was in a fully electric….wait for it….911! I’m looking forward to reading this book, as well. He added a sixth podium finish to his record (in the rain this time)! Congratulations, Chris!
![](https://amrporsche.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ITZ5-Aug19-150x150.jpg)
An array of display cars from PCNA, including the “love it or hate it” Green Panamera. I’m in the love it camp
![](https://amrporsche.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ITZ6-Aug19-150x150.jpg)
Grant Larson, Wisconsin born designer of the Boxster, posing with his latest project, the 911 Speedster
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My personal version of “Car Week”
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
August 2019
Monterey has “Car Week” every August. Never been. It’s on my bucket list as an enthusiast. Sometime after I’m no longer a zone rep, I’ll get there. For now, in an effort to manage domestic tranquility, I need to be very careful how much time I put into auto-enthusiasm. Commitments to the “job” have me on the road a bit supporting PCA. Adding additional “non-PCA” car stuff to the calendar typically requires a calculated approach and some forethought into the anticipated “but why would I be interested in that?” question. So when HER friends were arranging for us to join a week-long June walking tour of London, I was pleased that this vacation would help balance things out. But then Julie asked, “Do you really want to travel all that way and spend just 7 days? So with a limit of about 12 days as a total trip length, due to a desire for Max the Berne-doodle to recognize us on our return, we looked for a 3-4 day additional excursion to “add on” to the London trip. Portugal? Italy? Southern Spain? Nope, not enough time to do any of them justice. Soooo……I meekly suggested, “what if we went to Stuttgart and hit the Porsche factory”. Expecting to maybe get smacked, I was shocked at the resoundingly positive response. As it turns out, a trip to the Ford F-150 factory near Dearborn a few years back had left a very positive impression. Who knew? And so, perhaps pushing my luck, I asked “what if we spent 3-days and also hit the Mercedes, BMW and Porsche museums as well?” AND…fly into Munich and do a bit of Autobahn driving, too? Sold! The trip was ON!
Despite living in Europe and traveling often to the UK at the time, I never really visited the core of London, particularly near Hyde Park. To my delight, this “car week” started unexpectedly before we got to Germany. While Julie and friends were taking in towers, castles, bridges, round theatres, plays, cathedrals, abbeys and funny buses, I was gawking at every possible sub-model of frustratingly traffic-stifled Lambos, Jaguars, McLaren’s, Rollers, Bentleys, Maybachs, Ferraris, and AMGs. There were even some of ‘our own’ rather pedestrian (by comparison) Porsche 992s already roaming the streets.
Then it was off to Germany. Needless to say we hit all 3 museums in four days and also did the Porsche factory tour at Zuffenhausen. Thanks to a well-informed recommendation by Chris Lennon in the Alpine Mountain Region, we stayed at Schloss-Hotel Monrepos. It’s located on a beautiful estate not far from Zuffenhausen. Just idyllic.
But wait- the ‘week’ was not over. Back in March, I received an email from Vu Nguyen, Executive Director of PCA, asking if I might be able to provide help to Porsche Cars of North America, for an event they were planning in Salt Lake City. It turns out that they had chosen the Grand America Hotel (site of the 2012 Porsche Parade for those that may have attended) and the Utah Motorsports Campus as the host hotel and road course respectively, for dealer product launch training on the 8th generation 911,- the 992. Long story short- PCNA was looking to borrow one nice example of a 911 from each of the first seven generations. The cars were to be displayed in a secure ballroom, from mid-June through mid-July. The goal of the display was to showcase the evolution of the 911 during a dramatic “reveal” of the new 992. After lots of phone calls and some arm twisting, we arranged all 7 prior generations from some very generous PCA members here in Utah. In return PCNA graciously invited those owners as well as me, to attend their training sessions. Needless to say, those two training days happened immediately upon my return from Germany, at the end of June. I’m not sure which was more impressive, the training sessions themselves or the new 992. But needless to say, the entire program was run in an extremely professional manner. Special thanks to all the PCA members who gave up your cars for a month. You know who you are.
I’m still looking forward to Monterey Car week some year. But I’m not sure how to top my own “car week” of June 2019!
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South of the Rockies, and north of the border!!!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
July 2019
This is the third in a series of three monthly letters which collectively highlight all of the geography in PCA’s Zone 9. Our May letter highlighted the Front Range, east of the Rockies. June addressed my home geography west of the Rockies. This issue will introduce those of you not familiar, to our regions “south of the Rockies”.
Prior to this role, I had no reason to ponder where the Rocky Mountains came to an end as you head south. In 2017, when I took this zone rep “job”, I would not have guessed that a majority of the regions were neither east nor west of those mountains, but instead, south of them. Now that I’ve flown over and driven around them, I get it.
