Mark in Baltimore

A huge thanks to everyone who showed up to the Meet and Drive today! It was great seeing everyone; I only wish I could have spent more time talking to all of you, but there were too many good conversations, too many cool cars to look at and photograph and just not enough time. I hate that!

An unexpected treat was having an immaculately restored silver 356 S, owned by Chesapeake Region's own Bruce and Laurie Tarsia, stumble upon our little gathering after Bruce stopped for gas. Not wanting to crash the party, he proceeded to quietly park waaaay off to the side, whereupon I immediately greeted him and beckoned him to park next to my car. Like bees to honey, everyone paid homage to our cars' ancestor, poring over Bruce's stunning machine, noting all of the cool, vintage details and ooohing over the flawless paint work. Bruce is a super-cool guy and his car's arrival made the day even more spectacular.

After lunch, a few of us went over to Bruce and Laurie's place to help take their Boxster hard top off and were stunned to meet his next door neighbor, John, an unlucky fellow who had a few junkers cluttering up his garage. Rattletraps such as, oh, a Lingenfelter Corvette (hold on, it gets even better), a new Dodge Viper, a Ferrari 355 (living in Cali), a Lamborghini Murcielago and a GENUINE Ford 427 S/C Cobra!!! It was heaven, and I actually got to sit in the Lamborghini and pretend I was on the roads of Italy with a "Prova" plate on my car, an olive-skinned beauty with honey brown tresses flowing out of the window sitting next to me. Alas, the blue Cobra was on a lift and we could barely see it, but I at least got the chance to touch a real Cobra. An absolutely exhilirating meeting!

I shoud also mention that John also owned a 288 GTO (Group B race car that looks like a 308 on steroids and is endowed with a twin turbo V8 engine) thaty he later sold to David Letterman. This, along with the GTO of another number, the vaunted and coveted 250 GTO, is one of my personal dream cars.

Anyway, I need to get busy resizing photos so I can post them here. Stay tuned to this thread for images from the meet.

Again, thanks to all of you for making it a great day!

Steve 96C4S

Great day - great fun - great folk - great surprises!
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/317361 (go to pg 5 of my Cardomain site for amateur pics of the 3/28 Meet and Drive event!)
New Kinesis Supercups wheels... oh yeah...

I NEED this 996 3 spoke steering wheel!

1963 356 - You'd have to see it to believe how incredible it is!

The only pic I have of me and my car!

Look out, the hottest 93 928 GTS in our area! You can eat off this engine, literally...


Fun day with an unexpectantly amazing ending!!!

Steve

Carrera Mike

Mark, Sounds like you guys had a blast. My daughter backed out of coming with me and be dropped off at her friend's house in Lexington Park, MD, so I felt bad in leaving them in the house since I'm leaving the country soon. How many cars came out to play??
Kdurg and I are organizing a fun run down here this Sat since we didn;t get to play up there You guys up there are welcome to come down!

Can't wait to see your pictures!

BobbyB

Wow!!! Mark I knew it would be a great run and it sounds like you guys had a blast.
Sorry I had to miss this one but you can bet I will be there for the next one

4 Play

Mark,
Thanks for organizing this get together! Really nice to put a face to the name for all the Rennlisters who attended. Great to see a nice diverse group of Porsches and even great weather for the drive.

It never ceases to amaze me that people with such varied backgrounds and personalities can come together and bond, with our cars at the center of it all.

Thanks again,

Dave

swftiii

Awesome Time, but I'm bummed I couldn't continue after lunch. Sounds like you found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...

We should start calling these events "Rennlist Live"!

Great day, Thanks Mark!

Viva Porsche.

-Skip

Steve 96C4S

Ok - now I'm posting this on the official Picture Thread!

Thanks everyone for a fantastic day, with some incredible Porsche eye candy that will leave me smiling for a long time. The highlight for many of us was when a local PCA member just happened to be getting gas in his perfectly restored 356 next to where our meet and drive was taking place. He joined in and his car was the "early" highlight of the day. It really is the people, not just the cars, that makes the Porsche owning experience so special.






