porsche club of america
los angeles region
P-ORSCHERAMA calendar
october [972
SCHEDULED EVENTS OCTOBER 7 : Concours d,Eleg~nce, Hilton Hotel, San Diego. OCTOBER 8: PCA-OCR Rallye. 0CTOB~R ll: WILLOW SPRINGS TECH-INSPECTION at Gabriel & 01sen P/A in Racine. 7 to 10:30 pm. 0CTOBI~ 12: General Membership Meeting 8:p.m. SANTA I~0NICA BLVD. EL~’I~NT.~RY SCHOOL, 1022 Van Ness Ave. Hollywood. See ,E~ents’. OCTOBER l[~-15: ~’flLLOW SPRINGS TIME TRIALS. OCTOBER 17: Board Meeting 8:00 p.m. Bob VanCleave’s hoze, 10653 Beckford Ave. Northridge OCTOBER 27: PCA-LA "Porscherem~a" put-together, Geri Boothe,s home, call 696-0866. OCTOBER 28-29: Holtville Time Trials. NOVE~BER 6: SCHLITZ BR0~WN BOTTLE ROOM Buffet Dinner & Willow Trophy Presentation. NOVH~BER 18-19 : BIG-SO-R-CARMEL TOUR. ’Events, DECE~ER 22: Christmas Party - Dinner-Dance. ~
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DIAL-A-PORSCHE-CLUB For information about PCA activities, call: 398-2217
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STAFFEDz oa
Gertrude Boothe 696-0866 7957 S. Forest Ave. Whittier, Calif. 90602
DIRECTORS PRESIDENT
Duane Alan 283-7423 1049 Bradshaw Ave. Monterey Park, California 91754
VICE PRES. SECRETARY TREASURER BD CHRMAN ACTIVITIES PUBLICITY TECHNICAL MEMBERSHIP.
Dale Anderson Paul Beam (805) Lewis Pulley George Gedeon Ron Ramage Geri Boothe Rob’t VanCleave Corky Kirk P.O. Box 416 Arcadia, Calif.
459-1219
948-24.84 861-1~2~3 869-7842 374-6888 696-0866 368-4059 4~7-5109 91006
all porsche accessories for 356’s &
Custom Auto Air Conditioning 9519 E. ARTESIA BLVD.
BELLFLOWER, CALIFORNIA 90706
We ~e P~sc~iA~I speci~ists, We offer a complete, one-stop se~ice fo~ all yo~ ai~ co~itioning needs, ~ work is ~teed. sP~c~ Molded plastic airducts, ceplace existing air hoses PHONE
213
866-2914
900’s
steering wheels, bras, sway bars
10 percent off net to PCA members on hard ~parts PCA orders shipped same day
phone
213
473-2941
~~thi~ ~td lames R. Gri~n ~32~ SANTA MONICA BL. ~.~.~.~. Los ANGELES, CA. 90025
comment
Why do people Join a Porsche Club? They own a Porsche. They want to know more about the car; they want contacts. They want social contacts. They buy a badge and put it on their car. Why? They belong to a Porsche Club. They receive the newsletter and glance at it’s coming events. A gymkhana? Those are for kids and 356’s. An autocross? Their car isn’t set up for high speed events. A club picnic? There were preceding plans for a day of golf. Besides they really don,t know anyone, anyway. A tour? Its too far and they were just there last year. How about a general meeting or technical meeting? Too tired in the evening and besides the dealer does all the tune-up work. Why do people own a Porsche? Is it so they can write the name on credit applications and motel registrations? They’ve owned Cadillacs all their lives but always wantea to own a Porsche. What a rude awakening when they realize how much attention a well-kept Porsche demands. As one neighbor put it, "It must be a lemon, he’s always working on it." Wave at another Porsche driver? Why they can’t be waving at every Porsche they see. The other fellow might not wave back. Why DO people join a Porsche Club? The 1973 PORSCHE PARADE will be held at Monterey, California. ~e Concours will be held at Pebble Beach, the Autocross at Laguna Seca and the Rallye on the marvelous Porsche roads in and around Monterey. It isn,t too early to s~ar~ ~lann!n6 to go. Are you identifying yourself? When you take your car in for service do you tell the Service Manager you are a member of PCA? If you are chicken to blurt this-fact to the world, you can be subtle. When the man asks you to" sign your name, do so and ~¢rite on the ticket...PCA member. You’ll be glad you did. Recently, a PCA member was chastized by the cashier for not mentioning he was a PCA member as she had to refigure his bill with the discount. The net saving was half a year’s dues to PCA. If someone dropped a ten dollar bill, you’d not be reluctant to pick it up, so why be timid about saying, "I’m a member of PCA." After all, when the dealer sees these invoices with PCA on them, he’ll be more inclined to support our club, too. (Courtesy- 0range, , Coast Region) ,,
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next evellts
OCTOBER Ii : WILLOW SPRINGS TIME TRIALS PRE-TECH INSPECTION at Gabriel & 01sen P/A 15531 Ventura Blvd. Encino. It is recommended that you come prepared to register for Willow on tech night. You must have a pre-tech inspection of your car that vening if you live within a 40 mile radius of GABRIEL & 0LSEN. The cost will be 17.50 for raale or female driver and $2.50 for 2nd driver (female). Registration at the track (within 40 mile radius of pre-tech) will be $20.00 for the first driver and $5.00 for the second female driver. You may register at the track if you live outside the 40 mile radius for $17.50 plus $2.50 for second female driver.
