SDR President’s Message May 2021

<< Go Back

Looking Forward

One could look back on this year and see (from a club perspective) how little filled our calendar – a few track events, a few driving tours, a few zoom events. All events that were relatively (if not absolutely) safe in the pandemic environment. But the time has finally come to look forward, to predict the end, to foresee a normal schedule, to get back to leading our lives. California is now a bright spot in the US, and the US as a whole is a bright spot among the industrialized countries. It certainly looks like we have turned the corner. (We can hope.)

With the announcement that California will fully re-open on June 15 (if current trends continue), we have been planning what that means for the region. First of all, we’ve restarted our Cars-n-SDR monthly tire-kicking and bench-racing events on the last Sunday of each month. It takes place in Rancho Bernardo at 8:00 AM, just off of I-15, just north of the 56. Be sure to check out the next one at the end of May.

We plan to bring back our monthly Last Tuesday Socials next – and since our state’s reopening date of June 15 is a Tuesday, we will ease back into them with the first one being on that special night – Re-Opening Night. Starting in July they will return to their traditional night in the month. Our Social Chair, Victoria Varon, is also working on the return of the Mystery Weekend and the Progressive dinner. Expect to see them on the calendar this fall.

Between COVID and the loss of the stadium as a venue, our autocross program was certainly in a tailspin last year. This year we will revive it using the parking lot at the stadium in Lake Elsinore. The only hold-up right now is waiting for the city of Lake Elsinore to re-open the facility. With any luck, that will be around June 15 as well. We understand that for many of us Lake Elsinore doesn’t have the convenience of the Qualcomm venue, but we are making due as best we can. After much searching, knocking on doors and cold calls to property owners and managers, it is sadly apparent that San Diego just doesn’t have a lot to offer for autocross venues.

Looking outside the region, Monterey Car Week is currently moving ahead at full-throttle. This is one of the best events in the world for the car enthusiast. If you’ve not been, this is a vacation that you owe yourself. Track events, car auctions, and numerous car shows including the world-famous Pebble Beach Concours, fill the week in one of the prettiest settings in the country. PCA will be back once again, with our Porsche-centric car show: The PCA Werks Reunion. We might even organize a driving tour for our members to caravan up together. (See the schedule here: https://whatsupmonterey.com/article/activities/monterey-car-week-overview)

Later in the year, the LA Autoshow returns as well, at its usual time in November. With it we can hope to again see Porsche’s PCA preview show – where PCA members get early access to the Porsche Exhibit, as well as first day access to the show itself. Also on opening weekend, I sure we can expect to see PCA’s national tech program, Tech Tactics, back at the Porsche training center in Eastvale, near Corona.

While our calendar may not return to 2019 levels until 2022, we do have a lot to look forward to this year. Keep an eye on our website and be sure you are getting our emails so that you don’t miss out on any of the fun.

A New Addition to the Family

Got a wonderful, surprising phone call from my daughter, Katie, a few weeks back. Seems her family was down a car and in her mind the perfect replacement was a Porsche. Katie was looking to buy her first Porsche! Talk about warming the cockles of my heart. We spent a few minutes discussing what to look for, and older vs a new model, etc. With the two grandkids she definitely wanted a 2+2, so that ruled out the Boxster and Caymen – and it had to be a sports car – so no Panamera or SUV. She ultimately decided on a 996 or an early 997. I have to say I started feeling a little jealous – getting a new car is really fun.

Finding the right car is, of course, sometimes easier said than done. After checking out the usual places there didn’t appear to be a lot available on the east coast (Katie is in Virginia). Meanwhile I was sending her everything I could find on IMS bearings and other known issues with these years, as well as what a PPI needs to cover and just in general everything to look for when buying a used Porsche. As luck would have it, it didn’t take too long before a ’05 997 came on the market, only a couple hours’ drive from her, and with a seller who was very flexible on price. Next thing you know she’s on the phone to me as she is driving it home. All smiles – you could hear it in her voice.

First stop was the local Porsche shop for an IMS bearing retrofit and to fix everything else the PPI identified; but that didn’t take too long and now the car is home and ready for new adventures. Here you see Katie, accompanied by Meredith and Natalie – Meredith is in the driver’s seat, ready to go, while Natalie is responding to the call “Light dusting only…”. Oh, and Meredith has named it “Fast Car.” If you call it Porsche, she responds with “It’s not a porcupine, it’s the Fast Car!” Apparently, I’m told the Hyundai SUV is no longer suitable for Meredith. Start ‘em young, Katie. Maybe someday you’ll feel what I’m feeling, how amazing and special it is to have a wonderful daughter who has now purchased her own Porsche.

See you soon,
Tom Brown
PCA-SDR 2021 President