February 2020 --- Volume 58, Issue 2
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The 2020 SVR activity planning meeting was a rousing success thanks to Rob Lee, SVR Vice President who distributed an event calendar list to all in attendance. We were able to work from the list to complete the 2020 SVR Activity Calendar in record time. Our 2020 SVR events should have something for everyone.
When planning an event please contact Rob Lee as you make your plans to make sure there will not be any date conflict with other events on the calendar.
by Mike Willis
photo Ed Parra
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President's Message
Steve Barker
Photo Steve Barker
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Greetings to all members of the Sacramento Valley Region PCA!
This month gives us a chance to look back at January.
The club started the year with the Monthly Breakfast on Jan 4
th
hosted by Jerry Alter, winner of the 2019 SVR Event of the Year Award! Gregg Plourde, now Past President, presented Jerry with the award at the breakfast to a rousing round of applause. The Monthly Breakfast is a place to share information about upcoming events, a place for New Members or perspective members to check us out, and for many it’s just a friendly gathering to talk about our cars.
I want to thank all those that made it out to Round Table Pizza on Madison for the 2020 Annual Planning meeting on Jan 7th! It was a packed house with 65 members attending! You guys went thru 18 Family sized pizza’s! A shout out to Trevor and the crew for a great job taking care of us. Rob and Julie Lee, our new VP and Secretary, took care of all the arrangements and got everyone signed in. Lots of comments that it was great to have the food ready right at the start. Rob provided copies of the Calendar based on events that have been planned that helped identify available dates for additional events.
Statistically speaking, there were 65 events posted on the calendar by the end of the night. We took a poll to ask the members if they wanted to include all Zone AX and Concours Zone events in the SVR Calendar. It was a definite Yes! Let us know what else you want. Mike Willis made mention that the calendar format with all the events was much appreciated. See you all next year!
The first SVR Board Meeting was held on Jan 9
th
at Bob Peake’s house. It was quite a change from meeting at the Fire Station. The details should be captured in the minutes by Julie Lee but at a high level, the agenda was packed! It was good to see Collin Fat, our Zone 7 Rep in the house! Liz Houser submitted a budget for Day Tours and the response has been outstanding! Sign up early for these because they will fill up quickly. Mike Dunn made a presentation to address the issue with going to an email format for the Drifter and the impact and expectations of the advertisers. It was quite lengthy and I’m sure will continue to be discussed.
January kicked off the first club dinner on Jan 21
st
at Vince’s Mexican Restaurant in Woodland. There were 21 registered on Eventbrite and by the time we sat down we had 26! It started off and continued to be a fun night with members coming from as far as El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Newcastle, Fair Oaks, Roseville, Sacramento, Granite Bay as well as Woodland and Davis! As a result of this dinner we talked about setting up a tour thru Capay Valley and are fortunate to have J. Toney, Rally expert and long-time member, since 1983 and Peter Rominger who joined in 2017,volunteering to help organize the event planned for Apr 18
th
. Thanks to Reed and Cindy Schulze for hosting the dinner and working with Vince’s!
Rounding out January, Liz Houser will kick start her first Day Tour on Jan 25
th
. This is already sold out and there is a wait list set up. We’ll get the results next month but don’t hesitate to sign up early. These day tours are meant to be limited to about 20 cars to keep it easier to manage and maximize your fun level!
I hope you all take a minute when you run into members of the board to introduce yourself and offer them your thoughts on how we can make SVR a great club and a place to enjoy the chance to get together.
To the Good Times!
Steve
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From The Editor Mike Willis
photo Mike Willis
Thanks to each of you for sending me your comments about the January Drifter. These can help with how we present the information.
Each month should improve as the learning curve will be met. Note, I am looking for your help for our Mast Head photo (no longer a cover with this new program). It should be of SVR members participating in our events. It can even include a Porsche as long as we have people as well.
As a final note, I was reading the January 2020 Panorama and noticed the editor's comments about hoping for a new 914E, for me that would be great and might even get me back in the market for a new Porsche. I had a 914 2.0 when I joined PCA some years ago. Was my daily driver for a few years, then became my Autox weapon of choice and some Time Trials etc. and other SVR activities. Sad to say that I sold it a couple of years ago.
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Quick update to the calendar,
The following 3 Board Meetings will take place at Bob Peake's house at 125 Darrington Dr, Folsom
February 11 (Tuesday) same time
March 12 (Thursday) same time
April 7 (Tuesday) same time
It is a pleasure to also be assisted by the following
team members.
Bill Fargo, Photography & Flyers
Dick Murphy, Advertising
Ed Parra, Reporter
Skip Quain, Contributor
Rik Larson, Proof Reader/Tickler
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PDK (Pretty Darn Kwik)
Rik Larson, SVR Member
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DRIFTER Printing
You can now print the January DRIFTER. Just go to the SVR website (svr-pca.org) and scroll down a bit until you see the reference. How it looks when you print it will depend upon the browser you use and your printer settings. Expect to see some large white areas as some new pages are forced automatically (they don't appear that way when you see the DRIFTER on your display or monitor). If you want to print specific pages then you will need to do a "Print Preview" to help you with the page selection process.
WAIT LIST?
Yes, you are going to see "WAIT LIST" when an event fills to the capacity as designated by the organizer/chair. Several of the tours (January and February) have already seen the "WAIT LIST" banner placed on the calendar on the SVR website. Another SVR event has just been added to the "WAIT LIST" -- the Yosemite Tour (planned for September).