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OCTOBER 12: GENERAL MH~BERSHIP MEETING a% Santa Monica Hlvd. Elementary School, 1022 Van Ness Ave., Hollywood, 8:00 p.m. Pictures will be shown of Willow Springs and correct driving techniques will be discussed. This is a must for you first-timers going out to Willow this year....Also, we will have n~minatiens for the new board. Continued next pa~e
parts for porsches ,no,u ,n,
glass, suspension end
We stock a complete inventory of racing & high
performance parts as well as new and used
drive line components for the earliest 356 to the latest 900’s.
NOVEMBER 6: Our meeting will be held on a Monday evening at the SCHLITZ BROWN BOTTLE ROOM with a catered buffet dinner of roast beef and ham with trimnnings. ~ae cost i~ $4.00 per person and we would like to know how many a~e coming in advance. There is no need to send your money now, but would you please call Duane and make you~ reservation early, 283-7423. Or fill out the reservation blank below and mail it to: Duane Alan, 10~9 Bradshawe Ave. Monterey Park 9175~. This will be Willow trophy presentation night. Be sure to attend. NAME
# IN PARTY
PHONE #
NOVEMBER 18TH AND 19TH - A tour to BIG SUR and CARMEL on the MONTEREY PENINSULA ~as been planned for this weekend and overnight accommodations have been arranged at the Big Sur Lodge at the entrance to Pfelffer State Park. A leisurely trip up and a morning of sightseeing on the Monterey Coast~is on the agenda. There will be dinner at the Rocky Point Restaurant, 12 males north of Big Sur on Saturday night. A tou~ route to show the prettiest roads in California at an ideal time of yea~ will take you through San Ma~cos Pass, Morro Bay and up winding Hwy. 1 to the top of the Peninsula and through Cs_Enel Valley (a long, twisty and pretty deserted road). A thoroughly enjoyable dinner is planned .for Sunday evening at Matteils Tavern in Los Olivos. Queen size double bed for two persons - $18.00. If you want to double up they have a two bedroom suite, each with a queen-size bed for $2~.00. For families they have two queens and two twins (6 persons) for $30.00. Send the tea~off below to me : Ron Ramage. 1~07 Manhattan Ave., HeEnosa Beach, Cal. 902~ or call me at 461-3144 days, 374-6888 home. Th~ks, Ron Ramage. BIG SUR RESERVATION: I want to reserve accormnodations for the following: 1 room for 2 persons at $18.00 plus 1 room for 4 persons (2 queen-size beds) at $2~.00 plus tax. 1 room for 6 persons (2 queens, 2 twins) at $30.00 plus tax. I want a room with a fireplace for an additional $3.00. NAME
NUM. IN PART~
ADDRESS
PHONE #
DECEMBER 22 : An early reminder that our Christmas Party will be held on the 22nd of Decezabe~ (sorry about tl~e date change). There is always a big turf-out for this event, so corae enjoy dinner and dancing with a band and welcome the new board members for next year.
