Board Meetings - California Central Coast - Porsche Club of America

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March Member Profile Greg LaCava by Milt Worthy On last month’s CCCR run to Pozo there was a ‘93 TwinTurbo gliding through the hills and canyon’s east of the Pozo Valley, easily keeping up with the traditional hot shoe crowd. The driver was Greg La Cava, Porsche pilot extraordinaire. Greg has been flinging cars around corners and curves since high school days in North Hollywood. His love affair with anything automotive spans more than four decades and covers racing venues from amateur night on Ventura Boulevard to Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca, and in rides from hopped up VW’s to race prepared Porsches. Although Greg doesn’t race competitively anymore, he still keeps a stable of fast cars and bikes at his rancho in Hog Canyon, east of San Miguel. He probably tells everyone that he lives in North County because of the lack of crowds and the clean, clear skies, but the car guy consensus is that Greg is there because some of the best driving roads in California are east of the Salinas River. California Central Coast Porsche Club Of America March 2012 Like a typical male denizen of the San Fernando Valley, growing up in the 60’s, Greg was predestined to be a car guy. At North Hollywood High, his first cars were standard Fords and Chevys. But he yearned for something more exciting: so he saved up his odd-jobs money and bought a new 1962 Turbocharged Corvair Spyder. The Monza was fast and handled well (in spite of Ralph Nader’s unsubstantiated claims), and, with a little coaxing, made nice, loud noises. Once out of high school, Greg wrangled a job at nearby Warner Bros. Studio, working in the mailroom—the best place to learn the movie business and movie people. He had a head start because most of his family were movie people. (Greg is a distant relative of the great 1930’s film director, Gregory La Cava—a namesake.) With a steady job Greg decided he could move up a notch in the car pecking order: he sold his Corvair and bought a new 1964 Corvette. The ‘Vette was fast and competitive—along the flat streets of The Valley, but if you were serious about street racing, you drove in the Santa Monica Mountains. And to do this you had to have a Porsche, especially a 356 Speedster. So Greg found one, made it go faster, learned to drive Mulholland Drive, and went looking for Steve Mc- Queen. In a couple of years Greg graduated from the Warner’s mail room and found his way into the tightly controlled movie make-up world, eventually becoming a highly successful make-up artist. He retired a few years ago after 40 years in the movies and TV. The last seven Speedster at POC Time Trials with prototype of first full face Bell helmet. 10
Greg famous #39 911 taking the checkered flag. years of his career was Make-Up Artist on the TV series, “West Wing.” His job was making actors look younger or older, and/or more like someone else, but his passion was cars and racing which he seriously pursued in his spare time—from the mid-sixties until the early 1980’s. Greg’s track racing career began with his modified Porsche Speedster (the very same Mulholland Drive challenger) when he joined the Porsche Owner’s Club (POC) and competed in tracks and club events all over southern California. Later he sold his Speedster and bought several 911’s and raced them. Soon he began to compete in big time racing. One of his personal thrills was to the share the winners podium with Paul Newman: This was at the 1976 National Championships at Road Atlanta in the D Production class; Newman was first in his TR6 and Greg was third in his 1968 911T. Greg continued to improve his driving and track savvy skills, and picked up other important wins during the 1970’s. One exceptional win came in early 1980 when he drove a 914-6 in a 24 Hour race at Daytona and finished first in the GTU class. Greg soon began to be noticed by potential sponsors; one of whom was Alan Johnson Porsche in San Diego. In the late 1970’s Porsche AG and Porsche in North America were looking for ways to market their version of the 924 car. The obvious way to promote a new Porsche, at least to some executives, was to win important races. To this end, under Porsche’s Performance California Central Coast Porsche Club Of America March 2012 boss, Josef Hoppen, a business plan was developed that had at it’s goal winning the Production D Class championship of the SCCA. Hoppen’s scheme was to involve selected American Porsche dealers and provide them with factory developed racing 924 D cars or with racing “kits” that could be assembled in the United States and Canada. A race ready DP 924 weighed 1900 pounds and was powered by a fuel-injected engine that generated 185 hp. With a 5-speed transmission in the rear and the 4-cylinder water cooled engine in the front, the Kit 924’s proved to be formidable competitors. Porsche selected Alan Johnson Porsche in San Diego as one its preferred dealers, and Johnson selected Greg La Cava as the driver of one of his two 924 DP entries. In brief, Porsche won the 1980 SCCA D Class Championship easily, with Greg and Alan Johnson winning or finishing in the top enough to help secure the Porsche win. With this and other 924 victories, sales for the stock production 924’s in the United States took off and Porsche had a marketing winner on its hands. Later, at the end of 1980 Greg was involved in a bad crash in his 924 D and was never the same driver after that. He retired from competitive track racing in 1981. Today, Greg takes care of his 993 TwinTurbo, his motorcycles, a recently purchased Corvette, and his 1956 Speedster—once owned by the actress, Ann-Margret. When he decides to drive the roads in San Luis Obispo County, his choice of vehicles covers 56 years of automotive innovation. With any selection, Greg owns Hog Canyon roads. Greg in 911 in the corkscrew at Laguna Seca leading Corvettes 11
Page 1 and 2: COASTALAIRE Porsche Club of America
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Page 5 and 6: 2012 CCCR PCA Board Bruce Bero Pres
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Page 17 and 18: Wildflower Tour ! 1 California Cent
Page 19 and 20: ADVERTISER DIRECTORY 2.........SGS

Board Meetings - California Central Coast - Porsche Club of America

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