Victory at Daytona International Speedway!

First Sunday each month – Cars & Coffee – Vintage Oaks, Novato

Third Sunday each month 356 Registry Cars & Coffee – Vintage Oaks, Novato

March 2 – Porsche Marin. This event is sold out and there is a waiting list.

If you were not fortunate enough to land one of the spots allocated to us by our host, Porsche Marin, then you were put on the wait list. You will be added to the attendee list as other members cancel and/or Porsche Marin opens the attendance cap!!

Thank you for registering.

May 9 – May 12 – Post Treffen Simmer Down. This is overnight event that will be on our

calendar and open for registration soon! It is an overnight event centered on the lovely burg of

Paso Robles and all that it has to offer. After a lovely drive from the Bay Area to Paso, we will avail ourselves of:

 Wine tasting.

 Sensorio Field of Lights.

 The Woodland Auto Display and Estrella Warbird Museums. (Wings and Wheels Car

Show)

 Group dinner.

Stay tuned!

Sept. 26 – Sept. 29 – Third Annual Murphys Ironstone Concours D’Elegance.

This is another overnight in beautiful California Gold Country. After a spirited drive from the Bay Area to Murphys the weekend will include:

 28th Annual Ironstone Concours D’Elegance.

 Group BBQ dinner at the Historic Murphys Hotel.

 Tours on the twisty roads of Calaveras County.

 In-town wineries, shops, and galleries and more…

Stay tuned for registration information. While the host hotel has been sold out with members from last year, there are many more lodging options in the area!

Attention Redwood members!!

Redwood's "RUN FOR THE CRAB" is looking for a volunteer who would be willing to co-chair this year with Sharon Castle Rogers with the intention of taking the lead next year.

Interested please reach out to Sharon.

We're looking for a webmaster to maintain our club's website. If you have experience and would like to join our volunteer team, please reach out to Stacy.

Hope you enjoy this month's der Riesenbaum.

If you have an article you'd like to include in a future issue, please email me.

Last month I had the pleasure of introducing you to your Executive Council for 2024. This month I am pleased to welcome the appointed Board Members all of whom have accepted a second (or more) term in their position:

Auto-X Chair – Stacy O’Connell

Communications Director – Stacy O’Connell

Concours Chairman – Essie Fariab

Der Riesenbaum Editor – David Bunch

Events Chairman – Kurt Fischer

Membership Chairman – Jeff Hall

Rally Chairman – Jerry Wachtel

Safety Chairman – Rex Simmons

Social Media chairman – Kurt Fischer

Sponsorship Chairman – Jeff Hall

PCA is fueled by volunteers. We all owe a big Thank You to the Board Members for volunteering their time to keep Redwood Region going strong. As you can see there are several people serving in more than one position. There is plenty of room for additional volunteers. Please reach out if you are interested in getting more involved in the Region.

I can tell you from experience that it is a very regarding experience.

Have you noticed the recent growth in event participation? Our 2024 events to date have all sold out. We are actively looking for new locations that have additional capacity for our events. In the meantime, watch the calendar and be sure to sign up quickly.

This includes the Board Meetings. With our increased participation we have outgrown our current site. I am working with a potential new site with the capacity for our board meetings and the resources for our popular Zoom attendance. Watch for announcements with the location of upcoming board meetings while we source a new location.

We have a lot of great events coming up. Hope to see you at one soon.

Questions – email me.

Sharon

Happy February to all our members!

I’m not sure if it’s just me but, 2024 seems to be already speeding along in 6th gear!

A portion of my duties are to keep our members informed

of events in and out of our Region. Our events for the year have begun and they are promising to be exciting, fun

and rewarding!

The annual 2024 Run for the Crab will be happening on Saturday, February 24th at the Marin Yacht Club. The event sold out in just a few short weeks. There will be close to

70 cars in the Porsche-only Pre-Crab tour. The 60+ mile tour through the beautiful back

roads of Marin County will be an appetite simulant for an all-you-can-eat buffet of fresh

Dungeness crab! What a treat!

March is in our rearview mirror and will be flashing its high beams to overtake us before

we know it! We have several events already on the calendar beginning with the March 2

Porsche Marin! The relationship with our local Marin dealership has evolved into an

exciting opportunity to learn about all they do for Porsche enthusiasts. It was another

quickly sold-out event. But, March 14, brings us the Charity Adventure II. This will be

a mid-week driving tour to the Redwood Empire Food Bank where you will “Work a

bunch…and earn your lunch” assembling food boxes for the community.

Please, tap your brakes and check our website calendar often so you don’t miss any of

the Redwood Region, PCA, and local events of interest!

As always, I’m extremely honored to be your Vice President and I look forward to seeing

you at one or more of our future events and, if we haven’t met, please introduce

yourself. I’d love to meet you! You can always reach out to me directly via email.