Peace,
Steve

Mark in Baltimore

Mike - Oh, man, oh, man. Did you miss a good one. You must do the next one.

Bobby - Quit working so hard and have some fun. The day was perfect!

Dave - Great to meet you! I'll let you know about the PSS-9's.

Skip - Good to see you as always. Your pal Chris was a pleasure and a much needed club racing needle in your life. Roll up your sleeve, buddy; it's time for your racing medicine!

Steve - Thanks for posting the pics! I later realized that you started another photo thread.

John H. in DC Area

Mark, thank you for organizing a very special day … the location, turnout, roads, and restaurant were all fantastic. The day began with a rush for us, as we left a little late and were trying to make up time on I-95 North when we came upon a very aggressive-looking, low, and wide black 965 turbo with diplomatic plates. The driver swooped in behind me and we were rockin at a pretty good clip when my V-1 went off and I spotted a nasty speed trap with two cops ahead in the median on the left, I slowed quickly and the 965 zoomed very close to my bumper. As we passed the state troopers, I noticed one trooper put down his radar gun, run around his car, jump in and start pulling onto the highway. Rats!, I thought, he got us, though I really thought I was down to 60 by the time he fixed on my front bumper. We slowly started merging to the right-most lanes, with the 965 following (hiding among the slow cars!), and I noticed the cop rush up behind the 965 but then fall back very quickly and disappear in my rear view mirror. My wife and I thought the cop noticed the diplomatic plates on the 965 and, realizing the owner was likely immune from any US law enforcement harassment, gave up. Turns out the 965 was being tailgated at a pretty high rate of speed by a minivan, of all vehicles, and the state trooper tagged it with the radar and pulled over the minivan, not the 965.

At the meet, got to chatting with the owner of the 965 … what a surprise … his car had a tuned 993TT engine in it with Motec engine management. Nice.

Saw so many beautiful Porsches I can’t possibly do them justice with a description in words. Some great 944's, including Tony's nice blue S2. Immaculate 356. Recorded Mark’s supercup exhaust on video, will play that on home theatre when I’m looking for a spine-tingling sensation. Gorgeous red 993 Carrera with RS splitters and wheels and 993TT whale tail … nice, wish I had spoken with the owner. Had a great time getting to know Jamie (from Jersey) and his brother at the restaurant, thanks for the great conversation.

A shot of the gathering ...



My better half ... who is slowly starting to understand why I'm having strong second thoughts about selling, as it's not just the car, but the people as well. She would have swapped my car for the 356 straight up, even trade



My car doing its best "don't I look too good to sell" pose ...

John H. in DC Area

John H. in DC Area

cliang

Looks like an awesome time. I wish I had made it. Glad to hear everyone had a good time.

wht993cabrio

Mark,

Thanks for organizing the event. I had a great time even though I couldn't stay for lunch. It's always good to put some more faces to the aliases on the board.

BobbyB, we expect to see you next time.

Steve 96C4S

John from DC - great pics! I have a huge smile right now remembering the day through your camera's eye. It's one thing to take your own pics and see them, but when you view other people's pics, you have different remembrances and see the day in another way.

Excellent job Mark - your winding drive through the back country can't be described in words. To all the great people I met today - I enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to another event soon!

I hope we can do a Shenandoah National Park/Skyline Drive
"Meet and Drive" one day. For you city folk and those of you that live near the water - Skyline Drive would be a treat for your senses. I think it would make a fantastic venue for really winding out our cars on some curvy, twisted roads. Just a thought.
http://www.nps.gov/shen/pphtml/accessibility.html



Steve

John H. in DC Area

Great idea, Steve! I haven't been to Skyline Drive in 20 years, my wife's never been. Now if I could just make up my mind about what to be driving then...

It's time for the VA folks to do some planning.