Skip to main content

If you would like to receive a copy of Spiel magazine and become a member click here

President’s Report

Paul Miller

It has been a truly indulgent Porsche time for me over the past few months, between a trip to California, driving breath-taking South Island roads on SWOTY, South Island Driver Training, track days, Leadfoot and DYPD, I have been going to Porsche places and attending Porsche Club events most weekends.

The California ‘Vibe’ 
On a recent family holiday to Los Angeles we visited a few LA Porsche attractions, including the Petersen Museum to view the ‘Uncompromised Design’ display supported by Porsche Cars North America. The following day we visited the Porsche Experience Centre LA, and got up close and personal with the new 718 Spyder and GT4 models. En route we dropped into the South Bay Porsche dealership, with a sizable mix of new and classic Porsches for sale. To ‘name-drop’, Jerry Seinfeld’s Rivera Blue 993 RS was in for a service – (no photos allowed), but - ooh, what a stunning car! Next year I would like to pop over for a quick boys (and girls) trip to see Luftikult – (maybe a Club group?)

An Enthusiasts Club 
I was recently asked if we are just a ‘sports car’ Club and do we make people with ‘4 door’ Porsches welcome? From my perspective we are a Porsche enthusiasts Club and make all people (owners and enthusiasts) equally welcome to join. I am reminded that our current Treasurer and Life Members, Steve and Michelle Neville, joined the Club when the family drove a Vauxhall Viva and had only dreamed of owning a Porsche. I would like to think we still openly welcome all people who are enthusiasts for the marque. Looking at the spectrum of events the Club runs there really isn’t any event unsuitable for any Porsche model to participate (they even raced Porsche tractors at Rennsport Reunion). In looking at what other Porsche clubs do, there are active registers and interest groups for all models, and I note the Macan and Cayenne registers run special off-road drives and BBQ events etc. With the growth of new Porsche models the Club would happily organise registers for any Porsche model, we just need enthusiastic Club members to lead them – (any volunteers please?). You will also notice in recent and future Spiel’s we are running regular articles on Macan and Cayenne Club member ownership experiences and will look to doing this across the spectrum of all Porsche models.

Leadfoot 
In September the Club returned to Leadfoot again with 66 cars and 46 spectators. The ‘vibe’ at Leadfoot this year was something special with most members inviting friends and family to share their cars and the Porsche Club experience. Rod Millen kindly hosted us and joined in with regular runs of his Porsche Cayenne S, a factory car used to compete in the 2007 Trans Siberian Rally. It’s encouraging to see many new-ish and first time Club members attend. Special mention to Nick Diggens for coming across from Australia, Guy & Alan for bringing the Singer across from the ‘Naki’, and Martin Healy who made the trip up from the South Island. Finally, on behalf of PCNZ we wish to thank EML and the Official Porsche Centres for their generous sponsorship of the day – their on-going support is genuinely appreciated by our Club members.

South Island Adventures (DT & SWOTY)
I have had the pleasure of attending two recent South Island events, the first being as a helper and instructor for the South Island Driver Training day. This year we took four instructors/helpers down including Racing Ray Williams, Steff Chambers and Michael Neville. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and look forward to returning next year. 

The second event was SWOTY 2019, where 29 Club members descended from as far as Australia (Kevin and Suzanne Jelley), into Aoraki Mount Cook. Having just completed two days of ‘spirited’ driving though some of the prettiest scenery New Zealand has to offer, and hanging out with Brian-‘Porschaholic’ as his driver and photography assistant, I feel like I have been on holiday and am fizzing with a major ‘Porsche fix’ (driving a Boxster, roof down and a 650HP 996TT helps with the fix!). 

A special thank you to the organisers; Channon, Paul, Andre and Roger, a first class run event by the SI Regional Committee. The SWOTS (Summer Weekend of the Year) will be held in Cromwell in February next year, I understand the registration flyer will come shortly and I plan to attend this too – (Roger Carter had me at the mention of Highland Park laps and runs up the Crown Range!) 

DYPD
Approximately 180 members (a quarter of the Club!) attended Drive Your Porsche Day (DYPD) events held on 22 September 2019 throughout the country, in Auckland, Wellington, TOTS, Canterbury and the ‘Deep South’. This annual event would be, by far, our biggest. We warmly welcome our newest Regional Chapter – Queenstown/Wanaka (the Deep South), who had several people participate from as far as Dunedin in a drive to Mandeville. If you want to attend events in this region, contact the Club and we will put you in touch with Henrik Falkner who is the regional coordinator. 