Two tours that are still open are the Whale Festival Tour in March and the Pacific Grove Tour in April. Pacific Grove Tour chair, Jim McMahen, reports that there are 3 rooms still available at the Pacific Gardens Inn. Contact Jim (reference the SVR website).
I expect that the SVR AX School (registration opens February 24th) will also have a "WAIT LIST" by the time the event comes around at the end of March. That event has a limit of 30 people.
And some other events have a "WAIT LIST". The Zone 7 Tour by Shasta Region in June was filled on the first day of registration. The PCA Spring Treffen (Colorado) in April was filled 45 minutes after they opened the online registration window.
Formula E
The third race was held in Santiago, Chile in January. The race was won by
Maximilian Günther
, driving for
BMW i Andretti Motorsport
, who started from 2nd on the grid. The #36 Porsche driven by Andre Lotterer was disqualified (after 28 of 40 laps) for "Energy Usage". This was later clarified as using maximum power over 200 kW (he used more than 230 kW ------ that is like 15% more than allowed). The #18 Porsche driven by Neel Jani retired after 2 laps due to a collision. So no points for the Porsche team. The next race will be held in Mexico City on February 15th.
Rolex 24 at Daytona
Another BMW won the GTLM (GT Le Mans) class in this 24 hour race. The #912 Porsche 911 RSR finished in 2nd place (14 seconds behind) while the #911 Porsche 911 RSR finished in 3rd place (another 4 seconds behind).
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Our Thoughts
By Bill Fargo, Webmaster
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Some of you know that my wife and I relocated to Washington last year. We’re still planning on doing some activities with our club, SVR but we’re now members of the Pacific Northwest Region of Porsche Club. I guess we need to get used to saying “our clubs” instead of “our club.” Though PNWR is much larger than SVR, we’ve found the people to be welcoming just like we were welcomed into Sacramento Valley a few years back. With a couple of tours and a dinner behind us, we’re getting our sea legs (old fisherman saying) on. Let’s face it, for the most part, Porsche people are Porsche people.
While Washington doesn’t have the redwoods or the Sequoia’s, practically the entire western state is covered in trees. In twenty minutes to a half an hour we can be to some mountain, lake or river. The sound which splits most of the state from the ocean is always a drive of a few minutes. The ocean is something we miss most because from almost anywhere it’s a three + hour drive! The darn sound and islands get in the way. SVR sponsors several tours a year to great places in California. Mendocino, Eureka, Pacific Grove and Cambria. The last couple of years tours to the North woods such as Weaverville have been added. This is a fun ride through great country and roads. Something I would like to see is a tour up through Crescent City and across 199 through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods. This is through one of California’s old growth forests. Maybe someone reading this would like to take this tour on. Contact our tour chair, Liz Houser. How about a tour to an art museum? Sacramento’s Crocker Museum is a very nice destination and there are many restaurants nearby. Why art? Both my wife and I are artists. Speaking of art; do any of you draw cars, maybe Porsches….. maybe I should get it going? I would be happy to highlight your work whether it be drawings, paintings or photos of our Porsche marquee.
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You may have noticed some changes going on. I have added a little plugin (web speak) to our calendar. I hope you’re enjoying it. Did you know you can change the view? Just look up at the upper right hand corner. You can select a weekly, monthly or one of the enhanced views that I’ve set up. There may be some time you wish to go and look at a copy of a Drifter from a few years back. I’ve also done some things to that as well. Take a look
here
. If you have any suggestions for things you would like to see or think I should add, feel free to contact me at
webmaster@svr-pca.org
Speaking
of changes, how do you like the new format for our Drifter? Mike would like to hear your comments and or suggestions. Email the editor at
editor@svr-pca.org
.
This is your club. Make the most of it…
Editor note: Time for a Washington Tour.
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SVR Day Tour January 25th
by Emily Willis
photos Emily & Mike Willis
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The weather gods were smiling on us on the last Saturday as we embarked on the first SVR driving tour of the new year. Our trusted tour chair, Liz Houser, organized and led 20 cars on a drive that led us through four counties; Sacramento, Yolo, Napa, and Lake.
The morning actually dawned with some pretty good fog, but as we neared the starting point of the Ikea parking lot, the fog cleared, and we had intermittent cloud and sun throughout the remainder of the day. The drivers and navigators included a good mix of veteran and new members, so everybody had an opportunity to make new friends. The cars included a beautiful array of Porsches. We made our way out of the urban area and through the western edge of the valley, finding the foothills of the coast range and the open road. The almond orchards, complete with bee hives awaiting the soon to arrive blossoms were on either side of the road as we found our way onto Hwy. 128, which is a familiar road to many of us as it passes by Lake Berryessa on the frequently taken route to our annual tour to Mendocino.
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Liz knows of the road that circles around Lake Berryessa, and this was a new road to most of us. The road was in wonderful condition, and had just the right amount of twists and turns, and almost no other traffic. A rest stop was taken at the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, and we continued on this delightful road, which eventually encountered numerous vineyards and wineries (which we may just have to try on another day). Our tour did pass by a number of areas which had suffered from the numbers of wild fires which have plagued this area. It was sad to see so many burned dead trees along the way, but heartening to see all of the new growth that follows fire.
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Our group did have an opportunity to sample some wine at the Cache Creek Vineyards, a beautiful and accessible venue with some tasty offerings. After sipping and stretching our legs we continued on to our final stop of our tour together; Granzella’s in Williams for a late lunch.
