Archive for year: 2022

 It is amazing how ones perspective changes when everything slows down. With high powered cars in the garage it is easy to get caught up in horsepower figures and 0-60 times. Jeff Leeds and I ran the last PCA Rally in the Turbo S and half the job was keeping the speed down so that we could find the answers to the questions along the route. It was done with a lot of second gear and we tied with two other teams for the most right answers and won the drawing for first place and a free detail from Craft Detailing in Dedham. While the 356’s are slow, they can easily keep up with modern traffic and provide a different driving experience than a modern Porsche. You don’t spend any time looking at other cars that may want to “play” and slower speeds give you more time to enjoy the scenery especially in the Fall in New England.   

If you really want to investigate the world around you I suggest a bicycle. Let me explain how I got on that path.

Last Fall, the Boston MBTA shut down one of the subway lines (Orange Line) for 30 days so that repairs, that would normally take 3 years, could be done in just a month. Buses were used and they also offered free Blue Bikes to help folks get around. Blue Bikes have been available for a few years and there are 4000 bikes at 400 sites in 11 communities in the Boston area. With an App on a cell phone (of course) bikes can be rolled out of a docking station and a low speed tour of the city can begin or, a 14 minute walk to work can be done in 4 minutes. I had been looking at those bikes for a while but at what looked like $3.75 per ride it seemed that walking the ¾ mile each way to my office was a better choice. Needless to say the word free caught my attention so I signed up to try it.

The bikes are very heavy duty touring bikes that are designed for people who don’t ride bikes. If the bike isn’t put back in a Docking station when you’re done the bill could be as high as $1200, so it’s not a cheap bike.  The seat is easy to adjust and there are front and rear handbrakes but the best feature is the transmission. I’m not sure how it works but without any derailleurs showing or gear sets exposed, the right side handgrip makes instant gear changes when turned.  Turn it one way and it feels like three foot cranks for a bike length of travel like a cartoon character. Turned the other way and one rotation give what seems like a 100 ft of travel. Most important, its immediate, with no clanking of gears or jerking of the pedals. There are LED lights front and rear that flash when the bike is in motion, a great safety feature and the fenders are enclosed to reduce splashing.

After a few days of use, I was hooked. It was Fall and the very best time to be on a bike in New England when leaves were changing on the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the boats were still in the harbor sailing about.

As the free ride was coming to an end I looked into the costs to continue and it was very reasonable. A one year membership brought the cost down to less than $10 per month. By then it wasn’t just back and forth to the office,  but also lunch rides to the North End and Chinatown. I began to look at where the docking stations were so I could expand the range since membership gives you 45 minute rides at no cost, and   $2.00 for every 30 minutes there after. They don’t want you to take the bikes out for the day so the answer is to just find a Docking Station, park in under 45 minutes and take another one to restart the clock. The fact that there is a Docking Station just out the door at South Station and another across the street from the office on State St makes every trip very easy.

Street level on a bicycle is a lot different than street level in a car. First of all you’re invisible, nobody sees you and nobody hears you. Not pedestrians, not cars and certainly not trucks or buses.  That just reinforces the bumper sticker that I have on my cars that says: “Loud Cars Save Lives”. I have determined that sidewalks are safer than bike lanes,  but pedestrians are not at all accommodating and really don’t want to share the space. There are Bike lanes but they seem to be the perfect spot for delivery trucks, Uber drivers and Post Office trucks. The trouble is that to get around those stationary objects there are only two choices, get on the sidewalk or swing out into the travel lane to clear fenders and any doors that may suddenly open.  Cars in the travel lane blow the horn at people on bikes because they know you don’t belong there and besides you’re moving too slow.