CUSTOM PORSCHE SERVICE
356-912-911-914-AUD! ALL 900 SERIES 24 HOUR EMERGENCY SER VICE 24 HOUR EMERGENCY TO~ING
1610 Broadway Avenue Santa Monica, California
828-3407 Area 213
"Boy, I like this place! I got this PETER HAACK
Porsche Technician
--3--
for passing teeh. inspection!"
"GO BLOW THE CARBON OUT" 0k, "WILLOW WW~END, A TOTAL EXPERIENCE"
by Nick Friesen
On Saturday and Sunday, October 14th and 15th, PCA-LA will stage the Seventh Willow Springs Weekend Time Trial and good time event. This is a g~eat opportunity for all Porsche-Pushers, speed freaks and other assorted nuts to go blow the carbon out. It’s a total experience in that the pamticipants get away from the hurry-up bustle of the concrete jungle to the quiet and serene Antelope Valley for two action-packed and fun-filled days of sun, sweat and speed¯ . . . Concentration is the name .o.f.t.h.e game when you have ol’ Portia’s loud pedal nailed to the floor in top gear, wi~n ~ne taah tickling the red zone, a tight turn dead ahead and Hot-Shoe-Harry’s 917 engineered mid-engined 356 Speedster is sniffing your Bursch megaphone¯ What looked like a big piece of road when you were in the pits, rapidly shrinks to a narrow, black hole about 6" across, at speed. If this doesnlt get your ever lovin’ mind off youm worries you,d better take your Reutter Recliner to your neighborhood shrink for a session or six. In addition to forgetting about your work-a-day worries while whizzing on Willow’s wide way to the start-finish line, you will also be able to soak up some sunshine, since smog is banned from the Antelope Valley. It’s great to be out in the. fresh air(Willow has plenty) if you,re used to being cooped up in an air conditioned cage all week, but don’t breathe so deeply the oxygen burns your lungs.... Another kind of total experience is that of working at Willow, helping to make the event go smoothly and safely, and showing all of our guests that the Los Angeles Region is the most on the ball, heads-up group in all of PCA. Working in the registration-pit area is fun because you get to see all the pretty Porsches lined up with their proud possessors¯ If you are a competitor you may even get to be a flagman. That means an opportunity to see how other people push their Porsches with purpose and precision (hopefully, that’s what we’re here to learn about) from up close to where the action is. Once again, this is a task requiring concentration and good judgement. Done properly, it is an all-encompassing job that is satisfying because it is essential to a well run, safe event and you can always learn by watching. . By the end of the afternoon you’ll probably be pooped out from so much relax~t’[on, so that’s the time to return to the motel and get in the swim. The motel pool is a pleasant place to polish off a Porsche day before going to the Saturday evening "Suds Swallowing Soiree" at the Sand Sailor. Free beer for participants and plenty of bench racing for all is the purpose of the party which lasts as long as the beer. Then for those that are hungry it’s time to have a good dinner and then to bed for another day of the same.... On Sunday, there’s practise all morning to sort out the cobwebs from Saturday night, and to put your wheel where your mouth said it was during last nights gab-lest grandprix. Since Saturday is pretty much devoted to lesrning the track and the tricks to take it with style and gmace, without hurting snyone or anything, Sunday morning is a refresher. Then after lunch at the "Hungry Dawg", while the timing lights are checked out, you will have a chance to see how you and your Porsche as a team compare to your. instructor and all the rest of the Porsche Pushers. After all the timed rums, as the sun sets, we clean up the area and adjourn for home, maybe with a taco stop on the way. You probably won’t be rested but you should be plenty relaxed after a Willow Weekend¯ Both you and your Porsche will feel better With the carbon blown out. To have competed and cooperated for a couple of days with a crowd of great people is a satisfying experience. You learn why Porsche is a way of life. Itls a total experience you shouldn’t miss, so let’s go blow ~he carbo~n out.’ . . . Co-chairmen are Bob Van Cleave and Nick Friesen. Call Bob at 8[~7-6095 or Nick at ~-81-5571 for information.