Launch of the 2019/20 Pirelli Race Series
The Club held the launch of the 2019/20 PCNZ Pirelli Porsche Race Series at the Continental Cars Services Porsche Dealership on 26 September. We had a good turnout of around 50 people with the star attraction being Tony Huston’s new Boxster-Spec car, the first in New Zealand. The car is an impressive piece of kit and sounds impressively ‘throaty’. We see these cars as the ‘economical’ option and the future of our race series. In time we hope to see several of these cars racing in their own Class, and we encourage Club members to come see Tony’s car in action this year. Many of our sponsors attended including Simon Pool and Glen Hicks from Pirelli, Nathan Webber from CCS Tyre Centre, the Neville family from Actibush, and representatives from the Official Porsche Centres; Continental Car Services and Giltrap Group.

Looking forward
The Pirelli Porsche Race Series gets underway in November and we look forward to various regional Christmas parties. The Porsche theme for Milford this year is the 20th Anniversary of the GT3 and it’s my pet project to assemble a large display of these models (invitation to GT3 owners to come shortly). All Club members from throughout the country are most welcome to attend.

 

Editorial

Peter Stewart

The weather throughout New Zealand for our celebration of the birthday of Ferry Porsche was exactly as we needed for driving our favourite marque. The warmth of the sun and the leaves starting to show we are moving towards summer. I enjoyed the cruise with the roof down as the breeze designed my comfortable hair style. 

We are all proud of our personal appearance as well as the appearance of our Porsches. That was seen in the reflections one could see in the polished paintwork as we parked under the trees at our lunch destination whether that was in the Bombay Hills, Lake Ferry, Waikuku, Golden Bay or Mandeville. 

This habit of fastidious presentation should be evident with even more attention to detail when you arrive at your Christmas celebration ready for judging by our Concours experts. 

We are all more than a bit competitive so why not bring out that streak and enter the Concours competition.    

 

SPIEL 203 CONTENTS

Neville's 1954 Porsche 356 Pre-A - Part 3 
By Angus Cooper
Higgins 1050 356 Cabriolet #5135
Winter Road Trip By Luigi Sussman
An amazing Spring DYPD  By Anne & Ross Simpson
Drive your Porsche Day  By Judy-Anne Dentice
VIEW GALLERY
Central DYPD  By Dan Reeves
VIEW GALLERY
Top of the South DYPD  By Andrew Anderson
VIEW GALLERY
Canterbury DYPD   By Graeme Lyndsay
Deep South DYPD  By Henrik Falkner
VIEW GALLERY
Leadfoot Experiences  
By Paul Madeley, Chris King and Martyn Jagusch
VIEW GALLERY
Driving as an art  By Rodger Anderson
SWOTY Mount Cook  By Andre Hopman
VIEW GALLERY
PCNZ Annual Concours Competition  
By Ash Powell
GT3 Experience  By Nick Diggens
917/30 Go Kart  By David Higgins
Sunday Drive to Wainui  By Donna McMillen
Toi Toi Cafe for Coffee  By James Nimmo
Rotorua Targe - at a more Sedate Pace  
By James Nimmo
Destination Rotorua  By Dave Umbers
2019/20 Race Programme / Launch
Autocross  By Carl Shepherdson
VIEW GALLERY
Driver Training - Levels  
By Arvind Masilaman VIEW GALLERY
My Happy Place  By Barry Sapwell
One Door Opens, Another Door Closes
By Peter Grundy
Introducing my 550  By Stephen Moon
John Fairhall - Obituary  
Mount Cotton Experience  By Paul Alexander
Safe Driving Tips from Racing Ray
ADAC 24-Hour Race at Nurburgring 
By Guy Stewart

 

Committee MembersThe Club’s affairs are managed by a Committee of volunteers elected each year at our annual general meeting. As all Committee Members are volunteers email is our preferred method of communication. Private phone numbers are not listed on this website for privacy reasons. Members are welcome to contact the Committee - a Contact Directory is published in Spiel Magazine.

President Paul Miller
Vice President Ashley Powell
Treasurer Michelle Neville
Secretary Malcolm Thompson
Spiel Editor Peter Stewart
Club Administrator Teresa Conway
Committee Andrew Anderson
Committee Tim Boys
Committee Roger Carter
Committee Steff Chambers
Committee Chris Fleury
Committee Grant Nauschutz
Committee Michael Neville
Committee Dan Reeves
Committee Andrew Ryan
Committee Teresa Conway