Riding a bike on city streets gives the rider plenty of time to inspect the pavement for potholes, cracks and even frost heaves this time of year. Bumps that a car wouldn’t feel become a jarring hit on a bike that has zero suspension travel. There are a few holes on State street where the bottom can’t be seen. They’re not big holes, maybe 4” across, so a car tire would roll over easily but a bike tire would actually fall in  while the rider would keep going. I have not been bitten by any obstacles yet, but I am prepared. When my kids found out that I was riding a bicycle in Boston they insisted that I buy a helmet to wear. There is a sign on every Dock that says, according to Mass law, riders 16 and under must wear a helmet and it is recommended for grown ups.  I guess when we get older our heads don’t need protection? What?

Now when I catch the commuter rail into town there is a lightweight helmet hanging off my briefcase . Some of my “train buddies” know that I have been taking a Spin Class every week for the last few years and wanted to know if I was so old that I needed a helmet to be able to ride a stationary bike. Very funny. There is an Allstate ad TV that shows ‘Mayhem’ getting launched off a stationary bike so I guess it could happen but I am careful on both.

Since most of the tourists have left town the streets are not as crowded and there is more space on the sidewalks, but there is still another challenge, Boston weather. The cold can be ignored at least so far but the rain and snow will be another matter. I know that, unlike our winter cars, Blue Bikes will not be switching over to snow tires any time soon so snow covered streets are still an unknown. I have come to some conclusions about riding in the rain however. It turns out that the trip from South Station to my office across from the Aquarium is a 16 minute walk or a 4 minute bike ride. I can hold an umbrella while I am walking (I’ve done it for years) but not while I’m riding a bike. I’m no Mary Poppins. So is it better to walk with an umbrella for 16 minutes or ride a bike without an umbrella for 4 minutes? That depends upon how hard it is raining. The few rainy days so far have been light and the bike has been selected. The one real downpour prompted me to wait a few minutes (that’s how long it takes for Boston weather to change) as the weather App showed the storm passing by soon.  I’ve gotten damp but not really that wet, yet. Snow might be a different matter.  

I do have a couple of those thin plastic rain coverings that I got in a car show goodie bag years ago that I could try. They look like one time use bags folded into a clear plastic envelope about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I know that I could never get them folded back up to the same small envelope so it would be easier to just toss it out. Anyone remember Harry Morgan on Dragnet trying to convince Joe Friday that he could fold up his new plastic raincoat to fit back into the plastic bag it came in?  Send me an email if you do, I’d like to know if anyone my age is still reading this column.

I will be reporting this winter as the snow begins to fall and test my riding skills. Wish me luck, it will be fun.

KTF            

Sometimes the stars align and things just work out fine, sometimes they don’t. This is one of the times that the alignment was right on track. Actually three tracks.

 Porsche owners seem to always be looking for places to exercise their cars whether it’s running errands, going to a Cars and Coffee gathering or a real Road Trip, the key to enjoyment is doing it with other owners. I found a few events that were fun and  bunched together in late Sept before the days started getting short and put the word out.

 I haven’t been up to the Drag races in Epping NH for years and had thought about trying the Launch Control on the, new to me, Turbo S along with one of Rob’s friends who had the same car. Bill Sweeney was sure that he had the faster car and this would be a good way to find out. It was mid week in the evening.

 The following day was SCCA Track Night at the Thompson CT track and PCA NCR had an Autocross at Ft Devens two days later. A perfect week. Perfect enough to convince Rob that he should fly in from Arizona and join us.

 New England Dragway allowed anyone to run a car down the ¼ mile strip as long as it looked like it could make it. Helmets were required but nobody checked to see who’s car you were driving. There were some cars there that looked like their owners might be away on vacation and the keys were left on the kitchen counter. The Track opened at 3 pm, closed at 8pm and for $30 you could make all the passes you wanted to by just getting back in line.

I haven’t run a drag race since I beat a pickup truck with my 356SC with a 17.8 second pass at 75-80 Dragway in Monrovia, MD in 1969. My first and only ¼ mile test. They didn’t know what to do with a small foreign car so I got put in with 6 cylinder pickups. I still have the trophy. I have certainly watched them on cable but it never seemed to me that it took a lot of skill to go straight with the pedal down. Boy, was I wrong.

