2011 NEWS ARCHIVE

Shenandoah Region December 2011 PCA Membership Report
by Phyllis Scrogham, Membership Chair

Primary Members–204
Affiliate Members–150
Total Members–354

Welcome to our new members and transfers into the Shenandoah Region:

October:

• Victor Bernard of Locust Grove,VA – 1976 911
• Jeffrey Fleisher of New Market, VA – 2006 Boxster
• Kevin Postupack of Staunton, VA – transfer from Hudson Champlain Region – 1980 & 1983 911
• John Rower of Locust Grove, VA – transfer from First Settlers Region – 1973 Porsche 914

November:

• Robert and Ahren Guenther of Staunton, VA – 2007 Cayman
• Thomas Lamon of Madison, VA – 1988 944
• Gloria Benson and Alain Tharp of Mineral, VA – transfer from Potomac – 2003 Boxster

December:

• Joseph Wiggins of Midlothian, VA – 2007 Carrera S

Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership.

Christmas Party at Michie Tavern

The Shenandoah Region celebrated Christmas with a party on Sunday, December 4 at the historic Michie Tavern. Boxster owner and region member Sam Morris was our host, and he made sure that everyone had plenty of southern fried chicken, ham, green beans, beets, potatoes, etc., plus apple cobbler with ice cream for dessert. Rick Ebinger announced the final results for the 2011 autocross season: Jeffrey Elmore won his class (P05) and the "autocrosser of the year" award. Rick led the I01 class again, Mike Kilmer (13 points) squeaked by Eric Huggins (12 points) in the hotly contested P03 class, Emmett Richardson dominated P04, and Sherry Westfall was the fastest woman (Oops!..."lady"). Sherry gave a brief president's report and concluded the evening by drawing names of door-prize winners.   More photos...

Fall Foliage Tour 2011

Snow in the Shenandoah Valley on October 30 forced a one-week postponement of Phil and Susie Audibert's sixth annual Fall Foliage tour. It was actually run on a brilliantly sunny November 6. We started with a reception hosted by Phyllis and Weldon Scrogam in the fabulous G&W Motorwerkes showroom in Waynesboro. President Sherry Westfall also led a short business meeting to announce a suspension in the publication of our newsletter, the Heat Exchanger, for cost reasons. Webmaster Jim Condon presented options for the web site to compensate for this loss.

Then we left G&W in a long line of (mostly) Porsches, escorted out of town by a Waynesboro police car, drove through the the more scenic parts of rural Shenandoah valley, and ended up at Massanutten Mountain, where we had an all-you-can-eat buffet at the Fareways restaurant.   More photos...    plus a photo collage by Harry Kennison and photos by Dick Pitman.

Gary Hagar and Mike Kilmer,
volunteer traffic cops at the Fall Foliage Tour
  Please Help—Volunteers Needed
by Gary Hagar:

I joined Shendandoah PCA in 2006 and have really liked meeting new people, learning about the cars, and most of all the enjoying great friendships I have with many members.

The club depends on us giving our time so all of the events that we have throughout the year are covered by volunteers helping out. This may include getting waivers signed, registration, helping with autocross—and the list goes on. I have heard that in Germany and other European countries some of the officers of the regions get paid for time they give to their clubs.

It really has been a lot of fun being a part of our region, and we all can enjoy the wonderful events. But, please, think about giving some of your time to help us out even for a few hours. It can really make a difference and make it more enjoyable for all. Let Sherry know with a short email (to vscapes@cstone.net) the next time you can give a hand—it sure will be appreciated by all.

Thank you. Enjoy the holiday months that are upon us!     ... Gary

Russ's Ramblings by Bruce Russell:

By now, most of you are aware of the situation with the publication and mailing of the Heat Exchanger. The HE is an award winning and professionally published newsletter that all of us here in Shenandoah Region should be proud of. Unfortunately, the slick, glossy, color publication came at a price that was unsustainable by our medium-sized PCA Region. I applaud our President and Board for making the difficult decision to cease the costly publication and mailing of the HE. I am certain they will find a suitable alternative that will provide us the same Region news and information in a timely fashion. Read full article...

November History Quiz by Harry Kennison:

The monthly history quiz that used to appear in the Heat Exchanger now appears online. Here are the questions only, and here are the questions with the answers.