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last events
1972 WEST COAST WEEKEND The quiet little town of Santa Cruz on beautiful Monterey Bay came alive with 120 or so .of those fumny little "furin" cars over the Labor Day weekend, better known as the West Coast Weekend and hosted this year by the Loma Prieta Region of P.C.A... ¯ . . The Los Angeles region was represented" by seven registered Porsches out of about 241 members. Let’s see, that figures out to be..., well anyway, a pretty small turnout for L.A. But hear this : Five members won trophies with Bill McInerne~ winning first over-all! . Saturday started out early for the Con Cot people on wet grass ’ with the earl~ ~o~ning fog. Judging was done by realpros from the local dealers and the Loma Prieta Region. Scoring was close and tough with mome trailered cars than you can imagine. It is pretty hard to beat cars that are trail-
ered with two covers and plastic wrapped underneath. To many people this ms3~es the car a trophy, not a Porsche as Porsches are made to drive . Speaking of driving, the Concours d’Elegance finished about noon with the’r~lly~ starting at 12:30; a wee bit tight time-wise. This ran through much of the real back country of the Santa Cruz Motmtains with scenic drives through the redwood forests and a hill-climb. Many did not know when the hill-climb began, so few really knew it was there; those who found it, that is .... . Saturday night everyone atte_nde~d a Western ~barb~edque and square dance with all having a wonderful time.... _. ~u~.aay~ ~e.veryon~e neaae south to the Santa Cruz Fair Grounds for the gymld~ana and on.~o .~a±mnas lor a very fast, well laid out autocross. Three laps each were scheduled all consecutively. The first was practice with the next two timed as a total time. In other words, both laps must be good runs. Everyone was waiting for the last group of the day-the "hot shoes" and surely the top time of day. Bill Yates was there with his trailered, much modified and lightened former Le I.lans and sure enough, Bill turned a 2.06 for a fastest time of day. ~at is, until John Williamson and Cu~t Kuebler arrived with .John’s 914-6. First Curt drove the 91~ and for the first time, turned a very fast time, but slower than Bill Tares. Then cam~e John--you guessed it, he turned 2 2.04. Then came Alan Johnson with his trailered 914-6 with fiberglass doors, fenders and deck lids. Alan ran off course as did yours truly, but they let Alan run again for a non-trophy run as he just likes to drive. Don’t we all? John’s time held; even Johnson couldn’t match it, So, again Willi~mson’s 914-6 is still unbeaten. . . Sunday night was a gala evening with good food, many wonderful door prises ~ the trophy presentation. These were all very modern art and quite unique. We sure would like to have brought more of them home. Vern and Ada Covert PCA-LA PICNIC - SEPTEMBER 24THby Sue Parker It was a hazy day but several of our die-hard enthusiasts turned out for the "Gay 90’s" picnic at Griffith Park. In usual PCA style the group was settled at a really out-of-the-way place along the perimeter of the pa~k. Nary a soul did appea~ other than PCA members to this remote spot, save a few equestrians.. . We had some rather unique volleyball plays demonstrated by George Gedeon. (i think it was something he picked up in beginners toe-dance school.) And what ~-~ith Ralph Boothe and George playing the "monster" positions, we had very evenlymis-matched teams of highly unprofessional players. Lots of fun was had by everyone, especially the spectators.... We had a ping-pong game and there was lots of "Po~sche conversation". Even some wood-carving by Ron Ramage and Mary Ann Wenda .... We ~te our own lunches. ~Originally the box lunches were to be raffled off, but Corky Kmrk r~ught a box marked "poison", so everyone was quite satisfied to eat their own food, even