Be sure to watch the Drifter every month to see what tours Liz has coming up. What a fun way to spend a Saturday, with good friends and beautiful Porsches. (And one Mercedes)
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With the popularity of the first SVR Board of Directors Tour to Smith Flat House last July a follow up is ready for a second visit! This will be a dinner out on the patio in the Glass House. It has heat in the event it gets cool and
Mason will be offering us some great dinner choices from local sources from which our guests can order from his menu.
Placerville is a short drive up the hill and the restaurant is just off Highway 50.
As we did on our first visit let’s once again feature a car show to begin the night! I’ll be looking for our new board members to provide the judging and of course the rules will not be announced until the event.
Cost to register is free.
Cost of the dinner is based on individual ordering from the menu.
Steve Barker
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Dr. Porsche and the Connections
that Furthered his Career
By Skip Quain, SVR Member
photos supplied by Skip
Introduction
During Dr. Porsche’s Illustrious career a number of powerful people were an influencing factor in his life. I limited my research to Dr. Porsche’s influence on the German automotive industry, primarily through the race cars he developed, and the results they achieved. A mention is Dr. Porsche’s development of a “small car” for the German people.
The following story profiles these people with names, when they interacted with Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche, and the results. The time frame starts in 1923 when Dr. Porsche was the Chief Engineer at Austro Daimler. In 1926 when Austro Daimler merged with Mercedes, Dr Porsche continued as Chief Engineer designing the SSK and SSKL race cars, up 1931 when he left Mercedes to start his own design studio. The story finishes in 1939 with Ferdinand and his son Ferry ending their relationship with Auto Union, and directing their attention to developing a design for the AIACC revised 750 Kg series of Gran Prix Cars. These changes occur at the dawn of WWII in 1939.
The Porsche family history, from 1939 to 1945, is excluded from this story.
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1923
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche
Dr. Porsche joined Austro Daimler in 1923 as Chief Engineer and he was included when Austro Daimler merged with Mercedes in 1926. After the merger Dr. Porsche produced a series of sports cars that proved very successful. His 8-cylinder Mercedes type “S”, driven by Rudolf Caraccioli, won 21 of 27 races. The type S design grew into the SSK/SSKL sportscar.
Dr. Porsche was looking for a skilled driver to join the SSK Mercedes team when he heard of Hans Stuck “King of the Mountains”. Stuck had the Hill Climb driving skills Porsche was looking for, so he brought Stuck into the Mercedes racing team as a team driver. Stuck continued his winning ways driving the SSK and SSKL in Hill Climb events.
He had a plan for a “Small Car” for the German people and he continued to push Mercedes to produce the “small car” design that the German people could afford. However, the Mercedes Board felt a small low-priced car would not fit its’ image. Dr. Porsche’s actions of pushing the small car concept caused a falling out with Mercedes management resulting in Dr Porsche resigning from Mercedes in 1931.
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1925
Hans Stuck
In the early 1920ies Stuck delivered milk to the farm customers in Munich. He picked up his driving skills delivering milk in the early dark hours of the morning on the unpaved side roads of Southern Germany. Stuck was be-friended by
Julius Schreck who was the chauffeur for Stuck’s employer. That relationship would prove valuable to Stuck’s future racing career.
Stuck started running hill climb events in 1922 as a privateer and was competing when he eventually became an Austro- Daimler works driver in 1927. When Mercedes and Austro-Daimler merged in 1927 Stuck became a works driver for Mercedes.
Julius Schreck
Schreck became Hitler’s chauffeur and personal body guard, and developed a close friendship with Hitler. In 1925 at a hunting outing, Schreck introduced Stuck to Adolf Hitler. Hitler was taken by Stuck’s driving record and tall blond Aryan looks. As their relationship grew around racing Stuck had a greater influence on Hitler’s. Through Stuck Hitler became a racing fan. Hitler’s positive attitude toward motor racing made him realize its propaganda value.
1931
Hans Stuck
For unknown reasons, Stuck was dropped from the Mercedes racing team. Without a car to race Stuck went to his powerful friend Schreck for assistance. Schreck organized a meeting with Hitler, who promised that he would make arrangements when the moment was right to place a German Grand Prix car at Stuck's disposal. Hitler kept his promise to Stuck in 1933 with a seat on the new Auto Union Type A Gran Prix Car (note: Stuck is the father of long time Porsche driver Hans Joachim Stuck)
Anton Piech/Adolf Rosenberger
Dr. Porsche left Mercedes in 1931 to set up an independent design studio to offer consulting services for high performance engines and vehicles. The new firm was named “Dr. Ing F Porsche Gmbh h.c.
F
.
Porsche
GmbH Konstructionsbüro für Motoren” located in Stuttgart. The firm was backed by fellow Austrians Anton Piech and Adolf Rosenberger. Over time Piech would become a member of Dr. Porsche’s management team.
Ferry Porsche was his first employee.
1933
AIACR
The AIACR, Governing body for International Gran Prix racing, was discussing a new formula for Gran Prix cars. The current formula was causing too many accidents and the resulting deaths were causing bad publicity. The AIACR hoped the new 750 kg formula, based upon a lighter car, would reduce deaths. The 750 kg formula would be introduced for the 1934 racing season. The main regulation stated that the weight of the car (excluding driver, fuel, oil, water and tires) was not to exceed 750 kilograms (1,650 lbs.).