Rick Ebinger (green 914) leading Erik Boody (black 911), John Kessler (yellow 911), and Sherry Westfall (burgundy 996) through turn 3 at VIR.

Euroclassics/Shenandoah Region PCA 10th Annual Driver Education Day At VIR: Mark Cooke of Euroclassics Porsche and Alex Smith of the Shenandoah Region PCA organized the tenth running of this popular one-day DE at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on Monday, October 10. Erik Boody and Rick Ebinger made sure the cars were safe and the drivers learned how to navigate the track. Drivers were divided among three run groups based on their driving experience: the "yellow" group for drivers who are new to the track or have limited driving time, "red" for more experienced drivers, and "white" for advanced drivers. Instructors were available at no charge to give newer drivers a few driving tips and teach them the line of the track.

The driving weather was perfect, and everybody got plenty of track time (6 half-hour sessions). Many new faces and cars were seen at the track, and we hope some will come back for more now that they know what it is like to drive fast. Check out the photos of most via the link below, and don't miss the Mercedes with the giraffe on top!

More photos...

Classics on the Green, as reported by Gregg Glassner:

Because last year's featured marque was Porsche, I didn't expect to find that many of Stuttgart's finest at this year's Classics on the Green Car European Automobile Festival September 18 at New Kent Winery.

The 2011 featured marques were the cars of Donald Healey, and there was a representative array of Nash Healeys, Austin-Healeys, and Jensen Healeys, although no Healey Silverstones.

The Porsches that were on display did not disappoint, however.

Porsche had its own hill on the rolling golf course, dominating a sand trap in which even avid golfers would be happy to spend a few minutes.

PCA Shenandoah Region member Dick Pitman displayed his immaculate 1961 356B Cabriolet, straight from his first place win in the 356 class at the June RPM meet. He was on hand to regale car show visitors with facts and anecdotes about his car. (Dick's 356B also graced the cover of the July 2011 Heat Exchanger)

PCA First Settlers Region member Sam Gassel had his very blue Porsche 911 RSR Penske Sunoco tribute car in a special display of racing cars. It was the only Porsche in a gaggle of MGs, Triumphs, Austin Healeys, Fiats, etc., along with a nice Alfa Romeo GTV and a very rare French Deutsch-Bonnet that raced at Sebring in the 1950s.

Over on Porsche Hill there was a good representation of 356s, 911s, 914s and even a 928, but no 944s, I'm afraid. (I always use the excuse that mine is "not concours quality," but maybe some year I'll do a decent detailing on it.)

This show was originally for British cars only when it was held on Brown's Island in downtown Richmond. Then one year they let the Ferraris in and it now boasts a nice array of all European marques.

Reggie and Cindy Nash of Richmond stole the Healey show with their twin Nash Healeys, one a 1951 with British bodywork and the other a 1953 with the svelte Pinin-Farina coachwork.

One of the Healey stalwarts donned an old set of coveralls and pith helmet, seized the microphone, and amused show-goers with his impression of Sir Donald, complete with back-from-the-grave humor and encyclopedic knowledge of all things Healey.

Click on any small photo to enlarge it

Dick Pitman's 1961 356B won this first-place trophy at the 2011 Classics on the Green Car show.

Classics on the Green, as reported by Dick Pitman:

The 27th Classics On The Green European Automobile Festival sponsored by the Central Virginia British Car Club was held on September 18 at the New Kent Winery. This is just a few miles East of Richmond off I-64. If you haven't shown your Porsche at this show, it is well worth the time, not to mention the FUN that you will have! Put it on your schedule. It is always in September and EVERYONE gets to vote on their favorite car in each class!

The weather this year was very hospitable IF you remember being on the desert last year. It was cool and over cast, but not cold—just nice.

As many of you know, last year Porsche was the featured Marque. For 2011 "The Cars Of Donald Healy" was selected. Many classic European cars from Ferrari, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, MG, Morgan, Aston Martin, and others were in attendance. There were probably over 300 cars on display on the New Kent Winery driving range (that's as in golf—not VIR).

What was really neat to me were the 22 vintage race cars that all arrived together making a lap of the show grounds and were parked so folks could walk around them, talk to their owners, and schmooze over these classics. Talk about memories! I love it!

