And the winner is..., (and there are no losers in my book...) Options

[horizontally-opposed]

Jeroen -- by a nose! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) So last-minute inspiration does pay off...

Many thanks to SLITS and the Adams' -- all three of your WCC story entries were great efforts and I really appreciate the work that went into them -- as should the rest of our club! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Now, I just gotta get this story outta here. Jeroen, I'll P.M. you with details on how to submit...

pete

[Jeroen]

Hey Pete,

Jeroen is still working but i just called him to tell him the great news.
He will be home in about 60 min. so he will contact you then.
This is fantastic .Thank you. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

Cheers Christie

[rick 918-S]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif)

[seanery]

woohoo! We'll have a published author amongst us! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[Jeroen]

Man... I dunno what to say...
This is absolutely great!!!
I hope my article does the event justice
Can't believe it...

Pete, e-mail is on the way

Thanks!

Jeroen
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/boldblue.gif)

[JWest]

We were both too busy to take a second stab at our stories (I was getting my car ready for Parade).

I think it is cool to have Jeroen's half-a-world-away perspective on the event. Way to go! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)

[Bleyseng]

kewl !

[SirAndy]

ok, let me get this straight ...

you have a dutch guy who doesn't even have a running 914 write and article about a german car-show that took place half around the globe in kalifornia ?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) way to go, Jeroen, can't wait to see the result in print!
Andy

[J P Stein]

YAAAROOON !!!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mueba.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mueba.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mueba.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mueba.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mueba.gif)

[Gint]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) I can't wait to read it.

[Toast]

Jeroen -- by a nose! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) So last-minute inspiration does pay off...

So, what was the last-minute inspiration that Jeroen gave ya? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol2.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

Contrats Jeroen. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/monkeydance.gif)

[VegasRacer]

We will all get to read Jeroen's story when it is published.
I would love to see the other ones also.
You peeps spent a lot of time crafting them.
Can you please post them for us to enjoy.

[Bleyseng]

Let's post the loser's stories here so we can read them atleast now. I will buy the mag just to read Jeroen's story as I am sure it is a very edited version of what happened. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Hey is it in Dutch? Now that would be kewl.

just kidding.

Geoff

[JWest]

Here's mine:

WCC 2004 Recap

By James Adams

We all know that internet forums are the hangout for 15 year old kids telling each other how they raced and beat a Ferrari in their Mom’s Honda. Nothing constructive could come from a group a people wasting hours in front of CRTs and LCDs, banging away at keyboards. Especially when you throw 30-year-old, under-appreciated foreign cars into the mix.

Well, the internet is maturing. 914world.com, the self proclaimed “smiliest BBS around” boasts 2000 members who discuss the mittelmotor German novelty as if they were face-to-face, yet many members have never been on the same continent at the same time. The first annual West Coast Classic – brainchild of Brad Roberts (the primary founder of 914world.com) – was designed to change that and substitute the computer screen with human interaction. In doing this, one of the largest all-914 gatherings was formed with the northern California location drawing enthusiasts from as far as the Netherlands just for this event.

The festivities began on Thursday evening with the arrival greeting at the base hotel – the Pruneyard Inn in Campbell. Following the instructions we had been given, my wife, Ginger, and I proceeded to the top floor of the 4-story parking garage and found an open area for the “teeners” to line up. Having flown in from Texas earlier that day, this was the first time we were going to meet most of our online friends. Despite the only previous contact being in the form of short, often disjointed message postings, we found ourselves picking up online conversations where they had left off, talking to people as though they were our oldest friends with barely an introduction.

More and more cars were arriving as we bounced from one conversation circle to another. Heads would all turn in anticipation as the sounds of a car entered the parking complex below. The hollow sound would echo level by level until it burst out in the cool California air – the noisemaker finally revealed to the anxious groups of socializing people.

Then a different sound was heard, not the dull rasp of a Bursch-equipped four or the mechanical shriek of a Weber-adorned flat six, this low rumble was something foreign, something unexpected. What was it? The sound grew closer. What could it be? The walls shook. Suddenly an atomic blast hit the innocent bystanders as the beast attacked. A flurry of activity in Duluth, Minnesota, had in an amazing few weeks time created the monster – a black, flared 914 with the heart of a 928S. Rick Ollah and his sons had completed the impossible task of shoehorning 8 cylinders of Stuttgart fury behind op-art Pasha fabric covered seats. Dubbed “The Alien,” seeing the car in person made the trip worthwhile for many in attendance – but there was more to come – much more!