Ferdinand Porsche
With car commissions scarce due to the depressed economic climate Dr. Porsche, using his own funds, founded a subsidiary company, Hochleistungs Motor GmbH (High Performance Engines Ltd.). Even though he had no customers, he set to work developing a Gran Prix design for the 750 Kg formula. His 750 Kg design was based on
Max Wagner's
design of a Tropfenwagen (teardrop) car while Wagner was with Mercedes in 1924. Wagner’s design featured a
mid-engined
layout with a swing axle rear suspension with an aerodynamic Tear Drop profile. There is little doubt that when Ferdinand Porsche was technical director of Mercedes in 1924, he must have carefully studied the construction details of Wagner’s unconventional mid-engined design. Wagner’s design became the basis for Dr. Porsche’s 750 KG “P-Wagen”.
Adolf Hitler
At the 1933 Berlin Motor show Adolf Hitler, German Chancellor, announced two state sponsored programs.
The first, a State-sponsored motor racing program to develop a highspeed German design to compete in the AIACR 750 kg Gran Prix series starting in 1934. The Gran Prix car would highlight Germany’s automotive technical supremacy. Mercedes immediately announced its intent to enter a Formulae Car design for the new The AIACR 750 Kg Gran Prix series for the 1934 season. The foundation of the State program would award the winning candidate an annual support of 500,000
Reichsmark
s. Based upon Mercedes winning racing history Mercedes Benz was immediately awarded the yearly 500,000 RM award.
Auto Union
With Mercedes developing a car for the new AIACR 750 Kg Grand Prix series, Baron von Oestzn, Chairman of Auto Union, was searching for a project to showcase Auto Union’s technical expertise based upon Dr. Porsche’s Design Studios work on the Wanderer project. Ferdinand Porsche’s friend and investor in the Design Studio, Auto Union director Rosenberger, arranged a meeting with Von Oertzn to meet with Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche to present their “P-Wagen (The “P” stood for Porsche) 750 kg design, based upon a 16-cylinder mid-engineered design with tear drop body and swing axle rear suspension.
After reviewing the design of the “P-Wagen von Oestzn agreed to commission Dr Porsche’s High-Performance Engines Ltd and to use the “P-Wagen as the basis for the design of a car to meet the new AIACR 750 Kg formulae for the 1934 season. Now Auto Union had a Gran Prix design that could compete with Mercedes in the new 750 Kg formula and would highlight Auto Union’s technical expertise. The project was known as “The Great Auto Union Project”. The development of the 750m Kg formulae Car would keep the Porsche Design Studio busy until 1937. Note: Neither Ferdinand nor Ferrry Porsche were employed by Auto Union but were contracted as consultants.
Stuck
Stuck heard that his longtime friend at Mercedes, Chief Engineer Ferdinand Porsche, was working on a design for Auto Union to run in AIACR’s 750m Kg formula. After reviewing Dr. Porsche’s “P-Wagen design, Stuck contacted his old friend Julius Schreck who now was not only Hitler’s Driver but also the first Commander of Hitler’s Protection Squadron, (Private Body Guard.)
Schreck arranged for Stuck, Auto Union Chairman Baron von Oestzen and Auto Union Director Rosenberger along with Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche to meet with Adolf Hitler, the newly-elected German Chancellor, in the German Chancellery. The Auto Union team led by Stuck made the case to Hitler that two German teams should represent Germany in the International 750 Kg formula, not just Mercedes. Hitler, now a racing enthusiast, agreed that having Auto Union’s 750 kg design, the P-Wagen, would give Germany two different Grand Prix cars representing Germany. And two German cars would increase the visibility of German technological supremacy to the world. Now von Oestzen had the funding to finalize the design and fabrication of the Auto Union Type “A”.
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Mercedes
In 1933 Hitler had given all the financial support from The State Motor Racing Program to Mercedes. After the meeting with Stuck and the Auto Union team, Hitler decided that now both Auto Union and Mercedes would receive ½
of the 500,000 Reichsmarks. Mercedes was furious that upstart Auto Union would now receive ½ of the annual promised funds of 5000,000 Rm. From that day on Mercedes and Auto Union were bitter opponents both on the track and off. The Silver Arrows, as the German press called the nation's Mercedes and Auto Union Grand Prix cars, was born. Hitler also fulfilled his promise that he made to Stuck in 1931 that he would have a German Grand Prix car (750 Kg formula) at Stuck's disposal. Hans Stuck would also be one of the first Auto Union drivers.
Small Car
At the same meeting in 1933 with Hitler in the German Chancellery where the Dr. Porshe’s Auto Union P Wangon program was approved, the subject of “the Peoples Car” was brought up. Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche described the development of their small car concept, the "Volksauto" (Peoples Car) to Hitler. Hitler agreed with Dr. Porsche’s small car concept. The award of the “Peoples car”, Porsche’s "Volksauto” design was selected.
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Auto Union Type A
The first P-Wangen, The Auto Union “Type A” had a supercharged V16 cylinder motor of 4360 cc, producing 295 HP. The Type A had both front and rear independent suspension. The front suspension was parallel trailing arm and torsions. The rear suspension was a swing axle design.
The Type A was first tested in October 1933 by ex-Benz racer Willy Walb. Stuck was second to test the Type “A” car. On March 6 1934, Hans Stuck made headlines with the Auto Union Type A during testing on the Berlin Avus track. Stuck set three new world speed records (100 Miles, 200 km and one hour)
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1935
Auto Union Typ
e B
Following the 1934 season Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche continued developing the Auto Union mid-engined design. The Type B’s V16 engine was increased to 5000 cc producing 370 HP. The Type B followed the same design principles as the Type A, but with lessons learned during the successful 1934 season, which were added to the Type B. Torsion Bar springs at the rear replaced the Semi-Elliptic leaf springs of the Type A. 1935 was a low point for Auto Union with their only win being Stuck winning the Italian Gran Prix to Mercedes 5 wins. Caracciola was named The AIACR European Champion and also the Mountain Champion.