              Going straight with the Turbo S was easy enough although there was some wiggle when 533hp hit the pavement even with four wheel drive. It was the launch that made all the difference and that was tough to get right even with the PDK transmission assisting. Bill outran me every time with better starts but both cars were under 11 seconds, which is what they call a 10 second car. That means that the elapsed time was less than 11 sec. Mine seemed to be faster at the end, 136 mph vs 132 mph but he still got there first. I red lighted twice, meaning I released the Launch Control before that bottom light went green. Like I said, it isn’t as easy as it looked on TV.

Bill and I had been to SCCA Track Night back in July and were familiar with the program. Three classes, novice, intermediate and advanced with each given three 20 minute sessions. Like a PCA driver education but no instructors and no passengers. Cars were self teched (take all the loose stuff out), put on your helmet and no passing without a point by. That event was run after a day of heavy rain and while we were cautioned about water running across the track it still caught a few by surprise. Including a novice at the end of the front straight  in a Mustang. He found a tire wall that was protecting the flag station with a NJ barrier behind it. He cleared the tires, going end over end, but not the concrete barrier. He must’ve ducked because he wasn’t hurt.

 Rob had spun off in the same spot in my car too but missed anything stationary. We looked at the video later (I have a forward looking camera in the Turbo that runs all the time) and he was surprised how close he was to the path the Mustang took. Rob, with wiggles at almost every turn, struggled to stay ahead of Bills car but I was in Pearl, the  Audi RS4, with new turbos installed, Bridgestone R-71’s and outran them both. We snagged garage space which made the conditions easier to take but boy did it rain.

 I always contend that everyone learns more in the rain and that was certainly the case on this day at Thompson.

  Two days later we were at Ft Devens with all three cars again for a PCA North Country Region Autocross. Clear, sunny day, the very best conditions for standing on a runway all day. A quick course with a decent straight that both Turbos enjoyed. The four door sedan I was driving, not so much due to a lot of  body roll, but it was fun.

Rob complained about the tires on my car (they were 7 years old), but I wasn’t going to replace them until next Spring. Since Bill was on new tires he tossed Rob the keys to his blue bomb (big mistake) and promptly got beat by 2 seconds. Good thing they’re friends.

All in all a terrific week where everyone won, we should do it again next year. If anyone wants to join us just give me a shout at [email protected].

KTF

 Catskill Mountain Tour

 Perfect weekend weather, a German resort in the New York Catskill mountains, a group of friends and a Porsche 356, what could be better? The event was set up to run every other year in the same manner as the Helen GA event down south. It was ready to go in 2020 but put on hold as Covid 19 blanked out our schedule. We finally got the all clear this year and 68 people with 38 Porsches (including a 968, 914, Cayenne) arrived on a Thurs afternoon. We had many of our southern Tub owners attend, one from Sebring FL in a Speedster (1400 miles) and 6 others from FL and GA.

Riedlbauer’s Resort has been in the town of Round Top, NY since the 1930’s, with the current family running the program since 1978. The rooms are basic (there is a TV but no Fridge) and the buildings are well kept (think Dirty Dancing ), and there is a terrific bar with a huge German Mug collection.

Meals are part of the package so you don’t have to chase food every day. With all the driving and exploring we did we missed a few meals but breakfast was waiting every morning and one of the dinners we had was a terrific of German dish called Jagerschnitzel). The last night had a BBQ outside under cover with fire pits all around.

 The first group tour was to one of the original round barns left in NY. Tour books made sure that we saw as much of the countryside as possible and that was lovely. Some of these roads look like they came from the north GA mountains.

We had lunch as a group at a local Grange Hall (remember those?) put together by Paul and Sybil Margaritis. Terrific food under a tent by a small stream. A great time.