Corky.... All in all, it was a good event .... Thanks to Don Colwell for chairing the event and providing the game equipment. PCA-LA RALLYE AUGusT 27TH. It’s ’rallye’ they said, so rallye we did~ The first Porsche, driven by Do~ 8olwell, St. left the Griffith Observatory parking lot at lO:01 sharp and motored through the Western Avenue exit until the first odo check point approximately 45 minutes and 24.7 miles from our starting point. That’s about where things started to go.awry’. It was the "sec6nd opportunity past ’Remsen St." that everyone seemed to misinterpret. But as Ron Ramage, the master mind of this rallye so carefully pointed out .... the first opportunity to bear right was Remsen Street itself. (There were Remsen St. signs on both sides of the street.) Well, there were Porsches going every which way do~rn the wrong street. However, if you doubled back to Highway ~ Northbound and did not get tripped up at tricky Elizabeth Lake, all was o.k.. Tha first check point station closed at 12:30, but the check point at Spunky C~ion Rd., manned by the Colwells, Jr. and Dale Anderson stayed open till the bitter end. We even got to see that one twice, ahost~ All but one made it to the finish point where Ron awaited and patiently explained to the drivers all the things they "should have done". But no one seemed to mind.... Skee Ziesenhenne won in the navigational class with a 26.4 minute error score and Will Edwards won the S.0.P. class with a 9.89 minute error score. Very fine scores for both .... We were tired but happy and delighted with the scenery. We enjoyed. Elizabeth Lake Road twice, as muc~ as the rest of the route. Only one question puzzled us at the end ooT~ full day--Paul Beam, where are you?? .Sue Parker
~ 2 ~ 4
AUGUST 27TH RALLYE RESULTS SOP CLASS Car uo. driver/navigator Will Edwards/Mary Schmitz 2 John Dusckett/Linda Calkins 9 Wm.Rosenblum/Pat Rosenblum 12 Edith Savage/Ursula Gruufeld i0 11 Paul Beam/Merv Beam Bill Beau/Dana Berger 3 Craig Casner/Sue Parker 35 Don Colwell/Joyce Colwell I Ray Kornfeld/Cary Kornfeld 7 Ted Sallye/Steve Meyer 14
car type
leg I
leg 2
leg 3
total
912 69 912 67 912 68 912 69 911T 71 356 60 911T 71 914 356 C 356 A
.57 1.59 31.60 34.42 MCP FEP MCP MCP MCP MCP
7.63 6.92 4.26 54.64 MCP MCP MCP MCP MCP MCP
1.69 2.31 2.77 3.45 1.53 7.62 .42 6.83 MCP 6.94
9.89 10.82 38.63 1:31.51 DNF DNF D~F DNF DNF DNF
911T 69 356 B
22.63 MCP
DID NOT REAGH FINISH 914 Don Smith/Jan Smith 13 NAV GLASS .....................................
! 2
6 5
Skee Ziesenhenne/Fred Z. W. Leflang/J. Lefla.ng
00.62 MCP
3.19 4.71
26.44 DNF
, membership Los Angeles 1831 Camden Ave. #11 Bill Merkelson Malibu 21536 Rambla Vista Adam Reed Los Angeles 11635 Mayfield Ave. #4 John F. Frank Hollywood 1815 N. Canyon Dr. Kurt Schweickhart W. Los Angeles 1155 Barrington Ave. Ronald Randall Marina Del Rey 4676 Admiralty Way Paul Eitel 11863 S. E~calyptus Ave. #C Hawthorne Ray Gibson Palos Verdes Peninsula Dimitry V. Prian 3577 Vigilance Long Beach Hugh Brown 330 Orazaba Ave. Montebello lO16 N. 8th St. E. Avedissian La Habra I001 W. Lambert Rd. #233 Don Burkard TRANSFER IN 91711 Kent & Beatrice Sutherland l~O San Jose St. Claremont David & Barbara Dodson ~l!;.~ll-ll W. Trevino Dr. Valencia 91355 90066 John Larson 11520 Washington P1. #A Los Angeles ADDRESS CHANGE lll7 Story Place Larry Hammett Morris A. Hooper, Jr. 223~ 2~th St. 16643 Runnymede Len~ Harris 1302 Esplanade #202N Bruce Shepherd
Alhambra Santa Monica Van Nuys Redondo Beach
479-8289 90025 ~56-6160 90265 826-9497 90049 90028 465-7933 473-8909 90049 821-8989 90291 ~-3087 90250 377-8779 90274 9081~ 43~ 7022 722 -" 906~0 691-35~2 90631 FROM: C~lif. Gent. Coast Riesentoter Region Pot~ac Region 91802 90403 91406 " 90277
for sale
FOR SALE: 1963 Supe~ 90 - Immacul~te. Silve~ w/black int. New: paint, valveJ .ob exh~us~ Call D. E. Sanderson, 213/346A-’1163, 22948 Valerio St. CanoEs Park, 91304.
