Gimmick Rally 2023

Story by Jerry and Pam Lasnik

Photos by Nicolas Liakas

For the first time, we got to have our Gimmick Rally sendoff at the newly remodeled Rusnak Porsche dealership in Westlake Village, a spectacular venue. There, we were given the royal treatment with a great Corner Bakery breakfast.

By 9:00 a.m., it was time for the Lasnik Logistics/ Instruction/Pep Talk. We gave a lot of hints for success, especially important since there were so many newbies. The emphasis was on what to look for along the route and to ignore any irate members of the public who complained that so many Porsches were going so slowly. This was not a race, after all, but a show of observational skills.

After we sent the contenders on their way, the two of us headed to Borchard Community Park in Newbury Park to set up tablecloths on the picnic tables. Then came the long wait for the first cars to come in—a nail-biting experience because if we made any mistakes in the instructions (right instead of left?) the participants would not be happy campers. Whew— the Porsches came in and we could give a sigh of relief! After some schmoozing, we were all treated to an awesome lunch by Q-Time BBQ.

Then came the time of reckoning where all the teams would score their papers and add up the points. Out of 108 clues, which ran the gamut from corny to political, and more, we thought #1 would be a dead giveaway: “Speedy numeric palindrome on your right.” Naw, most folks missed that it was “The 101 Freeway.”

A highlight of the rally involved stopping at the Chumash Indian Museum, where participants had to exit their cars and answer three questions about Native American plants. One clue was, “Describes Oscar’s friend in a different trash can.” Of course, the answer was “Wooly Blue Curls.”

Then there was the plain corny. The answer to “Fuel message” was “Coalfax Ct.” And the political: “Biden Abode” (Delaware Dr.) and “A flag waver” (Patriot Dr.). The totally silly cues caused some head scratching: “Broken bones on a boat” (Ocean Orthopedics), “Drainpipe detective” (“Sewer Spy”), and “I STR8NM” (Bar Zion Orthodontics).

When the scoring was over, we applauded the top three scorers and they were awarded cash prizes. In first place were John and Kerrie Sadler with a whopping 104 points out of 108! Second place with 101 points went to Amy Smith and Ian Anderson. Third place was earned by Jeff and Gina Moore who got 99 points and won their place after a Porsche trivia tie-breaker.

And so ended another fun Gimmick Rally. It has always been obvious to us that Porsche people are bright, funloving, and ready for an intellectual challenge. This year was no exception. Now, on to get a start on the route for Gimmick Rally 2024!

Jerry and Pam Lasnik joined PCA in 2007. They drive a 2013 Boxster in Aqua Blue Metallic.