I counted only 14 Porsches registered to be shown this year. We had our own area located on a golf green. There were other Porsches in attendance; however, they were located by vendors' tents. Alex Smith from The Shenandoah Region was in attendance with his very pretty 2009 Carerra S, as was Dick Pitman with his 1961 Roadster.

As you arrive on the show grounds, the driving range opens up onto a pastoral setting of many classic cars all arranged into their linage! If you're not into vintage cars stay home!

The event included live music all day, a silent auction of automobile items, wine tasting (for a fee), the National Anthem sung by singer-songwriter Susan Greenbaum, and, in the early afternoon, a presentation by Donald Healy of his cars, a hot air balloon, and the awards presentation with the winning cars being driven by their owners to receive their awards!

The displayed Porsches were broken into two groups: Early and Late Models.

I took a few pictures (below) so you can get an idea of the show if you haven't been there. Also, here is a link to more photos. Please come and show your Porsche with us and wear your Shenandoah Region attire. Next years marque will be Rolls Royce and Bentley. Maybe the Queen will be in one of them!

See you there!

Rockin' Mike Kilmer in the fastest early 911

Here are the results by time and by class.

Shenandoah's 16th Anniversary Party at Lake Anna: We celebrated the Shenandoah Region's 16th Anniversary on Saturday, August 20. This year we had two driving tours. Lynne Taylor led two groups of about eight cars each that started from the west at Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard store near Charlottesville. Steve McCaughan and Susan Bryant led the tour that began at the Gum Spring Pit Stop Exxon near the west end of Richmond. Both tours ended around noon at the beautiful lakeside home of Shenandoah member and host Herb Distefano.

We parked our Porsches in the sunshine on the lawn near the waterfront and ate a catered lunch served under a tent overlooking Lake Anna. After lunch Prez Sherry Westfall led a brief Shenandoah board meeting that was followed by cake and ice cream, a people's-choice car show (won by Dick Pitman's recently restored 356 sporting shiny new wheels, shown in the photo on the left), door prizes, and pontoon boat rides on Lake Anna.

More photos...

Porsche Parade 2011: More than 750 registered Porsches and twice as many people showed up for the 2011 Porsche Parade in Savannah, GA. Registration began on Sunday, July 31, and there was an afternoon reception for Zone 2 members. Sunday was also the day before the concours, so a lot of car preparation went on in the big Savannah International Trade and Conference Center adjacent to the Westin, the official Parade hotel.

The biggest Parade event was Monday's concours at Forsyth Park in historic Savannah (see rows two through ten of the photos at the page linked below). The 1971 911T that Porsche in Stuttgart had restored for the PCA national raffle was unveiled. Hundreds of race cars, performance cars, old cars, new cars, modified cars, and one-offs (check out the 914 pickup truck) were displayed throughout the Park and on nearby squares with fountains and Live Oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss.

Later in the week, Sherry and I went on the tour to Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville, FL. We bought a Brumos license-plate frame for our Cayman S, which was sold new by Brumos, and then visited the Brumos racing shop, autosport restoration shop, and the private Brumos museum. Unfortunately, no photos were permitted in the museum, which is filled with spectacular cars. If you are ever given a chance to visit, take it. We drove in the gimmick rally to Beaufort and on the tour to Jekyll Island, former vacation home of the very rich. On the final Saturday, we drove in the Parade of Porsches through Savannah and nearby areas. Unfortunately, after a week of mostly sunny (albeit even more warm and humid than Charlottesville in August) weather, it rained on our Parade, as you can see from the photos.

The PCA newsletter and website awards were announced at the Rally dinner, and the Shenandoah Region won second prizes in both categories.

More photos...

Autocross at Verona: A total of 32 cars, both Porsches and "others", showed up at the hot and sunny July 10 autocross at Verona. The big winner was Jeffrey Elmore in a 2000 Boxster S. He scored his first FTD and was 0.725 seconds faster than his closest competitor, Justin Mathews in a 2007 Subaru WRX STI. Rick Ebinger finished off his Victoracer tires and will be back with new tires at the next event. Emmett Richardson continues to recover from his knee injury and came in third among the Porsche drivers. Here are the results by time and by class.