I look forward to hearing from you

Hello Zone 7,

I hope this finds you all well. Right now I have my calendar / phone calendar and schedules in front of me ...

WOW so many events on the horizon. If you are looking for something to do you are in the right group. Region, Zone and National events are plentiful no matter what your interests are.

Do remember that as a PCA Member you can join other regions at “most” of their events. Sometimes an event location / participation limits or other factors involved. An easy way to discover all that is going on in the Zone is to look at the Zone 7 website

National, Zone and featured Zone Series events are highlighted. When notified of events that can and want additional participants they will also be listed (DE, Autocross Rally, and larger events & more). There is also a handy link to all Regions on that site.

Information rules and classification info for both Autocross and Concours is also on the Zone 7 site ...

I just classified my car and hope to get out and about amongst (around) the cones.

What event(s) are you looking forward to?

The Zone 7 Awards, Autocross Series & Concours Series Awards Dinner to be held Saturday March 2nd. Diablo Hills Golf Course, Walnut Creek (Now open for Registration Zone 7 Awards & Dinner ) Please join your fellow Zone 7 Members at this gala event. Registration is now open (see link below).

Treffen Wine Country, to be held in Sonoma, April 21st to 25th hosted by the Redwood Region. Info and link below. This event is expected to sell out in under 5 minutes. If you want to attend, you will need to be on the website as registration opens.

Parade 2024, June 9th to 15th will be held in Birmingham Alabama. If you have not attended a PCA Parade it is jam packed with something for everyone. This parade will be bookended with a DE at the end weekend.

2024 Treffen at Sea. It may have been the plan all along, but I have been pushing hard with PCA Treffen team and Princess Cruises to do a West Coast departure cruise. I may or may not have been an influence, but it is here. Alaskan Adventure (Alaska Inner Passage) July 28th to August 4th, 2024. Seattle departure and return port.

Werks Reunion, Monterey, August 16th, 2024, Again at the Monterey Pines

Any questions, please email me.

Zone 7 Website Loads of info and links.

Zone 7 Facebook main page

Zone 7 Facebook Autocross page

Zone 7 Facebook Concours page

For a list of upcoming PCA events check out pca.org/events/

April 21-25, 2024 - PCA - Spring Treffen – Sonoma, Ca. - Treffen website

-----SOLD OUT in less than 8 Minutes!

Porsche Parade, Birmingham, AL, June 9-16, 2024 - Porsche Parade website

-----Registration open.

Werks Reunion, Monterey, August 16, 2024 - Werks Reunion website

-----Registration opens May, 2024.

Porsche Parade, Oklahoma City, OK, 2025

Register - Zone-7-Awards-2024

The Porsche Club of America (PCA) 

It’s the Porsche Owners Sunday Social Event…

With all the attention on AI these days I thought I’d have some fun with my monthly membership musings. I simply took what

I was going to send to our Editor and put it into ChatGPT.

I hope you enjoy the result! -J

Attention, Porsche enthusiasts and thrill-seekers, brace yourselves for the latest Redwood Region Membership update - it's hotter than ever!

I hope you got your seatbelt fastened because the excitement is revving up.

Remember last month when I called for more engagement? Well, buckle up because the response has been nothing short of phenomenal! The Annual Run for the Crab Event? Sold out! And if you blinked, you might have missed it – the March 2 Porsche Marin event was a speed demon, selling out in a mind-blowing 90 minutes (wait list in place)! The attendee list reads like a who's who of Porsche passion, with familiar faces making a triumphant return and a wave of fresh new members joining the adrenaline-fueled festivities.

Get ready for an injection of novelty at both events – not only are we expecting

lots of new faces, but the old guard will be there to add their seasoned charm. It's

going to be Porsche parties like no other!

Hold on to your steering wheels, folks, because the Calendar of Events is sizzling with more excitement! As I'm typing this, plans are in motion for additional heart-

pounding events. Keep those eyes peeled and be prepared to mark your calendars for

the next thrill.

A warm Redwood welcome to all the new members and transfers who jumped on the Porsche bandwagon in January! Your initiation comes with a stylish Redwood Region name badge (coming soon) – wear it with pride at our events and meetings.

And as a bonus, you'll get a PCA decal to slap on your Porsche, proudly proclaiming

your membership in the exclusive Porsche Club.

Now, let's talk about a phone call that came in last week – a new member pondering if

the club is right for them because they inherited a Porsche Taycan 4S.

Seriously? Hell, yeah! Welcome to the club, where the speed meets the elite.

January wasn't just a month; it was a celebration of commitment and loyalty.

Sixty-four members marked the anniversary of the day they said "Yes" to PCA

Membership. But it doesn't stop there – forty-six members clocked in 5 or more

years of Porsche passion!