1968 912 - Tangerine, AM/FM, tinted glass, chrome wheel~. Koni’s, front sway bar, i0,000 mi. on rebuilt engine. Excellent body & paint. $4,500. Call Bob Malcor, 213/363-8577. 1966 912 - Tangerine, new radials, 5~" chrome wheels, 5 speed. Call Bob Lilligard at 567-0889 or 567-735~. 1959 Convertible "D"- Cream w/black~ r~o~able hd..top &" tonneau. New upholstery, Michelins, low mileage, $1800. Call Ken Johnson 3~5 6787. ~ Low Profile tires on~cust~m-built rims, 375 x 850 Firestones. Boyd 71~/~5-6688. 4 ~oodyear Blue Streak 500 ~ 8.30 x 15 tires. (3 -.50 percent, I - 85 percent of the t~ead used. ) Make offer. Peter Luelsdorf 71~/833 3519 or 213/868-3251. NE~ Bosch Q~artz Iodine European Headlig~hts and custom built, triple chrome wheels for 911, ~12, 918 and 356 series, made to your specification. Ralph Boothe 696-0866.
presidential rhdoric Election time is upon us. And it is my duty to inform you all of my platform for an tmprecedented third term as PCA-LA Grand Master and ~peror. My opponents will undoubtedly claim that I am a conservative. I claim thatls a conservative claim, so they are more conservative than I. So it is with humble heart and eager ego that I present the following modest revisions to the by-laws for your perusal: (1.) The membership will be limited to 356 model owners only. (2.) Members of the board will be selected from male club members with split windshields and personalities, 16" wheels and handlebar mustaches. (3.) Members in good standing will now be allowed to sit down. (~.) Classes of membership: Active, family, associate, honorary.and modified. The latter is a liberal (Lord : Luv me for using that word} move owing to the recent rise in popularity of vasectomies. (5.) Conduct of meetings: Alan’s Rules of Order shall prevail except as otherwise stated in the by-laws. (And since I am changing the by-laws, don,t hold your breathl) (6.) Attendance at all meetings, events, elections, public floggings and club sponsored bar mlzvahs will be mandatory unless your absence is accompanied by a note from Pope Ferry, the Swell. (7.) Willow Springs: Participants will be required to install alr-bags and 80 mph llght-flasher and horn-blowlng warning devices as a safety measure in keeping with current government and P0C regulations. (8.) Free elections will be held every four years or 60,000 miles, whichever is longer. Replacement of the President is not a warranty item. Those are the major planks in my platform. I call it the "Railroad Platform", ~i~c~ I’ve nailed it down and will railroad it through. If you’re lucky you can buy your ticket and catch the January 19th caravan to Death Valley. Luv to my loyal subjects, ~nperor Duane. (The above platform was collaborated with Jim "Kisslnger" Ewing or OWJ. )
~o you want a little more push for your Porsche 914-L1-?
, technicai
There’s still no substit-~te
for cubic inches (centimeters). ~npi makes what must be the world,s largest pistons for any VW or Porsche. They have a lO0 mm (~ inches) piston and light alloy barr-el kit for the 91~-~. The big bore kit necessitates machining the crankcase and heads which costs about $40.00 for labor. This gives 2072 cc displacement. Now, if you really want to give those 911 owners fits at a stoplite GP, you can also install an 0krasa stroker crank. This European maker of stroker cranks for V W for many y~ars has a 74 mm counterweishted crank for VW 411/91~-4 engines. Addition of the crank supposedly requires no machining. This crank with stock pistons gives 1881 cc and together with the pistons above gives a whopping 2325 co. The stock fuel injection is useless so the currently available dual carburetor kit with re jetting for racing 91~-4 Porsches is reco~uended. Estimated horsepower with 2.3 liters and a stock cam is about I~0 hp. Since the stock engine is really beefy in design, it should be able to take the~extra power. For price and availability of above parts see your P/A dealer and/or Competition Motors and Anything Limited. (See front page ad. )
se-cretariai
The club wishes to extend condolences to our secretary, Paul Beam and his family in the recent loss of his father..... Minutes will be printed as usual next month. PORSCHE CLUB OF AMERICA, INC., LOS ANGELES REGION Statement of receipts and disbursements 8-10-72 to 9-10-72. Cash on hand, August I0, 1972 $I,~51.93 Receipts: Cl~ub Motion Picture (E~ing) $15.00 Vasek Polak 65,00 Green Motors 65.00 210.00 Rusnak Por s che/Audl 65.00 Total cash to be accounted for: 1,661.93 Di-sbursements : Gertrude Boothe 85.00 Corky Kirk 18.28 103.28 Cash on hand Sept. I0, 1972: 1,558.65 -7Lewis Pulley, T2easurer