1936
Auto Union Type C
The Type C was basically unchanged from the Type B. A limited slip Differential was added to reduce inside wheel spin coming out of corners. With the tremendous power of the 520 BHP supercharged V-16 motor the drivers could induce wheel spin at 150 mph.
1936 was a dominate year for Auto Union. The drivers were led by Stuck, Varzi, Hasse and ex Motorcycle racer Rosemeyer. On Points Rosemeyer was the European Gran Prix Champion and also the Hill Climb Championship. Auto Union won 3 of the 4 Gran Prix races that counted for the European Championship against the larger funded Mercedes team.
Rosemeyer took the Eifelrennen and
Donington Grand Prix
, the Coppa Acerbo, and the
Vanderbilt Cup
as well as a second in the Tripoli Grand Prix).
Rudolf Hasse
won the
Belgian Grand Prix
, Stuck placing second. Mercedes had one victory, Caracciola at Monaco. At mid-season Mercedes withdrew the W25 and went to work developing an entire new car, the W125.
1937 AIACR
The AIACR committee saw that the 750 Kg rules were not slowing the cars, but instead car speeds were increasing. AIACR revised the 750 rules to reduce the engine size to 3 litre supercharged and 4.5 litre non-supercharged. Seeing that most teams could not develop a car for the 3 litre 750 Kg rules AIACR delayed the implication of the 3 litre rules until the 1938 season.
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Type C
Auto Union, which had a much smaller budget than Mercedes, modified their Type C to contest another year winning the Belgian GP. After the Belgian event the whole 1937 season went to Mercedes and the new W12, a much-improved design over the W25. Caracciola, who scored only one win in the W25 in 1936, led Mercedes to the European Championship and the Hill Climb Championship with 4 wins in 1937.
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1938
Rosemeyer killed
In February 1938, Auto Union’s lead driver, Bern Rosemyer died attempting to set a speed record in a highly modified Type C Stream-Liner whose body was developed using Wind Tunnel data. The Type C Streamliner was powered by a highly modified supercharged V-16.
With Rosemyer’s death and Dr. Porsche no longer part of the small team, Auto Union had lost their leaders and the team was in disarray. Dr Porsche, who still had influence at Auto Union, insisted Nuvolari, who had been on the 1937 Auto Union team, replace Rosemyer at Auto Union.
Stuck
Stuck was dropped from the Auto Union works team, but influential friends in the Nazi party had him reinstated. Stuck profited constantly and to an astonishing degree from his relationship with Adolf Hitler. Stuck’s relationship with Hitler had benefited Auto Union’s 750 Kg program in securing 50% of the 500,000 RM yearly award from the State-Sponsored Motor Racing Program.
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Type D
With all of the turmoil including the threat by some Auto Union board members to shut down the racing team, the Auto Union engineering department under von Eberhorst was still able to create a new design for the new 3-liter formula in 18 months.
Auto Union, like Mercedes Auto Union, chose to use a V12 engine producing 420 bhp rather than the V16 of the earlier models. The main change in the chassis department saw the replacement of the swing axles with a De Dion rear suspension and the addition of a limited slip differential. These additions greatly improved the handling of the Type D. The single fuel tank behind the driver was replaced by two fuel tanks alongside of the driver. The repositioning of the fuel tanks allowed the driver to seat farther back in the chassis giving him a better feel of the Type D’s handling. But Auto Union still trailed Mercedes in shock absorber design. Rather than use hydraulic dampers, Auto Union still relied on rotary friction dampers. Later in the year they would replace their front dampers with hydraulic units while retaining the friction models at the rear.
The Auto Union Type D body shape was designed using wind tunnel testing similar to testing of the 1937 Type C. A further refinement of their Type C model was the addition of horizontal tailfins at the rear. True to the new formula the Auto Union weighed exactly 850 kg dry and 1220 kg in racing trim excluding the driver.
Under von Eberhorst no detail was too small. When wheel covers were deemed necessary for ultrafast circuits, he had Plexiglas windows made into the front fenders so the drivers could monitor tire wear by watching for the white breaker strip.
Auto Union vs Mercedes
Mercedes also had a clear advantage in engineering. Auto Union had no one comparable to Mercedes' chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, whose racing experience allowed him to test the latest modifications to the W 125 at racing speeds.
von Eberhorst adopted a trucker’s 24-hour tachograph to monitor the Auto Union Type D’s performance while it was being tested by one of the works drivers.
"Isidor" as the drivers dubbed it, was called a cockpit spy. The device, heavily modified by Eberan, could record revs, speeds, shift points, brake pressures and acceleration/deceleration all on a paper disk. For security the device could not be opened without a key, of which Eberan von Eberhorst had the sole copy!
The famed
Tazio Nuvolari
joined the team, and after familiarizing himself with the Type D’s handling characteristics, he won the Italian Gran Prix and the Donington Gran Prix, a non-points event. Nuvolari’s wins rejuvenated the team.
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AIACR’s Hillclimb Series
The Hill Climb courses were run on public mountain roads many of which were unpaved, rough and weathered. The courses consisted of a series of sharp curves interspersed with short straights.
The Auto Union 1938 Type D Hill Climb spec used a stronger transmission and limited slip differential. In some cases, the rules allowed the Type D to use the more powerful V16 motor from the 1937 Type C in Hill Climb events. Both Auto Union and Mercedes ran Dual rear wheels which allowed the drivers to corner faster. But more importantly the Dual rear wheels allowed the drivers to apply power sooner without excess wheel spin which gave higher exit speeds leading to higher speeds on the short straights.
