Welcome to Concours 2012 – January

As a new year unfolds, we look forward to another great NNJR Concours season. But first, it is necessary to look back and thank some of our late 2011 season workshop hosts and congratulate our 2011 NNJR Concours season champions.

NNJR Concours had the privilege of hosting two late season workshops at both Flemington Porsche and ID Signs. The Flemington event featured Bill Rochford the “Dent Man”. Our very own Fred Simonson was the architect of the workshop. Fred previously used Bill on several of his cars over the years and raved about his talent. With Fred’s help we were able to have Bill help out several of our NNJR members. Bill spent a couple of hours working his magic on fellow Porsche owners’ dings and dents. He did some outstanding work at very reasonable prices. John Nelson, the sales manager at Flemington Porsche, provided a fantastic bagel breakfast for all workshop participants. John’s state of the art Porsche facility was a great backdrop for such a well attended event. Thanks again John for you hospitality.

On November 13, 2011, Jose DeLaCruz of ID Signs hosted a great workshop on “Winter Storage for your Porsche”. Jose went all out with a fantastic lunch for all to enjoy. His amazing facility was a great backdrop to present the topic of the day with over 50 people in attendance. We look forward to making Jose’s facility a regular stop on the NNJR Concours schedule in the future.

This year the NNJR Concours staff awarded the Veteran and Novice Championship trophies as well as the Mulhern Award. The Novice Championship was won by Rick Barrack. Rick decided at the beginning of the season to commit his time to not only becoming an NNJR Concours judge but also showing his car for the first time. Rick’s black 997 Carrera S Cab was a force to be reckoned with. He participated in the entire judged event season and consistently took a first place. In many cases he scored higher than some of the Veterans. We look forward to having Rick continue as a valuable part of the Concours team.

The Veteran Championship trophy was won by Jeff McFadyen. Jeff painstakingly restored his 1957 356 into one of the most stunning 356 Outlaws in existence. Most people who spend the exorbitant amount of time and expense required to restore a vehicle like this would tuck it away after completion. Not Jeff!!! He aggressively campaigned his car through out the 2011 season. Jeff participated in all our local and regional events and then took a dominating win at the Porsche Parade in Savannah, Georgia.  We are very pleased to have Jeff as a valuable member of our Concours program. His level of excellence once again shows the extraordinary quality of car that NNJR produces.

The Mulhern award for 2011 was given to Murray and Akemi Kane. Murray and Akemi are true pillars of our club. Their devotion in time and energy is displayed in their extreme level of participation with all our clubs events. From the Concours side they consistently produce a winning car from one season to the next. Both Murray and Akemi are an invaluable help to the program by judging or just making sure everything runs smoothly. Any request for help from this team is always greeting by a resounding “Yes”. The two of them can be found at almost every event the club has to offer. This level of devotion made them a shoe in for the Mulhern award. Murray and Akemi are true assets to the club and I look forward to their participation in the future.

NNJR Concours saw an amazing level of participants for the 2011 season. We had over 500 individual names participate in at least one event with many participating in several of our judged events and workshops. We averaged close to 75 people at all of the workshops with Paterek Brothers and Ray Catena’s workshops hitting close to 100 participants. We also had close to a 30 car average at our judged events which presents a daunting task for our judging teams to properly score. We were also thrilled to see the level of participation by many of NNJR’s new members. They have truly embraced Concours and we look forward to their participation in the future.

2012 will greet our Concours enthusiasts with some interesting changes. Our first event of the season will be the “Gathering of The Faithful” which will be held in a new location. John Vogt of High Marques will be hosting the event this year and welcoming all to his showroom to dust off the winter cob webs. “GOTF” will be held on March 25th 2012 to kick off the Concours season. Aside from the normal bagels and coffee, Hank  and I will be presenting the 2012 season schedule which will include some new venues and some interesting events to keep the membership coming back for more.