Anyway, the four regions located “south of the Rockies” are Roadrunner, Carrera, Llano Estacado, and West Texas. The largest among them is the Roadrunner region, with around 450 primary members. That’s just about the same as their neighboring Alpine Mountain Region to the north. Likewise, neighboring Carrera and West Texas regions are just about in a dead heat when it comes to membership at 90 and 89 primary members, respectively. Finally the Llano Estacado region based out of Amarillo, Texas is our beloved mini-region. Those of us “up north” might ask why the numbers drop off so much as we head south and east? There’s no big science to it. The most obvious is population. There are simply fewer potential owners. But you still have to have clubs close to the members. But beyond population, I’m certain that there are other contributing factors to the smaller club sizes. There are lots of “Porschey” things that you find a lot more of, in and around the larger Rocky mountain metro areas, that you don’t find as much of, in the more southern and eastern regions. Chief among these are Porsche dealers, race tracks, and an abundance of “Porsche roads”. Among these four regions, there was only ONE Porsche dealership until earlier this year with the opening of Porsche of El Paso. In terms of race tracks within the geographic boundaries, there are really only two available to the clubs among the four regions. Curvy Porsche roads? Well actually, there are lots of them, but they require significantly more straight-line driving to get to them from the location of the core membership in each region.
But the key point to illustrating these differences is to say that, based on my observations, members “south of the Rockies” have the same car culture enthusiasm, strong friendships, and every bit as much fun as their northern Zone 9 counterparts. Carrera region puts on their Oktoberfiesta, a 3-day track, autocross and tour event through the mountains of Western New Mexico. If you haven’t been, I recommend it. The West Texas region’s holiday party is like none other in the zone. They combine it with a multi-day drive to get to some Porsche roads in the hills. This combined annual celebration seems to be at a new location each year. Is it possible to have too much fun??? As well, they just landed (pun intended) an even bigger autocross venue at a military airstrip. And they open their arms to other car clubs to join their events. Roadrunner region opens up their autocross events to lots of non-Porsches as well. And when it come to the percent of membership that attends socials, I have no doubt that the Roadrunner Region tops every other medium to large sized region in the zone. They are an engaged crowd. And as many know the Roadrunner Region has been host to a last year’s national “Treffen Tamiya” and has hosted their own “Fiesta New Mexico” several dozen times. Finally, tiny, Llano Estacado region has weekly and monthly breakfast gatherings that are nothing less than their own local tradition. I’ve enjoyed getting to know lots of volunteers and leaders from these regions.
Shots From Around The Zone:
West of the Rockies!!!
by Rich Sanders – Zone 9 Rep
June 2019
I grew up in various eastern seaboard states, spent most of my working years in the mid-west, and am now “retired” to the mountain west. With each move you are faced with lots of new terminology both regional and local. Zone 9 PCA covers both sides of the Rocky Mountain range from the Bonneville Salt Flats to the West and the Colorado Plains to the East. From North to South, our regions span from the Idaho to the Mexico border. The spine down the middle of much of the zone is the Rocky Mountains. Coloradoans along the east edge of the Rockies say they live on the “front range”. But here in Salt Lake City we say that we live along the “Wasatch front”- the west side of the local Wasatch Range. Oddly, those living on the east side, deeper into the Rockies, refer to their location as the “Wasatch back”. This month’s “In the Zone” is all about the Wasatch front, my local turf, and home to the only region in the zone to be completely located west of the Rockies.
Spats of winter weather have continued to tease the arrival of spring here in Utah. Our first off-road tour of 2019, was changed to a paved road tour due to roads not yet open due to conditions. I guess the good news is that lots more participants joined the tour with their low clearance Porsches. Called the “Pony Express Tour”, members of IRPCA made stops at various points along the original Pony Express route. The tour finished up at the Bonneville Brewery just south of the famous lake- in a town called “Tooele”. Remember I mentioned the local terminology. Well Tooele is found just west of the Oquirrh Mountains. Yeah…just try to pronounce either one these. Here’s a tutorial. Tooele = too-ill’-ah. Oquirrh = Oak’-er! Welcome to the Wasatch Front!
We got lucky on May 3 and 4, with our first track days at Utah Motorsports Campus. PERFECT weather! We were delighted to welcome drivers from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, COLORADO, and even as far as Mexico City! We had lots of new first time PCA members, several of which are hooked and heading down the slippery slope.
If you are reading this and you are from east, or south of the Rockies, we really want you guys to come have some fun at UMC (formerly known as Miller Motorsports Park). It’s a fantastic facility with four track configurations, ranging from 2.1 to over 4 miles. Great facilities, with grandstands and rental day garages. If you’ve not come this direction for a track event, please consider joining us in the future. Our calendar can be found at www.irpca.org.
I’ve learned in traveling throughout the zone that we have stellar Porsche dealerships wherever I go. The Intermountain region is no different. We get fantastic support from both dealers in the region- Porsche of Lehi and Porsche Salt Lake City. So while I’m focused on my “home” region this month, I want to call your attention to the current issue of Panorama (#746). There’s a special 3 page article on Larry Moulton and Randy Yates. Larry and Randy are Porsche Master Technicians who collectively share 88 years of employment at Porsche Salt Lake City. Larry, at 74 years of age and with 53 years with the dealer, was recently awarded the “Technician Tenure Award” at a special ceremony. The award was presented personally by Klaus Zellmer, president and CEO, of Porsche Cars North America. A special IRPCA Cars and Coffee is being organized here in early June to allow club members to also recognize Larry for his tenure and accomplishments. I expect that many of our long time PCA members will have some fun stories to tell about their interactions over the years. Congratulations to Larry and Randy for their tenure working on Porsche Cars, and also to Porsche Salt Lake City, for being THAT kind of employer!
Up next month- “South of the Rockies”- a focus on the lower third of the zone.
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