Rockin’ with the Crocs
PCA’s Cayman Registry Rolls through the Blue Ridge Mountains
By David O'Neal
Porsche owners are drawn to the performance, engineering, styling, prestige, and technology that lead the automotive industry; over the years a number of dedicated owners joined the Porsche Club of America. The PCA offers many ways for its members to share their love of these magnificent machines through the annual Porsche Parade,
Porscheplatz corrals at various racing venues, the monthly
Panorama magazine, driving events, tech sessions, and social activities hosted by the local regions. PCA registries allow enthusiasts to focus on, some may say “obsess over”, one particular model. The Cayman Registry is such a place; and the centerpiece for communication and interaction between owners and future owners is its website:
www.planet-9.com.
Porsche’s Cayman and Cayman S (CS) models, named after the aggressive salt water crocodile, are affectionately known as
“Crocs” by their owners. Those using the website are identified by a creative user name and personal logo (called an
avatar) that reflects the member’s personality or interests. The conversations here are friendly, informed, pointed, intelligent, polite, sometimes intense, and cover a broad range of topics. This is not a website filled with zombies that chant a happy, corporate mantra. Cayman owners are both the Crocs’ biggest fans and harshest critics; they readily offer praises for the Cayman’s exceptional handling, opinions on preferred options, and the desire for new features.
The Crocophiles’ passion for this model has fostered the formation of two new specialty events:
Croctoberfest, a fall alternative to the grand-daddy Porsche Parade, and the
Rock‘n’Croc Rally. It is from The Cayman Registry’s online forums that my wife Ginny (
2CayGirl) and I (
Croc-ket Man) first learned the details of the Rock‘n’Croc Rally as posted initially by the event’s coordinator Bill Koff (
spindoc).
This year’s inaugural Rock‘n’Croc Rally (R’n’C) was completed on May 20th after three days of driving in the beautiful mountains of
South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. The itinerary included some of the most challenging, famous and infamous mountain passages, identified as “TWISTIES”, that are available in the eastern United States. Some of these gems are frequented by other car and motorcycle groups, such as the 11-mile long stretch of US-129 that joins North Carolina to Tennessee - the route’s 318 curves form the shape of its namesake: “The Tail of the Dragon”. Others are known only to local enthusiasts and the moonshine runners who used to traverse them before they were paved. Interconnecting some of the runs were stretches on one of this nation’s greatest scenic thoroughfares – the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Participants
Those arriving earlier on Thursday treated themselves to a fascinating tour of the BMW plant and museum in nearby Greenville,
SC. Upon arriving in Spartanburg on Thursday evening, we first inspected the collection of elusive Crocs parked within the hotel’s parking deck. Seal Grey, Guards Red, Speed Yellow, Atlas Grey, Carmon Red, Black, Meteor Grey and Cobalt Blue Crocs with the full range of tire and wheel options, bearing license plates from Maryland, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia, Connecticut, North Carolina and one from Alberta! Over the weekend 21 cars – 12 Caymans, three Boxsters, one 996, a 928, and four Lotus Elise’s – joined in the fun and camaraderie of this informal gathering of driving enthusiasts.
The first assembly of the participants was at dinner on Thursday evening at the Spartanburg Marriott, where the composition of this group began to unfold. There were solo drivers, teams of spouses, fathers and daughters, and groups of friends who were intrigued and compelled to make the journey to this event. The longest trek by far was the marathon transcontinental journey of Stafford Gorsalitz (
Booster) and wife Joy Williams, who started their epic month-long expedition by first traveling west from their home in Fort McMurray, Alberta to northern British Columbia for a hockey tournament, before heading east and south to
South Carolina. Booster posted his progress along the way in words and pictures in an “online thread” entitled “The Month of MAYhem”. By the end of the rally, they had driven almost 4,400 miles (7,000 kilometers) in their Seal Grey CS with the trip home still ahead of them. Several of the Crocs at the rally’s start had fewer miles on them than Stafford and Joy had driven just to get to the rally!
One of the Crocs passing the 2,000-mile break-in period on the way to the rally was the Meteor Grey CS owned by petite Mary Jo Porreca (
MJP27) and husband/BMW M3 owner Nick Hoogs. The R’n’C was the first chance they had to explore the Croc’s “other engine” - the one that lives above the 4.200 rpm range. Following 30 miles behind them on their trip from the DC area was Jim Morrison (
CG Mojo) in his classy new Carmon Red Cayman. He was joined for the weekend by his just-turned 21-year old daughter Susan. Another father/daughter combo, Jacqueline and Rudy Buys (
Jackbuys) arrived from New York on Saturday in her Silver Boxster S. Helmut (
Hets) and Violetta Zodl caravanned from Cary, NC in their Speed Yellow CS with their friend Bruce Rosar (
FastCroc), who drove his blue-masked Guards Red CS.
Brothers Jay (
Jayman) with wife Jackie, and Joel with wife Karla Harder traveled 14 hours from Connecticut and Massachusetts in their Atlas Grey CS and Yellow Boxster S, respectively. Little brother Joel enjoyed sparring with elder Jay on the TWISTIES. Half-time Florida/Virginia residents Richard (
Richard Peters) Peters and wife Shelby, who navigated throughout the event with her right arm hung in a sling recovering from shoulder surgery, drove in their beautiful black CS. Price Dodson (
Gamecock) and his former college roommate Clif Carroll arrived after the first run in a rare Dark Olive CS. The black CS owned by Kevin Gentry (
ARCuhTEK) joined the next day, along with his friends Patrick Roth and Tari Taylor in a 1989 Black 928 S4.
Martin Salas (
HitEnter), the Triangle Area Director for Carolinas Region and PCA’s official representative at the event, ensured that all of us signed the requisite waivers and were in possession of a valid driver’s license. His black 911 C4S was more than capable and right at home in the mountains. His predecessor, Peter Sotriffer and wife Linda joined the group on Saturday afternoon in their Arena Red Boxster. Four Lotus Elises – two yellow, one red, one titanium – driven by Chris Ross (
Lancer360), Mike Brenner, Bob Yeterian, and Bill Henderson (
whr3) – enhanced the exotic flavor of the pack.
Day One: The Fun Begins
Each day’s drive was broken into four or five segments that included a traverse leg, a set of TWISTIES and a break afterwards to reassemble the group. We aligned our cars to head out to the mountains on Friday morning; spindoc in his unmodified Cobalt Blue CS with stock 18” wheels led the group on each of the segments. Drivers first had to adjust their individual driving styles to match the group dynamic of caravanning. After about an hour we arrived at the base of the Caesar’s Head TWISTIES. Over the radio we heard, “Let’s have some fun.” and with that simple command, we begin to play the ultimate game of “Follow the Leader”.
[Continued in Part 2] -
http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxster-chat/12143-inaugural-rockncroc-rally-report-part-2-a.html
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