2002 PORSCHE PARADE--NOW JUST MEMORIES

by: Dean Lewellen

The 47th Porsche Parade, hosted by the Silver Sage Region of PCA's Zone 6 in Boise, Idaho, is now just a fast fading memory after a week long affair (July 28th-August 3rd) packed full of multi-faceted Porsche related activities. The Parade is centered around competitive events with the Porsche automobile but it is much, much larger than that. Porsche Club people come from all parts of North America to reunite with old and dear friends, to meet and make new friends, and, to simply participate in the comraderie of ownership of these wonderful cars. For example, Jack and Ginny Case, charter members of PCA over forty-seven years ago, were present in Boise. You may want to read/reread their article in the July, 2002, issue of PANORAMA describing their Treffen experience in Europe last October. They are wonderful, active people. Bert and Joan Propp were recognized for attending their 43rd Parade and Michael Robbins from the Central Indiana Region was celebrating his 44th Parade--now that's dedication, folks. Peter Porsche, third son of Ferry Porsche, was attending his twenty-fifth Parade representing the Porsche family.

I have been attending Parades since 1978 (Aspen, CO), and this one ranks near the top of my list of great Porsche Parades based upon venue, program, execution, food, weather, and, just plain fun to be there categories. Vicki Pentecost, Parade Chair, and her staff planned and performed to produce a magical time for the 1200 attendees and their 600 Porsches in Boise during the entire week of Porsche paranoia. Our Arizona Region was represented by seven cars and fifteen members and associates, all of whom would testify that a grand time was had by all.

I drove the 1000 miles north with Ken Steele and Bob Frith who were tightly packed into Ken's Boxster S with an overflow of Ken's helmet, an art show entry from Jeff Gamble, Southern Arizona Region, and some other objects riding in the passenger seat and floor of my 993. We overnighted at the Little America Inn in Salt Lake City and arrived in Boise at noon on Saturday, July 27. Since this is supposed to be a technical article, I will add here that a 1995 993 gets about two miles per gallon better fuel mileage than a 2002 Boxster S at speeds near 80 mph. The 993 has a taller overall sixth gear ratio than the Boxster S which results in about 300 less engine revs per minute in the 80-85 mph speed range. Also, as we topped the 10,800 foot pass near Brian Head, UT, both cars were gasping somewhat for breath along with their three occupants. We did, however, have a great lunch stop there with the best French fries any of us had ever eaten. Okay, back to the Parade.

Sunday was cleanup day for the Concours d'Elegance on Monday. Ken, Bob, and I, along with Fran Steele and Linda Frith, who cheated and flew in on Alaska Airlines, worked to prepare the Boxster for the "big show". There were committee and worker meetings throughout the day to organize the staff of volunteers for the week ahead and the traditional Welcome Party, this year sponsored by Tweeks, was held Sunday evening around the fountain of the Boise Convention Center Parade Headquarters. Dick and Sue Petticrew, Bernie and Marlene Dobrin, Alan and Sarah Raphael, and, Bob and Marilynn Bingner all arrived from the greater Phoenix area along with Andy Schaefer and Mary Boyd from Kingman completing the Arizona Region's contingent.

The Concours d'Elegance was a day long event with some of the large Preparation-Touring classes (Boxsters and 993/996s) being split and judged by two separate teams of judges. The top three or four cars from each split grouping was then rejudged by a new judging team to determine the overall, final placement and scoring of the top cars. This process yielded a fifth place trophy finish in the 986 Preparation-Touring class for Ken and Fran's Boxster out of seventeen entries. Very good! I judged the interior on one of the initial judging teams for one half of the twenty-one 993/996 Preparation-Touring class and the ten cars (six 993s and four 996s) we judged were immaculately prepared and presented.

Tuesday was the Time-Speed-Distance rally where 184 cars/drivers/navigators started and approximately 160 teams found the final checkpoint of the six-leg, four and one-half hour rally. The Dobrins placed 19th and trophied in the Unequipped class (read--seat of the pants) out of about 135 cars in class. Well done! Of some trivial interest, the winning car of the Equipped class, with Tom Provasi, PCA Secretary, as navigator had a total error for the entire rally of 0.11 minutes. That's 6.6 seconds for the entire rally, folks! I'm still very proud of Bernie and Marlene who did the whole thing with a stop watch and a pencil and were still speaking to each other at day's end.