Friday morning started early. The group gathered in our now familiar parking area to caravan to the Coyote Creek Country Club for breakfast. We picked up our goodie bag and dug through it between trips to the buffet. Inside were contributions donated by members of the Porsche community full of info, stickers, catalogs, fliers, and even soap cast in the shape of a 914 and matched to the color of our car! Jeff Bowlsby, the main event coordinator, gave thanks to the many hard working people who made the event a reality. Jeff introduced the long-distance attendees; the Netherlands, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon were all represented. Jeroen (pronounced Ya-roon) must have had business in the area to have come from The Netherlands for the event, right? No, the site’s computer graphics wizard had come all this way to join with and support the people he had met in the digital realm.

After breakfast, at precisely 9:14 a.m. (I told you we started early), it was time to invade and explore the California countryside with tops stowed in the trunks. Our colorful, snorting caterpillars of cars strew out in search of the most convoluted ribbons of pavement we could find.

The drive literally climaxed with an assent up to the entrance of the Laguna Seca racetrack. After a brief interlude to gather the cars and obtain direction, we all had visions of being George Follmer or Mark Donohue blasting through the corkscrew in a Can-Am 917. The 20 mph speed limit imposed for our “parade” lap did not take away from the thrill.

War paint (in the form of blue tape numbers) was being applied as we arrived at Candlestick Park the next morning. Attendees that had flown in or were otherwise without a 914 had previously been paired with generous owners who offered up their cars for potential abuse with a stranger behind the wheel. A large portion of the grid participated in their first-ever autocross. Although all 914s, the field was surprisingly diverse by what was offering the propelling force. The expected variety of Porsche fours and sixes were accompanied by a Nissan V6, the aforementioned Alien, and -- believe it or not -- an electric 914 that had the umpf to run 13s in the quarter mile. For the rest of the event, conversations centered on Konis, sway bars, air pressure, and tires. A new batch of track junkies had just been formed.

The look of surprise on the face of the host at the Chinese restaurant that night was priceless. “How many in your party?” he asked. Uhhh, twenty four, we responded hesitantly. The group of 7 or 8 we had left the hotel lobby with had grown to reservation-requiring proportions in seconds. After nearly falling over, our host was able to accommodate us. I don’t think anyone stopped laughing the entire night as our impromptu group organizer and comedian Howard kept us entertained. And the poor restaurant workers were gracious enough to even take a group picture of us on the front steps as we left (actually, he would have done anything to get us on the steps -- and therefore out of the building!).

We were a die-hard group, and we had not yet had enough. The Parts-Heaven swap meet in Hayward was the venue for our concours and event awards. Parts were sold, treasures were found, and cars were drooled upon. Then an extra special treat was revealed…

Late in the morning a crowd started to gather around a beat and forlorn looking yellow/orange 914. Looking it over, different features were pointed out – look at this turn signal lens, notice the welding, see the prop rods for the hoods?
Paul Lang, a researcher on the car, gave a presentation about the car’s unexplained origins, and comparisons were made between this car and the prototype 914/8 in residence at the Porsche museum in Germany. The six-digit VIN number on the apparently very early 914/6 indicated that this could have been the first 914/6 to ever hit the streets…

The inaugural West Coast Classic had been thrown together in a few short months, but the quality of the events, the professionalism of the organizers, and the camaraderie of the participants made it seem like this WCC was the twenty-first, rather than the first.




Ginger Adams also contributed to this article

[Meredith]

you have a dutch guy who doesn't even have a running 914 write and article about a german car-show that took place half around the globe in kalifornia ?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Good point!

[rick 918-S]

I'm sitting here reading this and I'm choked up. If you weren't there you won't get it. I wouldn't want Pete's job ever. That article brought it all back. What a great time we had. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[Joe Ricard]

Reading the part about the Alien made a shiver go up my spine. Hey Rich why don't you make a road trip down Mississippi way so us red necks can hear the Alien @ WOT.

[Jeroen]

James / Ginger,

Strange, it's almost like you've been to the same event (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Excellent write up! I'm just glad I didn't have Pete's job choosing...

Even though I'm proud as hell that my article is gonna be published, I feel quite awkward (sp?) about the competition element, because that was definately not the spirit of the WCC.

If it's OK with you, I'd like to put your article on the WCC-website

Where are the others that submitted their articles? I'd like to put those up there as well, so please post them here or send em to me...

cheers,

Jeroen

[Mueller]

Hey James (and Ginger) thanks for the write-up......now I really wish I hadn't been so lazy as to not drive down to the Pruneyard and miss all the fun you guys had (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

oh well, I guess next year I can be more social (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[TimT]

you have a dutch guy who doesn't even have a running 914 write and article about a german car-show that took place half around the globe in kalifornia ?

Now isnt that ironic?

Good on ya Ya-roon...