A thunderous round of applause for the legends among us – Todd Harter with 40 years, Malcolm Boyes and Peter Tierney both boasting an impressive 48 years, and the grandmaster himself, Bob Sherwood, hitting the remarkable milestone of 53 years in the club! These gentlemen are the backbone of our community, and we salute them for their unwavering dedication.

Hold tight, Redwood Region – the road ahead is paved with exhilaration, and the Porsche spirit is alive and roaring louder than ever!

Our Board Meetings are held the last Tuesday of every month at Mary’s Pizza Shack in Petaluma. Details can be found on our events calendar. Our board meetings are a great way to meet other club members and your input on all things Porsche Club is always welcome.

As always, please send any and all questions about membership, email me.

2024 has started off very well for Porsche Motorsports!! The month of January started off with Pascal Wehrlein driving the TAG Heuer Formula E Porsche to a repeat victory of two seasons prior, where he secured his and Porsche's first Formula E victory, as the German sealed another well-managed drive to the top step this time around in the opening round of Season 10 in Mexico City E-Prix. Last year, Pascal finished 2nd at Mexico to Jake Dennis of the Andretti Formula E team, which is also powered by a Porsche E powerplant.

At the "24 Hours of Daytona" the Penske Porsche 963 Prototype #7 (cover photo) brought home the victory completing 791 laps around the 3.56 mile Daytona International Speedway. In fact the top 5 cars all completed the 791 laps with the second Penske Porsche 963 #6 finishing in 4th, the Proton Competition Porsche 963 in 5th and in 6th, the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963.

The AO Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R “Rexy” finished 2nd in GTD Pro Class. In the GTD Class, the Wright Motorsports Porsche 992 GT3 R finished the 24 Hours in 7th place. Porsches also finished 9th, 11th & 12th in GTD Class.

The same weekend of the "24 Hours of Daytona" was also round 2 of the Formula E at the Diriyah E-Prix with Jake Dennis of the Andretti Formula E powered by Porsche taking the victory and Pascal coming home in 8th place.

It was midnight in Germany when I found the $50 VW Beetle my wife had purchased for me and left in the deserted

parking lot, facing downhill. I started the engine, shifted into what I thought was reverse, and eased out the clutch. The

car went forward down the slope. I tried all the gears I could find, but I kept going down the slope. (If you have ever driven a VW Beetle or a 356 Porsche, you are going to laugh at this next part.) When I decided to get out of the car to find help, I accidentally pushed down on the gearshift lever. It moved! You get to reverse in a VW by pressing down on the gearshift! I was delighted, but all alone with no one to tell.

A couple months later, in September of 1969, Lori and I sold the BMW and the VW, returned to the United States, and reenrolled at San Jose State. I got a part-time job, and, because I had not gone to Viet Nam, I had to serve two additional years in the Army Reserve. (I ended up enjoying it, making many friends, serving a total of 22 years, and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Not bad for a draftee!)

We would drill one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer. One summer, one of my Army Reserve buddies and I enrolled in an Artillery class at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Rather than fly, we drove there in his Mazda RX-7. We took a northern route through Reno and Salt Lake City, then returned on a southern route via Albuquerque and Flagstaff. I don’t remember anything about the class, but I will never forget that drive. It’s a shame the RX-7 and the RX-8 were not successful, although, if they were a necessary step in the

learning curve to the Miata, they died for a noble cause. Rest in peace RX-7, RX-8; and long live MX-5!

But I digress. With a week before classes started, Lori and I needed a car. We were interested in the Datsun 2000, which, in 1967, had entered the U.S. just as we were departing for Germany. It had a 1982 cc, overhead cam, inline four-cylinder engine, pumping out a respectable 125 horsepower at 6000 RPM. Compare that to the same-year MGB with a 1798 cc pushrod four-banger delivering an anemic 93 horsepower. Also, a Datsun 2000 won its’ class in the 1968 Monte Carlo rally (where Porsche 911’s took first and second overall and repeated in 1969). We decided to visit the local Datsun dealer. He didn’t have any 2000’s so he quickly pivoted our interest to the soon-to-be-released Datsun 240Z. It looked awfully interesting. To make my point, here’s a comparison between the 1970 Datsun 240Z and the 1970 Porsche 911.

The Datsun 240Z had 151 HP at 5600 RPM, 7000 redline, 2393 cc, straight-six, normally aspirated, 4-speed manual, curb weight 2325 lbs. front disc/rear drum brakes, and a top speed 125 MPH.

The Porsche 911 had 130 HP at 6100 RPM, 6800 redline, 1991 cc, flat-six, normally aspirated, 5-speed manual, curb weight 2381 lbs. four-wheel disk brakes, and a top speed 131 MPH. (Less HP, more MPH? Probably the Porsche 5-speed compared to the Datsun 4-speed.)