More photos by Sherry Westfall...

Fourth Annual "Rumble at the Oak Tree": PCA Zone 2 hosted this three-day club race and advanced DE event on June 24–26 using the full course at (VIR). DE registration was limited to advanced solo black and red drivers, plus a limited number of solo white run group drivers with VIR experience. The weather was a bit warm (up to 90F in the paddock) but otherwise perfect for the whole weekend. There were about 70 club racers and 53 DE drivers, so the club racers were separated into only two run groups and drivers in the one DE group got a huge amount of track time, about 8 hours. Our Region was represented by DE drivers Mark Cooke and Alex Smith sharing a yellow Synergy 997, Hamisch Brookeman getting faster in his Cayman S, David Israel (set-up 993), and Jim Condon, whose 1999 996 suffered a punctured right front tire on Saturday morning. Fortunately the DE Chair, Brian Minkin (whose car and trailer are shown in the upper photo) kindly provided a pair of wheels with Hankooks so Jim could continue for the rest of the weekend. The bottom photo shows Sherry Westfall washing windows on their 996 after the front-wheel change. Sherry worked all weekend at the false grid under the roof visible at the top of the lower photo, sorting out race cars and sending them onto the track in the proper order. Rick Ebinger worked as a scrutineer to make sure all of the race cars were safe and legal.

RPM Autocross at Southside Speedway: On June 12 Rick Ebinger and Erik Boody put on a very fast but safe autocross at Southside Speedway—nobody touched its intimidating concrete and steel walls. Bobby Smith, who won the 2010 Parade autocross, had the FTD (38.002 seconds) in his new "improved" 914. The happiest driver was "first loser" Jeffrey Elmore, who drove his Boxster S only 276 milliseconds slower. Congratulations, Jeffrey! John Kessler took his 1971 911 to third place and received a trophy matching his car (click on the "More photos" link below). Sherry Westfall came in first among the four fast women. Here are the results by time and by class.
More photos...

RPM: Alex Smith and a legion of helpers put on the fifteenth annual Richmond Porsche Meet on June 11. Seventy eight very clean Porsches were displayed at the concours on the Faunces' lawn near the James River. A team of judges led by Dave Lasch picked concours winners Dick Pitman (356), George Michaels (928), Lewis Ward (993), Roger Borsink (996), and Bob Brown (Cayman). The Peoples Choice award went to Chris Acker's 356. After the Cafe Carrera lunch, Alex Smith was awarded a Porsche hood signed by all presidents, past and present, and many members of the Shenandoah Region, to thank him for creating and running the RPM. More photos...
Photos by Craig Hutson.

Next there was a fun run and gimmick rally through the countryside west of Richmond, which ended at Euroclassics Porsche. Euroclassics hosted the tech session to show the new hybrid Cayenne. The final event of the day was a dinner and awards ceremony at the Martin's Grant clubhouse, and Weldon Scrogham was the featured speaker.

First Settlers Region DE at VIR: The Shenandoah Region contingent was exceptionally large at the FSR event at VIR, May 20–22. Tour co-chairman and former racer Dan Graff chose this weekend to get back into DE with his 911SC "JOHANN". Three Shenandoah members—Robert Brown, Don Coleman, and Beth McKenney—tried the "taste of the track" on Saturday, and Beth stayed on to drive in green on Sunday. Other Shenandoah Region drivers were Hamish Brookeman, Bates McLain, Fritz Flynn, David Israel, "Mad Mel" Brannan, David and Susan Few, John Kessler, Scott Leopold, Sherry Westfall, and Jim Condon.   More photos...

Autocross at Augusta: On May 14 we lucked out and had a rain-free autocross despite the unfavorable weather forecast. Rick showed up in his freshly washed (!) 914 and took the FTD, and Gary Krichbaum was the fastest "other" driver in his BMW. Jeffrey Elmore came in second among the Porsche drivers, followed by Fritz Flynn in his green 2007 GT3RS. There were three first-time autocrossers: Michael Scrogham, Laramie Huggins (shown at the start line in the photo on the left), and Don Coleman. Congratulations! Here are the results by time and by class.   More photos...

