Slipstream - August 2003
The monthly newsletter of the Maverick Region of the Porsche Club of America
The monthly newsletter of the Maverick Region of the Porsche Club of America
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Road Ramblings<br />
by Keith Olcha, Maverick Region President<br />
The summer heat is upon us. There are<br />
also a number of hot indoor and<br />
Porsche-related activities to do this<br />
month. First, there is the Sunday, <strong>August</strong><br />
10th outing to the Omni Theatre and dinner<br />
social. Maverick Region has arranged an<br />
outing to see the new “Top Speed” film at the<br />
Omni Theatre in the Fort Worth Museum of<br />
Science and History. This film features speed in several<br />
forms including behind the wheel of the Porsche 996 GT3<br />
Supercup driven and narrated by Lucas Luhr, factory<br />
Porsche race driver. After the show there will be a buffet<br />
dinner at Blue Mesa. This should be a great get-together<br />
that even includes a Porsche parking corral provided<br />
by the Will Rogers folks. This is a great venue in which to<br />
bring the entire family and friends. There is also a two-day<br />
tour to Nacogdoches on the 23rd and 24th, where you can<br />
beat the heat inside the car (if you’ve got A/C), or drive fast<br />
enough to stay cool.<br />
Last month’s issue of <strong>Slipstream</strong> was devoted to our<br />
Memorial Day weekend Club Race. This month’s will feature<br />
coverage and reports about the annual Porsche Parade held<br />
in Tampa, Florida. Next year, of course, Parade will be held<br />
right here in Fort Worth. The headquarters will be the<br />
Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth with an<br />
Autocross, a Drivers Education, and a Club Race held out at<br />
Texas Motor Speedway. For this year’s 48th annual Parade in<br />
Tampa, your <strong>Slipstream</strong> Editor, Matt Platts, his co-pilot (and<br />
...I never drove in so many tropical rainstorms<br />
and floods in all my years of driving...<br />
at Parade and on display at the Concours. Excellence<br />
Magazine’s most recent issue talks about how they can<br />
now be legally imported into the USA 15 years later and<br />
how you can buy one. The display of historic cars included<br />
several racecars (Martini 935, Gulf 917K) to admire. The<br />
cars competing in the Concours were a fabulous show<br />
themselves. A 904 GTS, an un-raced 934, and a 356 (that was<br />
so clean you could eat off the inner fender-wells) were the<br />
tip of the iceberg. I was constantly being reprimanded for<br />
getting too close to the cars and drooling on them leaving<br />
water spots for the owners to clean up.<br />
Of course the DE at Sebring on Wednesday was fabulous.<br />
I spent the night before at Chateau Élan - Don Panoz’s hotel<br />
on the grounds of the track overlooking the famous hairpin<br />
turn. With 88 cars on a 3.7-mile track, there was ample<br />
(is there ever too much?) track time. I spent six 30 minutes<br />
sessions in cars - five as a driver, and one as a passenger.<br />
Alas, I needed to be home by Sunday, so I had to miss the<br />
farewell banquet on Saturday night as I was putting the pedal<br />
to the metal.<br />
Maverick Region, won the President’s Parade Trophy for<br />
the region having the greatest number of cars present (given<br />
the distance traveled from the region to the Parade venue).<br />
In addition, there were about 50 Mavericks in attendance,<br />
and as a region, took a large number of trophies home for<br />
Concours, Rally, Autocross, and Tech-quiz. Congratulations<br />
to you all. It was great being in attendance with all these<br />
great folks, and I can’t wait until next year. Till next monthkeep<br />
the shiny side up and the dirty side down on the road.<br />
little brother) Billy and I caravanned together. He brought<br />
his 924S via trailer, and I brought my Boxster S on a trailer.<br />
Many people asked me why I trailered the Boxster rather<br />
than drive it? Well, with a set of tires for the autocross and<br />
Sebring DE, plus the supplies to prepare the car for the<br />
Concours, plus my luggage and a few tools, even the twotrunked<br />
Boxster is too small. I planned to (and did) enter<br />
several events. We left Friday morning before daylight and<br />
drove all day stopping near Destin, Florida that night. I can<br />
tell you that I never drove in so many tropical rainstorms<br />
and floods in all my years of driving. The second day had to<br />
get better.<br />
It did, the weather was better for the drive. We picked up<br />
three more Mavericks driving their cars- Ted Morgan and<br />
Bob Knight in Boxsters, and the Breithaupts in their 3.2 liter<br />
Carrera. Our caravan had lunch in Gainesville and arrived<br />
at the Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Florida in the<br />
mid-afternoon on Saturday. Parade is a week packed with<br />
activities. I especially enjoyed the Concours. If you’ll<br />
recall, I’ve mentioned in previous columns that I’d never<br />
even seen a real 959 in person. Well, there were two of them<br />
Photo by Matt Platts<br />
Keith Olcha’s extremely clean Boxster, ready for concours judging<br />
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