Notice how similar the specifications are. But in the end, the only spec that mattered was the price. The Porsche 911, at $8000, was out of the question and the Datsun 240Z, at $3600, even if it were currently available, would have been a stretch for my part-time income. We needed an affordable car right away. The salesman suggested a used TR3A he had on the lot. With a 1991 cc inline pushrod four, delivering 100 HP at 4800 RPM, it fit snugly between the MGB and the Datsun 2000, and, more importantly, it fit snugly into our

budget. We drove it home that day. Lori loved the low-slung doors. She said she could polish her fingernails on the pavement as we drove.

In the early 1970’s, we joined the Triumph Travelers Sports Car Club. Years later, driving a TR3B, Lori would be the club president. We eventually replaced the TR3A with a TR4. I’ll tell you why next month.

Lori’s father, a high school shop teacher and expert welder, built a rollbar for the TR4. We eventually sold the car to another TTSCC member. He rolled it but escaped with only minor injuries due to the roll bar. Lori’s father was delighted when she informed him that his rollbar had saved a life. He bought a Spitfire and joined the Long Beach MG Club, where he helped organize the Formula One races in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

I tinkered with the TR3A, but I must admit I am not a mechanic. I had five years of experience selling foreign car parts, but I never earned a dime fixing one. I did enjoy rebuilding SU carburetors (Skinner’s Union carburetors were designed by Bert Skinner and produced by his brother Carl Skinner, beginning in 1908). SU’s were easy to work on and usually just involved replacing worn parts with new parts. A gallon of Gunk and an

old toothbrush could work wonders.

Larry, another of my Army Reserve friends, enjoyed our TR3A so much that he bought one for himself. One evening, I went to his house to “tune” his SU carbs. It was simple and straight forward, only requiring a few hand tools and a couple of beers. The engine idle sounded much better so we decided to go for a test drive.

Big improvement! But as Larry shifted into third, something hit my head very hard. Larry pulled to the side of the road, with a similar headache, and we immediately saw the problem. We had failed to properly latch the hood. At speed, the wind picked it up, slamming it over the windshield, which was now shattered, and smashing it onto our heads. As we crept back to his house, I commented that, other than destroying the hood

and the windshield, the car did seem to run a lot better. Larry never asked for my help again.

Was I done destroying TR3s? Not by a long shot. One night, after dinner in our apartment, I went down to the carport to change the transmission oil. I had a flashlight, a few hand tools, a drain pan, and a couple quarts of 90 weight. It was dark under the car, but I managed to find a drain plug and empty the sludge into the pan. Then I crawled into the footwell and removed the transmission filler plug. I used a funnel to add the new oil.

Strange, it didn’t take very much. I waited a couple minutes, then topped it off. That should do it. What could go wrong?

Redwood Region PCA’s albums | Flickr

The next Board Meeting will be on Tuesday February 27th from 7-9 pm at Mary's Pizza Shack, 423 N McDowell Blvd. Petaluma

If you’re interested in joining the next meeting via Zoom, send me an email and I will forward you the meeting link.  

Our goal is to get an idea of the overall needs for the event by January 30^th. So, if you are interested, or have any questions, please contact Eileen or me and let us know, at [email protected].

Back by popular demand, Redwood Region will roll up our sleeves again to support the Redwood Empire Food Bank, while also having a great time. The date will be Thursday March 14.

Just like last October, our theme is “Work a Bunch & Earn Your Lunch”, with a combination of a short (and optional)

one hour driving tour, a 3-hour volunteer shift at the Food Bank, and then hosted lunch. The work in the warehouse creates meals for Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino County families who suffer from food insecurity. The photo above shows the amazing warehouse and staff, as Redwood’s Assistant Santa provided them with a check for $1500 from our club during the holiday season.

At the Barley & Bine Beer Café the club will pay for your lunch item; you just pay for your beverage of choice. We are hoping to field a team of 20 to top last fall’s group of 17.

Just register on MSR and if you or your companion volunteer need to set up

a volunteer account at the food bank, I will get you through it.

Let me know if you have any difficulty.

Hope to see you then!

Visit Redwood's on-line Goodie Store here.

Immaculate 2018 Turbo Cabriolet

Call Rob @ 707-480-4881

We encourage letters to the editor, feedback, questions and suggestions about our newsletter and the Redwood Region in general. Want to contribute to the newsletter?Submit photos and articles about Club events or related activities. Please submit your entry by the 5th day of the month for inclusion in that month's newsletter. Articles received after the deadline will be considered for the next month's newsletter. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all materials submitted for publication.

Want to reach an audience of Porsche enthusiasts with your marketing message? Consider advertising in der Riesenbaum. Contact the editor for more information and rates.