Bavarian Chef Drive and Dine: On May 1 at our tour co-chairs Dan Graff and Bates McLain led us on a tour starting with a wine tasting at the Sweely Estate Winery near Madison, followed by a scenic drive on the winding roads through parts of Madison, Culpeper, and Orange counties, and finishing with a huge German dinner at the Bavarian Chef.

More photos...

Foreign Affairs Open House: Shenandoah members Michael and Michele Allebaugh held an open house on April 30 to celebrate the sixth anniversary of Foreign Affairs. They gave free service clinics with their Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, and Volvo factory-trained technicians. Many of you know Porsche tech Jonathan Newhall via his spectacular performances driving a '77 Jaguar XJS with a 454 cubic inch Chevy engine in our autocrosses. There was live music, free pizza, BBQ chicken dinners for purchase, door prizes, and a car wash and bake sale to benefit Relay for Life, which Pam Ebinger helped to organize. A highlight of the event was Weldon and Cole Scrogham's "father and son" pair of GT3RS's on display.   More photos...

Autocross at RIR: Mark Cooke of Euroclassics Porsche and Jack Woodfin of G-Force Karts, with help from MC Alex Smith, hosted an exciting autocross at the Richmond International Raceway on April 9. This huge NASCAR track allows Rick Ebinger to set up a complex course with lots of turns plus a long straight on which most cars exceed 100 mph. The FTD belonged to Gary Hughes in a 1968 Lotus Stalker, and Rick Ebinger's 914 was the fastest Porsche, with Jeffrey Elmore having the second-fastest Porsche. Eye candy on the infield included Dick Pitman's 356 and a beautiful Mercedes 300SL. The Shenandoah Region is lucky to have such a venue for autocrossing when many other regions can't even find a parking lot. Here are the results by time and by class.   More photos...

Porsches and Pastrami, Reloaded: The first "reloaded" version of Porsches and Pastrami was arranged by tour chairmen Dan Graff and Bates McLain. We met on April 3 at the Millmont Grille in Charlottesville and had lunch on their patio because the weather was so nice and sunny. After lunch, Bates led a scenic tour through western Albemarle County, ending at the Dairy Queen in Stanardsville.   More photos...

Zone 2 DE at VIR: The first DE of the year for most of us is the Zone 2 event at VIR, March 18–20. This is a week later than usual, and the weather was much better than usual, sunny with temperatures in the 70's and 80's. Tour co-chairman and former SCCA racer Bates McLain chose this weekend to get back into DE with his SCHWARZ (German for "black") 944 (see photo), and Dan Graff came down to help as his pit crew. Brand-new DE driver Jim Ottaway got on track with his Boxster, supported by his son Kyle. Hamisch Brookeman was promoted from the blue student group to the solo white group — Congratulations! Other Shenandoah Region drivers were David and Erin Israel, "Mad Mel" Brannan, Scott Leopold of Spec Boxster fame, Sherry Westfall, and Jim Condon.   More photos...

Reception at Porsche of Charlottesville & Outing to the Highland Maple Festival: On March 12, Porsche of Charlottesville hosted a fine breakfast reception for about 40 of us in their showroom, which also featured a new Carrera GTS, a Ruf GTRS, a 993 cab, and a 356 cab on display. Then Deane Parker led us over Afton Mountain to the Riverside Plaza Shopping Center in Churchville to pick up more people from the western part of our region. We stayed together on the drive to Monterey Highland County, then split up to eat pancakes with maple syrup, tour maple sugar camps, and visit arts and crafts shows. More photos...

Tech Session at Concours Auto Detailing: This event started with a short Board meeting at 10 AM on Saturday, February 12. New president Sherry Westfall, new vice president Andy Turner, new Tour chairmen Dan Graff and Bates McLain, and former president Herb Distefano made plans for upcoming tours, autocrosses, and the national Parade. Dave Cottrell, owner of Concours Auto Detailing in Richmond, hosted the main event. He displayed a number of excellent cars in his collection and showed off his brand-new 356 Speedster kit car. His staff demonstrated different aspects of car detailing, wheel repair, dent removal, and the installation of clear film bras. Dave also provided an excellent buffet lunch. About 50 Shenandoah members and guests showed up in an impressive variety of Porsches that overfilled the parking lot.

More photos...