Additionally, the use of dual rear wheels along with Type D’s limited-slip
differential
gave the Type D better car control without wearing out the dual rear driving wheels. Early application of power on both the Auto Union and Mercedes single rear wheel tires would allow wheel spin at over 150 mph when power was applied.
Dual rear wheels were not used on the Gran Prix circuits as the dual rear wheels produced higher Aerodynamic drag reducing top speed. The weight of the dual wheeled system would cause a rear weight bias.
Type E
Ferdinand Porsche’s High-Performance Company, no longer under contract to Auto Union, developed an internal design for the AIACR’s
new 1938 Gran Prix formula. Dr. Porsche’s new design was internally called “The Type E”. Porsche’s H
igh-Performance Company
utilized the same design principles of the Auto Union Type C and the initial design efforts for the 1938 Auto Union Type D for the
High-Performance Company’s
Type E. When comparing the Auto Union Type D and Dr. Porsche’s Type E there were many similarities, such as the Tear Drop body design, front suspension, parallel trailing arms, and torsion bar front suspension. Where the Type D and E differed was the rear suspension. The Type D utilized a de Dion rear suspension while the Type E continued with the swing axle rear suspension.
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1939
WW II
Mercedes Lang won the Belgian and Swiss Gran Prix with Caracciola winning the German Gran Prix. The AIACR declared Muller the 1939 Champion of the shortened season based upon their points system. But the President of the German Motor Sports Organization declared Lang the 1939 champion saying he was the dominate driver in the
season. Lang in a Mercedes W 154 Hill Climb Car won the Hill Climb Championship.
Authors note: Based upon the hatred generated between Mercedes and Auto Union caused by Hitler’s splitting the 500,000 Km award between the two, it wouldn’t surprise me if Mercedes exerted some pollical influence on the German Motor Sports Organization to have Lang declared the 1939 European champion.
Dr. Porsche’s work on the Peoples Car program and his work for Auto Union in WW II are not part of this article
1945
Ferry Porsche
When the war ended in 1945, Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche along with Anton Piech were lured to France under the pretense of assisting France in rebuilding its automotive industry. When the three arrived in France they were arrested by the French for their Nazi affiliation in WW II and forced to serve 22-months under House Arrest. The French authorities demanded a ransom of I million French Francs for their release. Ferry Porsche was released early to accumulate funds for Dr Porsche and Anton Piech’s release.
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The Cisitalia 360 program
Ferry Porsche Utilized the Design Studio’s “Type E as the basis for the design of the Cisitalia 360 program. Part of the fees from the Cisitalia 360 project paid for the release of Dr Porsche’s and Anton Piech’s release.
(See Drifter Issue May 2016 for the complete Cisitalia 360 program.)
Authors memories: Over my 30+ years of Vintage racing in my 1962 Lotus 23 I had the joy of watching the Auto Union and Mercedes cars run demonstration laps at Laguna Seca during the August Monterey Historics/ReUnion.
The sound of the Auto Union and Mercedes Gran Prix cars turning laps was memorable. Watching these large Silver Cars “Silver Arrows” with their tall, thin tires, drifting out of turn 4, the explosive sounds emanating from the engine impacting your ears made an unforgettable experience.
I had a great time doing research for this article. Racing in the 20ies and 30ies into the 40ies and 50ies was a blood sport with drivers and fans dying each year. Through research, rule changes and safer tracks racing today is much safer and still enjoyable.
Author’s Thoughts
The Auto Union Types “A” through “C” utilized a “Swing Axle” rear suspension which made these models difficult to drive because of Over-Steer caused by the swing axle rear suspension. Stuck had a winning season in 1934 when Mercedes was still sorting out the W 25. The Types “B” & “C” also had a swing axle rear suspension again causing serious oversteer. The addition of a ZF limited slip transaxle reduced oversteer, but did not solve the problem. Rosemeyer, an x- motor cycle racier was the only driver to truly solve the oversteer problem. He showed his skill in 1936 by winning the European Gran Prix championship in a Type C. Hans Stuck was another Auto Union driver to come to grips with the Auto Unions over steer. Stuck’s Hill Climb success helped him adapt to the Auto Unions oversteer.
The Type D adopted a De Dion rear suspension for 1938/39. The De Dion rear suspension changed the Type D into a fast, controllable car. Ferry Porsche’s Type E which evolved into the Cisitalia 360 project utilized Parallel acting arms for its rear suspension not the Swing axle of the Type A, B and C
Looking forward
I was intrigued by the crash of the Type C Streamliner that killed Rosemeyer. In a future edition, I will present the findings of my research into the crash.
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In just a short amount of time we will be leaving on the Pacific Grove Tour 2020. Have you marked your calendar? The dates are April 3, 4 and 5.
There’s always plenty of things to see and to do once we arrive, including the Pacific Grove “Good Old Days” street fair event. It’s a tour of great Porsche roads, great food and great people.
All of the rooms at the Pacific Gardens Inn (831-646-9414) are available for tour participants. When you make your reservations, please ask to speak to Robert and tell him you are with the Sacramento Valley Porsche Club.
Note: If you wait too long to make your reservations and all of the rooms at the Inn are reserved there are many other motels close by. (editor note, 3 rooms still available)
In order to receive tour updates, once you have made your reservations, please email your name and phone number to me so that I can add you to the participant list.
Jim McMahen
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Let’s Drive!! As Above With The NEW Day Tours
by Liz Houser, SVR Tour Chair
Let’s Drive!!
