Let’s drive lung cancer off the planet !!
Probably most of you remember the Porsche 356 Speedster 50th anniversary meeting in 2004. It was a gorgeous event and without any doubt the largest gathering of Porsche 356 Speedsters ever.
You may remember that there were some Porsche 356 Speedster prototypes too, which were later sold to Wolfgang Porsche himself. For some time, part of this ultra-rare Speedster collection was shown to the public in the Porsche Museum.
Now, what has this meeting back in 2004 to do, with the Porsche Race Car Classic, an event at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, october 16th 2011, you may ask? Well, it’s quite simple. The common thing is Steve Heinrichs, a passionate Porsche aficionado, who used the experience of organizing the Speedster anniversary event, to set up an even more unique gathering of Porsches. And since Steve was diagnosed with lung cancer some years ago, and was lucky enough to survive this horrible disease, it was quite clear to him the proceeds of the event would go to lung cancer research.
Steve wanted something special, not the kind of Porsche event you can find anywhere. He wanted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see ultra-rare Porsche race cars, from the early beginning of Porsche up to the mid-sixties. Quite promising, isn’t it? Months and months before the event, the Porsche world spoke about this one Sunday in mid-October.
Lots of people started buying the 400 USD costing tickets. Lots of money, but tax deductible and remember, it’s all for a good cause, raise money for lung cancer research. And then finally, after most of the visitors at the Carmel and Monterey area spent some days at the Laguna Seca racetrack to visit the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV, the great moment was there.
Gates opened at 10 am, and you could hear some disappointing sounds… You could see lots of cars, but all of them were covered. Why?
Then, at 10:15 am, all the cars were revealed at the same time. A magical moment it was, as all visitors witnessed the uncovering of a great part of Porsche’s racing history. In one word, fabulous !!
I can say, without any doubt, I have never, never seen a collection of Porsche 550 Spyders, Porsches 718 (RS60, RS61, RSK), Porsche 356 Carrera Abarth, Porsches 904 not to mention 2 Porsche Formula 1 804, the only 2 ever built Porsche 200GS Carrera 2 GT Dreikantschabers, lots of Porsches 356 Speedsters and Carrera Speedsters, Porsches 356 from the Porsche Gmünd to Porsche 356 Carrera 2, … it’s named Porsche and you could find it on a race track back in the fifties and sixties? Well, you could find it at the Quail Lodge too.
All visitors could enjoy the nicest Californian wines too, and taste a great buffet, all included in the entrance ticket. And while sipping a great wine, one could talk to the owners of these wonderful treasures, meet with some racers of the cars like Hans Herrmann and Eberhard Mahle, and even have a little chat with Wolfgang Porsche himself.
It’s hard to describe what an experience it was, I even heard people talk about a Porsche indigestion, but whatever it was, I can only describe it as a fabulous event, which will probably never equalled !!!
Thanks to Steve Heinrichs, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, and all the volunteers, and remember: Let’s drive lung cancer off the planet !!!!
Porsche Race Car Classic
Pictures by Vintage Race Photography