Ken Purdy says: "PORSCHE HISTORY IS INTERESTING" - continued
etcetera
In 1907 Austro-Dai~ler began to build engines for airships--unlikely looking devices held aloft by gas balloons, the predecessors of dirigibles. Later, airplane engines were manufactured, and one that Porsche designed in 1912 was a "flat" four-cylinder air-cooled type which clearly shows the origins of the Volkswagen. By 1918, the end of World War I, Porsche was making aircraft engines that were rated at 300 horsepower, and one of them had three machine guns built into it .... But Porsche’s real triumphs du~ing World War I were his mixeddrive "trains~’ He put a b.ig gasoline driven generator in a tractor-truck and led the electricity by cable to as many as ten trailer-trucks that had hub-motors in their wheels. These vehicles could go almost anywhere. They could cross shaky bridges, for example, one at a time: The truck crossed first, then the crew ran a long cable back across the bridge and the trailers came over one by one. This principle is still in use. A Porsche train moved one of the biggest guns used in World War I, a Skoda mortar that weighed 26 tons without its carriage. Porsche made this weapon mobile by using six l%0-horsepower tractors, each pulling a trailer. Each trailer had eight wheels, and all 48 wheels had driving hub-motors. . .Porsche seems to have viewed both great wars primarily as interruptions ~f’h’~s really important work. He was certainly profoundly disinterested in politics, and that was only one of a long list of subjects, phenomena, pursuits and occupations for which he felt no interest. He read almost nothing of a nontechnical nature. Music moved him very little and the stage bored him, but he did enjoy sailing and he liked to go hunting--but he wouldn,t kill anything. When Porsche found a film he liked he went to see it again and again. After the armistice which ended ~dorld War I, his path and Austro-Da~m~er’s ~e~ ~o diverge. T~o of his basic views irritated the Daintler management : I) Porsche thought that racing was important; 2) he believed that constant experimentation was necessary. An Austro-Daimler "Sascha" model won the 1922 Targa Florio, but the board of directors was not ecstatic. Porsche’s habit of interrupting production to make detail changes was so notorious that a gag about it circulated in the Austrian auto industry:A man bought an Austro-Dalmler in the spring, and when he returned in the autumn to b~y a spare part he was told there was nothing in stock for such an old crock, that four new models had followed his purchase. Friction increased until in 1923 Porsche, by then managing director of the c~mpany, worked himself into a towering rage and quit to go to the German Daimler company.....The Germans thoroughly understood racing and its marks-and-pfennigs publicity value as an effective substitute for expensive advertising. Ferdimand Porsche stayed five years ~nd a bit at Daimler-Benz, where he created a series of automobiles that will be talked about as long as man moves on wheels: the S, SS, SSK and SSKL aports-racing machines.... .Besides automobiles Porsche designed trucks, tractors and several other items. His first car was something probably~ best called the K-wagen, although purists would like it to be called the 33/140 or 33/180 or the 2~/lO0/140--the terms referring to the horsepower it did or did not produce. Porsche redesigned the car, giving it more power and almost adequate brakes. He called it the 36/220, or model S. This was the first of a line of long-bonnet, outside-pipe, supercharged Mercedes-Benz cars, dashing in appearance and startling in performance--and a big hit with the blades of the day...... I~n 1929 the S became the SS, for Super Sport, producing 170 horsepower normally, or 225 during the 20 seconds the instruction book said it was safe to leave the blower hooked up. The idea was to get the thing going with the supercharger and then maintain speed with the engine breathing normally. For technical reasons too complicated to explain here, this optional supercharger produced a high-level scream which had considerable effect upon pedestrians and equestrians. ~he SS, although it v~as a passenger car like the others, won many races, and the SSK, which followed it (Kurz for short--it was eight inches shorter) was really formidable. A further modi£ication of the SSE, the SSKL (the L is for Leicht, light), was turned out after Porsche had left Da~mler-Benz. It would do 156 miles an hour, a fantastic speed for the day, and could beat grand prix race cars. All the B-series-cars were sound, reliable, unfussy automobiles, and many of them a~e stil~ r.unning fast today.
-8-