Wednesday and Thursday was devoted mainly to the Driving Event which was held on the training grounds of the Idaho State Police. The course contained two low speed parking lot segments with a high speed (third gear) segment in between to spice up the event for drivers and spectators. The really good times were around seventy seconds or less with up to three cars running on the course at a time. Bernie Dobrin took home a fourth place trophy in Class P16M and Marlene Dobrin captured a second place trophy in Class P16L in their 911. Great job, folks! Dick Petticrew competed in Class P9M in his 968. Ken Steele and Andy Schaefer came in seventh and ninth, respectfully, in Class P24M in their Boxster S's. More technical trivia--the winning time in Class P23, the 2.5/2.7 liter (normal) Boxster, was sixty-eight seconds and the winning time in Class P24, the Boxster S was seventy seconds. Go figure. The TToD for both the Men's and the Women's classes was in the same car, a highly prepared 993 race car, with Greg Fordahl of the Pacific Northwest Region posting a sixty-one second time, and his spouse, Jodi Fordahl, posting a sixty-four second run for their wins. It did not go un-noticed by many that Greg had designed and laid out the course and Jodi was the chief timer for the event. That plus spending several tens of thousand dollars preparing a car for a $4.00 trophy puts autocrossing at these levels in a new perspective for me, for sure.

Friday's unique event, to present day Porsche Parades, was the actual parade of Porsches through the streets of Boise by 225 Porsches which took us down the main arterials of the town past the Capitol building (a 2/3 scale replica of the Capitol in D.C.) and through old established neighborhoods of Boise proper. A Parade moment occured at the start of this momentous happening when the immaculate Model 356 Cabriolet, which was the "lead" car for the entire fleet to follow, refused to start because of a flat battery--someone had left the lights on. Peter Porsche was riding shotgun in this car, so he jumps out and begins pushing the 356 across the parking lot to enable a start. Some fast thinking soul captured this unbelievable sight on film which was captioned and shown on the big screen at the final Victory banquet as follows: "Porsche Stands Behind Their Products". Now, that's a Parade moment!

The final, major competition was the Tech Quiz on Saturday morning as we all wound down from the busy, full week. This test of detailed trivia is 120 multiple choice questions covering the gamut from Porsche's first entry in an auto race in Innsbruck, Austria in 1948 to Teo Fabi's only Porsche Indy Car CART win at Mid-Ohio in 1989 to the present cost of a Letter of Authenticity for your Porsche. There were only ten model specific questions and twenty nearly impossible questions for tie-breakers. The remaining ninety were from everything/everywhere Porsche. Well, Andy Schaefer won the 928 class trophy outright. Great job, Andy! This writer managed to win a fifth place trophy in the 964/993 class test.

The final Victory banquet closed out the 2002 Parade on Saturday evening complete with a bagpipes and drums band performance, lots of door prizes, a great meal and speeches from Peter Porsche, Gerd Mauser-Porsche AG VP, and other notables on the dias. The grand moment for us, the Arizona Region, was winning third place for the best Charity Event put on by the Regions of PCA in the past year. We were recognized for the Braille Rally, a traditional Phoenix Flight event, where we also contribute the silent auction monies to the Foundation for Blind Children and their S.H.A.R.P. programs in Phoenix. Our region received a check for $500.00 from PCA National for the third place finish. Nice work, members!

I hope I didn't leave out any other trophy winners among the competitors from the Arizona Region. Jeff Gamble of the Southern Arizona Region won a second prize in the Art Show competition with a beautiful bronze sculpture of a Model 356 race car on a victory lap. Bob Bingner and I played in the Golf Tournament on Thursday--my foursome was unspectacular, but we finished even par in the scramble format. There was a walking rally through downtown Boise, a 5-K walk/run, a kids' autocross on scooters, and an RC car autocross. There were several kid's activities, which is a new addition, to attract more families to future Parades--good move!

There were many technical sessions covering the subjects of gasoline technology, tire technology, restoration/preservation, and the evolution and development of Porsches in general. There was a great Goodie Store, Hospitality Room, PCA movie theater, and, many workshops and registry meetings. I know Dick Petticrew chaired the 968 Registry meeting during the week as the advocate in charge.

The co-chairs for the 2003 Parade whetted our appetites for the next Parade. It will be held at the famous Saddlebrook Resort near Tampa, Florida, with an opportunity to drive at the renowned Sebring racetrack included. Interested? It will be held in late June when it is not so muggy as Florida is known to be in summer. The 2004 Parade was awarded to the Maverick Region and will be held in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Leonard Turner closed this 2002 Porsche Parade with the meaningful Irish Prayer, first spoken to this membership at the 1971 Parade in Sun Valley, Idaho. It still grabs your heart. The Silver Sage Region and Zone 6 set a high bar for future Parade hosts to reach. We all left Boise on Sunday, dispersing in all directions with fond memories of the week just past, and full of expectations for the next time we get together. See you in Tampa.

Dean Lewellen