Slipstream - November 2005

Boxstoberfest 2005
By Bob Bianconi
It was the biggest; it was the best Boxster gathering in the
Southwest… ever! And it was right here in Texas. Boxstoberfest
2005 was held the weekend of September 9-11 in Fredericksburg at
the eastern edge of Hill Country. Supported by Maverick, Lonestar and
Hill Country Regions, this year’s Boxstoberfest (the 8th annual) hosted
62 Boxsters, a couple of 968’s, four 911’s, two 356’s and a Cayenne. Not
to mention the P40… ah, more on that later. D/FW won the honor of
having the most Boxsters attending, closely followed by Austin and
Houston. Many folks came from other Texas cities/towns such as San
Angelo, Pittsburgh (Bob and Jan Jones), Longview, and Corpus Christi.
Photo by Bob Bianconi
Photo by Bob Bianconi
Hill Country roads can’t be beat.
Boxstoberfest weekend started off with a huge German bier bash
on Friday night at the Auslander restaurant in downtown
Fredericksburg. The Auslander is located on Fredericksburg’s Main
Street; but for this weekend, “Main Street” was not to be. Instead, by
Mayoral decree, “Main Street” was re-named “Boxster Boulevard” in
our honor! This has got to be the only street in the country, maybe the
world, named after the Boxster (Stuttgart take note…)!
Saturday was the big day. The morning started off with a Boxster
car show at the Fredericksburg Airport. With private aircraft as the
backdrop, 62 Boxsters lined up on the flight line. And I have to say it
was a pretty impressive sight. All the Boxsters were judged for overall
cleanliness including scoring attributes such as…
• The amount of ‘garbage’ in the seat folds (5 points no garbage,
1 point lots of garbage);
• Whether the wheel crests pointed to the valve cap (old factory
tradition)
• And best of all: each car got 1 point for having a front license
plate, but got 2 points if they didn’t!
There were lots of very clean ’05 Boxsters and an ’06 or two, but
the cleanest car was owned by D/FW folks, Richard and Robyn Bradley,
with their really sweet ’00 Guards Red Boxster. Congrats, guys!
Another highlight of the car show was the supercharged Boxster
brought by Imagine Auto, a Kansas City Porsche tuner. This car was
pretty awesome, to say the least. Many folks were eyeing-up the trick
install. IA also brought Boxstoberfest T-shirts for each car. Great deal!
Photo by Chris Sorbera
Ground level view of the Boxster lineup.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the car show was provided by
George Szokoly. George flew his private plane from Savannah Georgia
to be at Boxstoberfest. He also volunteered to take one of the participant’s
kids up in the plane to take pictures of the car line-up. There
were several flybys with everyone standing beside their car. Not to be
outdone, the owner of the airport got in his helicopter to take pictures
of his own. Best of all, right in the middle of all the Boxster hubbub was
a fully restored P40 fighter aircraft.
With the festivities at the airport just about over, Boxstoberfest
participants lined up in 2 groups for a drive through the Hill Country.
With such a large crowd, one group took a clockwise route while the
second group took a counter-clockwise route. Both groups met in
Leakey, Texas at the Frio Canyon Lodge for lunch. After lunch a third
group assembled for a spirited drive back towards Fredericksburg -
driving the famous (infamous?) ‘330’ routes (Rt’s 335, 336, 337). These
are just about some of the best roads in Hill Country with lots of curves
and elevation. One of the participants called the trip back a roller coaster;
that about says it all. The remaining 2 groups continued at a nice
leisurely pace back to the Officer’s Club at the Fredericksburg Airport
where cold drinks and snacks were waiting.
Saturday evening wrapped up the day with a buffet dinner at the
Fredericksburg Brewing Company. Folks who took digital pictures
during the weekend downloaded their shots onto a computer and
Aerial views like this happen once in a lifetime.
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