There is always an element of risk when you plan an event, but no risk, no reward. We had never done an open house before so we decided to go all in. We hired a well regarded but not cheap caterer, Slidin Dirty http://slidindirty.com/ and starting doing stuff around the shop that we had always wanted to do but never found the time, like hang an A Coupe on the wall. Hanging the coupe wasn’t easy but Big John did his usual over-build and it came out great.
So leading up to the big event we had the shop they way we wanted it, the food lined up, and had gotten the word out to everyone we could possibly think of, and then disaster looked like it might strike, rain. Four days out from the event the weather said rain and more rain, and while some of the hardcore Porsche guys would show up if it rained, many wouldn’t. Since we are quickly approaching the end of the driving season in the Northeast I know several guys who were going to use the open house to exercise their cars for one last long haul before going to bed for the winter. We had a large group from the Boston area, lots of guys from NY and PA, even a few as far as VA. As a special international treat, we had some Canadians come down, that was a surprise, but a nice one. Luckily, the weather shifted until Sunday so the day of the event we had sun and more sun, with even a nice breeze. I didn’t take a head count but we allocated enough food to feed 100 people and the food truck guys said we went through about 2/3’s of that, so we probably had about 75 people altogether. Wray Schelin from Pro Shaper http://www.proshaper.com/ came out and showed off the fender from the aluminum 550 Spyder he is building for us, it garnered a lot of interest, which is good because I know Wray plans to start building them for people, so if you liked it, call Wray and get your order in.
It was a laid back affair with old friends and new, sharing stories about our cars and telling the stories of ones we had in inventory and on display. Like the 58 Coupe shell that won Daytona in 66,
or the 64 SC with street sign floors reading “Speed Limit 50”, it was hard to miss the droptop red trifecta you saw upon arrival, two 60 Roadsters and a C Cab.
But I think what got the most attention was the C Sunroof clip sporting the Rudge wheels.
Another one that alot of guys were looking over was the 53 Coupe that I’m pretty sure was used for ice racing, because it had crazy flares and studded tires.
If you came to see Porsches, you got your fill, and then some, because if we didn’t have it, someone probably brought it, like Tom Tates black Speedster, or Judy’s blue 911, even Rick from Bavarian Rocket Science brought out his 911 race car. It was good to have Rick there because a number of people were asking me if they could bring their car in for service, I politely told them all that we don’t do outside work and then sent them in Rick’s direction, his company http://www.bavarianrocketscience.com/ services my own personal cars, so I can recommend them with full confidence.
The open house was everything we hoped it would be, fun, festive, and lots of Porsches!
—Adam
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THE UNOBTANIATE 