We had a great planning meeting and the Board has approved our day drives and 3 day tours. January & February Day Tours filled up quickly, I’m thrilled with the great response. We have 2 great drives planned for March.
Single Day Tours:
March 8th Day Tour – Meet at 9 a.m. at Lot J Sierra College & Stadium Entrance Rd. We will have a leisurely 3-hour drive including rest stop, through the foothills followed by a buffet lunch at Old Towne Pizza in Lincoln, CA. Cost of $15.00 includes your lunch and non-alcoholic beverage. Sign up at Eventbrite link:
https://march8daytour.eventbrite.com
, or email me at
Lizhouser3103@gmail.com
or text at 916-203-9170 and send a check made payable to PCA/SVR to Liz Houser 3103 Stardust St., Rocklin, Ca. 20 cars MAX.
Multi Day Tours Sponsored by PCA/SVR
March 20, 21 & 22 – Fort Bragg Whale Festival – We will meet at 9 a.m. at Granzella’s Restaurant in Williams for a beautiful drive through the redwoods and across to Hwy 1 then come down the coast to the Little River Inn. Friday we will stop for a group lunch at Lumberjack’s Restaurant in Willits, then enjoy a gourmet group dinner that evening at the Noyo Harbor Inn (Menu choices will be sent directly to participants.) Saturday we will attend the Fort Bragg Whale Festival. Our cars will have special parking and Whale Themed decorations are encouraged. Your ticket price includes the Chowder Cook Off tasting PLUS the Wine Festival with lots of yummy treats provided by local restaurants. Sunday guests will drive home at their own pace.
Price $120.00 per person includes Lunch & Friday dinner, chowder & wine tasting events. 30 cars MAX.
Hotel – Little River Inn room block under SVR Porsche Whale Festival call 707-937-5942 to reserve your room.
Remember to bring your walkie-talkies on drives. If you’re interested in being a drive group leader or sweep, please let me know. Also, we always have room for another drive, if you’d like to host one, please contact me and I’d be happy to help with logistics.
See you on the ROAD!
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Porsche Parade registration opened on January 28th. This is known as Phase I and allows you to register for the Parade and then also obtain access to the reservation system for the resort and at the prices negotiated by PCA..
The second phase registration occurs at the end of March and is for signing up for the banquets and events (competitive, tours, social, etc.).
The various room descriptions are at the Parade website which is:
Please read this post for important information on registration.
Housing reservations for
La Quinta Resort & Club, A Waldorf Astoria Resort be made through the Porsche Parade Housing Bureau once you have registered for Parade. If you book through the hotel directly, you will not receive the Porsche Parade room rate. Once you receive your confirmation email with your passkey number, rest assured, you have a room. PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE HOTEL DIRECTLY. If you have any questions regarding your room reservation, please call or email the Porsche Parade Housing Bureau at 877-484-8984 or porscheparade@conferencedirect.com. For information on room types, please visit our website:
https://www.porscheparade.org/accomodations.
If you have any questions, please message us!
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In The Zone
By: Collin Fat, Zone 7 Representative
Sacramento Valley Region
Happy Chinese New Year!
Chinese New Year will be celebrated starting on January 25
th. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, it is the Year of the Rat. Chinese New Year dates vary between each year, but usually occur between late January and the end of February in a Gregorian calendar. The dates change every year because the celebration is based on the Chinese lunar calendar and based on the 12 Zodiac animals so the celebration is a cycle repeated every 12 years.
People born in the year of the Rat
are instinctive, acute and alert in nature which makes them to be brilliant businessmen. They can always react properly before the worst circumstances take place. They are also sophisticated and popular in social interaction. They are sanguine and very adaptable, being popular with others. Those born in the years 2020, 2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, and 1948 etc. are Rats.
Here is wishing everyone a Gung Hay Fat Choy and a prosperous 2020!
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Concours Judges School and Prep Clinic
The annual concours judges school and concours prep clinic will be held at Porsche of Livermore on Sunday, March 15
th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. If you have competed in a region concours and would like to get involved in judging and learn a little more about how cars are judged, this is a must attend event. If you have never attended or participated in a concours this is a great opportunity to learn a little about how to clean and detail your favorite Porsche.
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The judges school will be cover all the basics needed to volunteer as a judge at a Zone concours series event or your local club event including 1) what is a concours, 2) over-view of scoring, 3) Zone 7 car classes or categories, 4) guidelines for judging, 5) guidelines for participation, 6) guidelines for preparation, and 7) a review of the scoring sheets. In addition, for novices and members new to concours, it will cover some of the basics of preparing your Porsche for your first concours including 1) the biggest rookie mistake, 2) timeline for preparing your car, 3) the best way to prepare your car, 4) and other helpful tips from our experienced staff of volunteer judges. Registration is now open at:
https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/zone-7-concours-clinic-judging-school-porsche-of-livermore-pca-397013.
Diablo Region Griot's Car Care Clinic
:
Last year, this event was held in conjunction with the Concours Judges School but because of scheduling issues will be held separately on Sunday, April 5
th at Porsche of Livermore.
The teams from Griot’s and Porsche of Livermore will host this detailing clinic on Sunday April 5
th
. This is a great opportunity to learn how to care for your car or get ready for the show season and Parade. To ensure that we can accommodate everyone we will offer both a morning and afternoon session.
The team from Griot’s will be showcasing their latest products, equipment and processes to show you how to keep your Porsche looking like new and ready for the show season. The morning session is designed to give you a good basic understanding of how to really care for the interior and exterior of your Porsche including, clay bar cleansing, polishing, waxing and sealing paintwork and general interior care. The afternoon session will feature some of the same information but with more time allotted to hands-on support.
