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On September 10, NNJR Concours hosted the second annual Red Mill Museum Concours d‘Elegance. This event was an outrageous success, with over 50 Porsches in attendance. Fortunately, we were bestowed with reasonable weather in light the horrible rains that dominated late August and early September. People came from as far north as the Hudson Valley and south to Philadelphia. Cars ranged in age from as far back as 1957 up to 2011. Almost the entire lifespan of the Porsche automobile was represented. This event was also open to the public and over 200 people came to the event to enjoy the beautiful vehicles on display. The location of the Mill along the Raritan River allowed the vehicles to be majestically displayed and provided an incredible back drop for some magnificent photography.
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NNJR is fortunate to have a number of long-time supporters. One of those is Paul Miller Porsche in Parsippany. They have been very good to us over the years, and this season was no exception. Paul Miller sponsored the track dinner at our August DE event at Watkins Glen, and also provided hats, model cars, and a cool desk clock that were given away at the dinner. This was in addition to their dinner sponsorship of Ladies Day at Pocono and for our annual picnic in August. Next time you are near the dealership, stop by to say 'thank-you' to Paul Gavel and the rest of the Paul Miller staff.
Well, here comes the slippery slope. As soon as the average driver begins to learn their way around the course and their car control skills begin to improve – guess what happens next? How can the car be improved as I am surely being held back by my car….. Let’s forget the seat time, experience factors for the moment and focus on sliding down the absolutely justified slippery slope of car improvements. While some of these improvements really are justified and really do help, other modifications may not actually help and may even hinder improvement. This article will cover some of the more basic (and less costly) improvements and future articles will cover items to add to your Holiday wish list.
The most basic and least expensive changes that are available to all Autocrossers are tire pressure and alignment. The other two most common improvements yet cost some bucks are adjustable sway bars and adjustable shocks (height and damping). If you are new to Autocross, these are often not too expensive, very effective at changing the car’s handling and easy to adjust as conditions change.
This event was held as a support race to the Grand-Am American Red Cross 250. For the second year in a row, record high temperatures at New Jersey Motorsports Park could not keep the best Club Racers from the northeast regions of the Porsche Club of America away from the tarmac. This group of 43 fervid PCA drivers came to compete on the same road course with professional and gentlemen drivers in the Grand-Am Rolex Race Series, each gathered with the goal of conquering the narrow 2.25 mile undulating course which is super slick in extreme temperatures. With ambient air temperatures in excess of 98 degrees Fahrenheit, track temps can reach 130 F and in-car temperatures have been recorded at over 150 F. Having the ability to keep the car on track in severe heat conditions would be minor in comparison to the body’s ability to withstand extreme heat as well. Thankfully, the Club Racers would only have to endure six 30 minute on-track sessions spread over three days.
August was a very busy month for our NNJR concours enthusiasts with the national Porsche Parade in Savannah, Georgia, the New Hope Automobile Show and Concours in Pennsylvania, and the annual NNJR Picnic Concours. And, as we had hoped, our NNJR concours crew did our club proud by bringing home the bling!
During the first week of August, an adventurous crew of dedicated concours competitors headed south to Savannah with their meticulously prepped Porsches to take their chances in what is unquestionably the most challenging Concours d’Elegance competition in all of Porschedom, the national PCA Parade Concours.
