RSAmerica.net

PCA Parades in general

For those of you who have never attended a Porsche Club of America Parade - you're probably wondering what all the fuss is about.

The most common reaction to PCA Parade from non-attendees is “I don't have time to spend a whole week messing around with my Porsche with a bunch of people I don't know.” Well ..... simply put, you really don't know what you are missing.

I'm pretty sure that you must have heard by now, from people who have attended, that it really is a lot of fun. How much fun? Well that depends to a large degree on you - as the old adage goes “garbage in equals garbage out”. What I mean by that is .... if you do decide to go to Parade, then really go for it! Attend as many events as you can; do not miss the banquets - in fact, I recommend that you buy the banquet package which includes a ticket for every organized meal - including concours and rally lunches. These banquets, with featured speakers, are a huge part of the camaraderie of Parade. Hearing Vic Elford tell in his own words how he was at full bore in a Porsche 917 on the Mulsanne straight at LeMans when another driver's mistake left him with no option other than “to pass him on the grass at a little under 250 mph” or to hear Peter Porsche tell of how at one Parade he was loaned a member's 356 which had an engine problem while he was driving it and at one point he had to push it off to the side of the road to fix it - only to come down for breakfast the next morning to find numerous poster-sized images all over the headquarters hotel showing him pushing the car with the caption “Porsche stands behind its products.” I believe moments like these are not to be missed because you decide to save money and not go to the banquets.

You have probably attended some PCA events in your local region - some of which are more enjoyable than others, but if you go with an attitude of “what the heck ... let's give it a try and see what everyone raves about” you will be surprised how many interesting people you will meet and how many fun things are offered. This approach pays off in spades at a PCA Parade.

PCA Regions hosting Parade go to a great deal of trouble to ensure that there are many activities to suit as broad an attendee base as possible - whether you are a full-on track racer, a concours clean freak, a competitive rallyist or a first-timer who just likes to cruise and drive his or her Porsche in a relaxed non-competitive environment. Most Regions focus on giving you a sample of the local area whether it be recipes and food, lifestyle, scenery, culture or a mix of all of the above.

Examples of memorable moments from this year's Parade include chasing a line of Porsches through some twisty roads in the pine forests to turn a corner and see a clear view of Mount Hood towering 11,000 feet above you; standing on a cliff and seeing the Oregon coastline spreading out beneath you with its stacks of rock just offshore; walking a narrow pathway behind a 177 ft. waterfall, or snaking along the road beside the Columbia River Gorge in a line of Porsches watching windsurfers keeping up with you.

Each Parade has a different flavor, but at all of them truly memorable, pleasurable experiences abound.

If you enjoy Porsches, meeting people with similar interests and exploring new areas and activities ..... you owe it to yourself to give Parade a try.

I just happen to know that the next Parade is going to be one to remember for a long time ... how do I know this?

Well, because the 2007 Parade will be 4th of July week right here in San Diego, CA!

... and so to Portland 2006.

In line with PCA National's decree to make Parades more appealing to non-parade goers, the Portland Parade was of reduced length i.e. only six days. This meant that it began Sunday evening with the welcome banquet and finished Friday evening with the 2006 Victory banquet.

In between were far too many events to mention but the ones I attended were as follows:

The Concours

The concours at Parade is where only the very serious concours experts (or the naieve) put their cars up for infinite scrutiny. I may be in denial about the real condition of my Porsche, but I view competing in a concours as the ultimate expression of “I have a very nice Porsche and I challenge you to find something wrong with it!” ... and believe me - they will.

In addition to catering to the die-hard concoursistas, there was also a Porsche Paddock - which is basically parking organized by model with no judging except by the public for People's choice.

There were discrete Paddock parking areas set aside for 914 and 914/6s, 924/944/968s, 928s, early 911s (to 1974), 1974-1989 911s, 964s and 993s, Boxsters and the newer 996/997s - so in order to be sure I was involved in the placing of the RS Americas on the field, I volunteered to run the placement of 964s and 993s. This meant coordinating with Faryl A, the Concours Paddock chairman, on the Sunday evening and heading over to the golf course where we planned the general layout of the Paddock.

The beginning of the line of 964s and 993s started out with the RSAs and then formed a long crescent around the edge of the fairway which contained 65 cars.

In addition to the concours cars that were competing, there was a historic display of significant Porsches including a 965 RSR plus several historied race cars including 924 Carrera GTS, a 924 GTR and numerous other rare exotic racers

There was also a guest custom 996 which had been seriously modified - not for performance or handling, but to create the basis for a cartoon car. After having the windshield significantly raised upward, and the wheelbase shortened, this little beauty was scanned into a computer graphics database from all angles and went to make up the character Sally Carrera from the new Disney/Pixar movie “Cars.”

Registry members in the corral

The Rally

Some people take rallying very seriously. The basic premise of a TSD (time/speed/distance) rally is that if you follow the instructions exactly, you will (theoretically) end up at the next check point exactly on time. You are “awarded” one point for every one hundredth of a minute you are either early or late to the checkpoint. Rallying is therefore like golf - in as much as your goal is to achieve as low a score as possible. Others, myself included, enjoy participating in a Parade rally simply as an excuse to drive your Porsche on some interesting local roads.

For first timers, there should be a mandatory warning regarding falling into the trap of taking rallying too seriously because marriage guidance counselling fees can be exorbitant. As hard as it may be to believe, tension levels in the car have been known to reach boiling point in less time than it takes a Carrera GT to go from zero to sixty.

Some couples use rallying as relationship validation in that if no one is bruised or bleeding by the finish line, then the relationship is a little stronger.

This just in ..... people may have laughed at Ned's aria on the rally ...... but whatever he did, he managed to get 12th place in a rally of over 240 entrants! - Congrats to Ned and BJ from MO!!

The Tour

There were several tours set up during Parade, some to the spectacular Oregon coast and others to the Silver Falls State park just east of Salem. We went on the Silver Falls tour which headed towards Salem and then up into the mountains.

Even with the large number of tour participants, it was still enjoyable to cruise along the country roads and to have fun on the sweepers as we headed into the mountains.

The tour included a trip through Oregon's oldest covered bridge called Gallon House bridge. It is so named because during the prohibition, whiskey was sold from a nearby house in gallon jugs.

The Autocross

The autocross was set up starting on the main straight with a series of cone gates and then on “unencumbered” so-to-speak to turns 4, 5 & 6 at PIR. This made it especially interesting as it made it possible to do some high speed drifting coming off the apex setting the car up for the straightline braking and turn in for the next apex.

I think that some found the high speed track portion a little intimidating, but after you had done your laps the adrenaline was high and as you relaxed you realized that you probably could have carried a little more speed.

So for overall class results, RS Americas were 1st and 3rd in the mens class (with Fred S just missing 2nd place to a 964 C4) and 1st and 2nd in the ladies class.

Scenery at PIR

Which brings us to Parade 2007....

For 2007 the PCA Parade will be in San Diego over the 4th of July week, so mark your calendars.

It is entirely reasonable that with the high number of Porsches in Southern California, that if the RS America Registry were to make a concerted effort, that we could exceed the world record number of RSAs gathered in one place, which is currently the 30 cars who attended the 50th PCA Parade at Hershey, PA.

All it would take is a commitment to meet at the Porsche Paddock at the concours site on Monday July 2nd 2007.

Do you think you can handle getting yourself there? I'm counting on it!