On Sat after breakfast, we drove over to Unobtainium Inc in Ravena NY  a company owned by Adam and Matt  Wright who supply used parts to our little band of drivers that we can’t get anywhere else. Hence, the company name. They supplied the standard coffee and donuts/bagels that were definitely not German.

Then on to Reinbeck for lunch and a quick drive over to the Aerodrome for an airshow featuring some planes that were over 100 years old. With a skit that involved throwing a dummy out of an open cockpit and chased by old time Cops (no guns).

Dinner the last night was on the property at Nussy’s Bier Garten which was all you could eat with free beer & wine. Well, at least until dark, they didn’t want to have any of the old people get lost in the woods. Fire pits were taking the chill out of the air  and added to long tales of previous Porsche gatherings. We all parked in the field together as the Bier Garten was open to the community and they were there too.

All in all a terrific Porsche weekend.  

The story above was written for publication in the National 356 Registry magazine but the real story (back story?) is below.

I actually had two of these Tubs at the event, the Speedster that I drove out and the Puddle Jumper that I loaned to a friend from Seattle who wanted to attend but didn’t want to drive 3000 miles to get there.

I had spent a couple of weeks going over the sunroof coupe and in the process had replaced the oil cooler and adjusted the clutch cable twice. I drove the car to Logan Airport and tossed Tom the keys. He seemed pleased with his ride for the week and met a group on the Mass Pike the next day for the trip to the Catskills. I followed the day after, meeting another Speedster owner at the same westbound rest area. It was a perfect day for a Speedster ride until mile number 146 when the car began to lose power and the temperature gauge headed to the red area. I was only a mile from the Lee rest area so I just let it roll in and got out to take a look. The movement on the generator pulley told me that something serious had broken inside the engine and that drive was over.

The Mass Pike has some strange rules about towing a car on the roadway so instead of calling AAA I phoned a friend who was just a ½ hour off the end of the Pike. Adam Wright is in Ravena NY and with his brother, Matt, owns a company called Unobtainium, who we were going to visit on Sat. See above. He dropped everything, jumped in his truck, brought a flatbed trailer and loaded up Blackie for the trip to his shop. He said that he thought he could sell the car pretty quick even with a bad engine. Ha Ha. Adam wouldn’t take any money for the help, said he just wanted the help credited to his Karma account. Another member had his 356 fail on the Pike the day before and it cost him almost $800 to get it back to West Newbury, MA. Ouch !  

                       I called friends who had already checked into the Resort and they came and picked me up and I gave Tom the bad news that I was going to need that coupe back. We had other backup choices so that worked out just fine as he was happy to trade the coupe for a little more luxury in a Porsche Cayenne.  

                          That arrangement was looking just fine for a couple of days until the clutch began to adjust itself on Saturday and not in the right way. As I pulled into the Reinbeck municipal parking lot on the way to lunch the clutch cable snapped and I was looking for another tow. Boy, these cars are fun.  

                          AAA was there in less than ½ hour for a trip back to the Resort. My friend Jeff had a spare clutch cable (he carries everything and never needs anything) and the job began as soon I could get it jacked up. I was pretty deep into the job when the troops returned from the air show and then I had lots of help. Only one member, Chris, actually got his hands dirty but I couldn’t have done it without him as it is a two man job. Everyone else stood around holding their beer and giving advice that wasn’t needed but all in good fun. Everything got buttoned up before the BBQ started and when the Puddle Jumper drove up to the parking area it got a big round of applause.

 The only other glitch was a short one on the ride home. I didn’t seem to have enough power to keep up with the 4 car caravan on ride back to Boston on Sunday and though I might have another engine going away. 45 minutes was enough time to over think the problem and I concluded that I had not put the bolt under the gas pedal in far enough and I was only getting ½ throttle. A quick turn with a 10mm wrench and it was back to full power and easy to keep up.

As any reader can see there is always more to the story with these old cars, we just remember the good part.

KTF