Slipstream - July 2019

Coffee, Cars & Conversation
by Bill Kruder
photos provided by author
I must be honest: I almost missed
the opportunity to meet this couple.
I have said hello to them more than
once, usually at Mayo Performance,
admiring one of their 914s and
moving on. I think it was at a Mavs
& Mochas that Linda Bambina, yes
that Linda, came rushing up and
gave me a hug and said “you have
got to talk to this couple that own a
few 914s.” She went on about all the
fun they have had, and
the stories they could tell
. . . all about or involving
owning 914s.
So here is the
next in my series of
“conversations” I would
like to share with you:
Betty and Clay Perrine,
members since 2002,
Owners 1974 914, 1973 914,
and 1970 914/6 (Factory Six)
Bill Kruder: So where are
you two from?
Clay Perrine: I was born
here then moved to Youngstown,
Ohio. My dad was an engineer with
GM. Then we moved back when I
was 16 to Arlington and went to
high school, graduating from L. D.
Bell High School in Hurst in 1979.
Betty Perrine: I was born in New
Orleans, but we moved around a
lot. My dad was an insurance exec
moving us from Mississippi, Texas,
New Jersey, Kentucky, and Canada.
We moved back to Texas (Plano)
when I was 12. I went to what is
now Plano Senior High.
BK: How did you two meet?
CP: We met in 1985 at an SCCA
Autocross at Fair Park in Dallas. I
was out there with my ‘79 924.
BP: Yes, it was at an Autocross. I
had my ‘74 914 out there. I was
taping the numbers on my car and
this guy came over to check the
car out. I was hoping he would go
away actually (laughing), as I was
really nervous about the day.
CP: It’s true - I gave her my number.
BP: And yes, I called him (smiling).
CP: We dated for about three years,
kind of long distance, as I lived
in Bedford and Betty was living
in Plano. It was over a 40-mile
commute, and let me tell you, in the
mid ‘80s the roads were not what
Okteenerfest 2014, Igor and Frody on Tail of the Dragon
they are today, so it was a haul;
SH121 was a two-lane road.
BK: So how did the Autocross go?
CP: She beat me by about two
seconds, and she still beats me
(laughing).
BK: Clay, I heard you were pretty
quick in a straight line in non-
Porsches in your youth?
CP: True. Not many know I had my
NHRA (drag racing) license when I
was 18 and I drove professionally
for several years.
BK: Where did your interest in cars
come from?
BP: Both our dads were car guys;
certainly Clay’s more than mine.
BK: So Betty, how did you get into
this whole Porsche world?
BP: When I was a kid I read this
book called “The Red Car.” It was
about a sixteen-year-old boy who
finds a 1948 red MG TC roadster
that is wrecked and decides he
needs to bring it back to life. Guess
that kind of stuck with me so I went
looking for an MG.
BK: So you started with a MG?
BP: Well no, I had found one, but
when I got there it was gone. The
next place I tried, a guy
showed me this orange
914 he had. Well my
first impression was
“heck no, I don’t even
like orange cars” and
I didn’t even really
know much about
914s. So he tells me to
sit in and take it out.
Well I did, and made
a right turn out of the
lot; I knew right then
I had to have it! One
right turn and 34 years
later, I still love it.
BK: Clay, how did you get started?
CP: Certainly, it was by chance. I
grew up around old classic Chevys;
matter of fact I drove a 1931 Chevy
to my high school prom. One day I
was at a friend’s, and in his parking
lot there was 924. I was kind of
looking for a car and thought it
would be cool to own a Porsche.
This was, I think, in 1985.
BK: I understand you name your cars?
BP: It’s true! Not only do we name
them but they have a theme.
CP: We always loved the movie
“Young Frankenstein,” or as
Gene Wilder would always say,
“Fronkonsteen,” so we named them:
the ‘74 is Froderick or Frody, the ‘73
is Igor (pronounced EYE-gor), and
our ‘95 BMW is Inga.
BP: The exception is our ’70, which
is Elwood, because he was named
before he became ours.
20 July