April 2013 - Porsche Club of America – Northeast Region

Four Speeds & Drum Brakes
Tom Tate
Left Coast Living — Literature Meet in LA
When the days get short and the snow gets
deep, I usually head south to Sebring to play
with old friends with old cars. Race weekend
has always been the same date as the Porsche
Literature Meet at the Hilton Hotel at Los Angeles
airport (LAX), but driving fast has always drawn
me south. This year, budget constraints had me
heading west on my favorite airline, Southwest.
Like the January flight to Scottsdale, a snowstorm
threatened, but with a 7:00 am departure
and rain coming first, I figured I was in the clear.
Bad call. We were in our seats as the falling rain
turned to ice as it hit the wings of the plane and
instead of heading to a runway we rolled over
to the deicing line. For two hours. And we were
second in line.
I should know better but with direct flights costing
twice as much as flights that connect through
other interesting U.S. cities, like Chicago, I chose
to see the Windy City up close this time. The late
departure caused me to miss that connection, so
...my only concern was the large box full of
911 carbs and a few other parts that I was
taking out for a friend to deliver to his buyer.
on the lift. Not just any 911R (there were only
about 20) but number one, the first one built.
Tony Callas also has what seemed like the world’s
largest collection of Porsche shop manuals anywhere;
it looked like the reference section of the
Boston Public Library.
From there it was back into the van and over
to Steve Hogue’s shop to see the restoration of
an RS-60 to original factory specs. At least the
factory-built frame was there.
He also was in the process of constructing
a copy of the original Glockler special,
I caught a flight to St Louis and was told that an
LA flight would be waiting. It was, but my name
wasn’t listed as a passenger so I told them I’d
ride in the bathroom. I guess they needed the
bathroom pretty badly because they found me
a seat in short order. Safe at last and on the way
west my only concern was the large box full of
911 carbs and a few other parts that I was taking
out for a friend to deliver to his buyer. I know that
it was loaded on a plane in Providence but where
it went from there was anyone’s guess.
With a planned layover of three hours, the new
route due to the missed flight still got me to LAX
on time. With a few friends at the airport and a
‘mommy van’ waiting, we all jumped in and drove
out to see the Sierra Madre Collection, one of the
356 suppliers that help us keep the our old Tubs
on the road.
With an experienced navigator, the bunch of us
filled the van and took off first-thing Friday morning
for a tour of local restoration shops. The first
stop was Callas Rennsport in Torrance. There were
two 959s waiting for service and an original 911R
from what looked like an original.
continued on page 48
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