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During the clinic Porsche of Livermore will be offering attendees special discounts on Parts and Service.
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The morning session will begin at 9:30 in the Porsche of Livermore shop and should conclude around 11:30.
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The afternoon session will begin at 12:30 and will conclude around 3:00.
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The club will provide lunch at the dealership for both groups from 11:45 to 12:45.
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Cost per attendee is $20.00
Zone 7 AX Instructors School:
The Zone 7 Autocross instructor’s school will be held on Saturday, March 7
th at the Livermore Community Center in Livermore. Zone 7 AX chair, Grady Carter, along with Parade AX Chair, Larry Sharp, will be leading the training. For information on registration please contact Grady Carter at: Grady Carter
gradyz7ax@gmail.com
Events of Interest:
- Wednesday, January 22nd…….registration sold out in less than 45 minutes. (treffen.pca.org)
- Monday, January 27th……registration opens for Zone 7 Tour by Shasta Region (motorsportreg.com)
- Tuesday, January 28th……..registration opens for Porsche Parade at La Quinta (Palm Springs) (porscheparade.org)
1)
Spring Treffen at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs; April 29-May 2
2)
CRAB 38 hosted by Sacramento Valley Region; May 29-31
3)
Zone 7 Tour by Shasta Region; June 11-15
4)
Porsche Parade at the La Quinta Resort in La Quinta; June 21-27
5)
Mammoth Tour by Sierra Nevada Region; July 25-26
6)
Werks Reunion in Monterey; August 14, featuring the 914
7)
Fall Treffen at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia; September 16-19
Note that past Treffens have sold out in as little as one hour due to their growing popularity.
The Zone 7 Tour has also sold out in as little as one hour in the past.
The Porsche Parade has a two phase registration process. The first phase is for Parade registration and accommodations. The second phase will be for registration for events and banquets. The second phase registration will occur on March 31st.
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Rebecca Plourde, Membership Chair
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SVR NEW MEMBERS AS OF JANUARY 2020
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Since we use e-mail for most of our communications, it is necessary to keep our e-mail address current with SVR and PCA. To update your information, go to
www.pca.org
and login. You can then make any updates (address, car, e-mail etc.). Also, even though we receive the information from PCA monthly, you can send the same updates to:
membership@svr-pca.org
. New Member badges will now come with a removable colored sticker to encourage introductions at club events. They can be removed at any time. Welcome to the Sacramento Valley Region of the Porsche Club of America.
SVR - PCA Member Services
Not a Porsche owner but interested in the PCA? Try the PCA Test Drive program. For information, go to:
www.pca.org/pca-test-drive
Need to update your PCA information? Update your PCA record at
www.pca.org
Do you have 2 e-mail addresses? Want Club info sent to a second email, work, home, spouse, friend...? It’s as easy as e-mailing your second e-mail address to the Membership Director at:
membership@svr-pca.org
How can I contact the SVR-PCA by mail?
Sacramento Valley Region-PCA,
Post Office Box 254651,
Sacramento, CA 95865-4651
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SVR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 9, 2020
Bob Peake’s Residence
125 Darrington Drive
Folsom, CA 95630
Attendees:
Board Members: Steve Barker,
President
, Rob Lee,
Vice President
, Julie Lee,
Secretary
, Bob Peake,
Treasurer
, Gregg Plourde,
Past President
, Rebecca Plourde,
Membership Director
, Mardi Quain,
Social Director
, Mike Willis,
Drifter Editor
Excused absence:
Bill Fargo,
Webmaster
, Greg Zajic
, Competition and Safety Director
Chairs: Advertising
- Mike Dunn;
CRAB 38
- John Lanting, John Hawk;
New Members
- Sue Sanders;
Niello Representative
- Kim Nelson; R
ally
- Richard Wetzel; Tours -Liz Houser
Guests:
Collin Fat – Zone 7 Representative, Rik Larson – Member
Call to order 7:00 p.m.
President welcomed everyone.
Old Business:
Minutes from December meeting Approved via email vote on December 16, 2019, final Minutes distributed on December 16, 2019
New Business:
a)
New Member Packet Changes
– Sue Sanders presented options of items to go into packet: Welcome Letter, Badge Order Form, Fun Bucks, California Automobile Museum Passes. The Porsche National Magazine- Panorama will be eliminated from the packet thus reducing mailing costs.
b)
Tours
– Liz Houser presented day tours budgets for March through December.
Motion
to approve budget made by Mike Willis; seconded by Gregg Plourde.
Motion Approved.
c)
Advertising
– Mike Dunn on behalf of Dick Murphy presented 2 options with regard to the club’s advertisers and the Drifter.
Motion
was made to approve Option 2 by Mike Willis; seconded by Rebecca Plourde.
Motion Approved.
Additionally, discussion took place regarding the development of additional club member marketing material to be used in place of the printed Drifter for Advertisers and/or for other events, etc. This issue will be discussed further at a later date.
d)
Niello Update
– Kim Nelson provided an update on Niello’s 2020 support to SVR.
e)
CRAB 38
– John Lanting provided an update on this event. Planning and execution in progress Next CRAB 38 Meeting will be held on January 26, 2020, 1:00 p.m. at the Fire Station in Fair Oaks.
f)
Social Director’s Report:
Christmas Party – 2020 – Mardi Quain presented the Budget for the 2020 party.
Motion
to approve the budget made by Mike Willis: seconded by Rob Lee.
Motion Approved.
Hosting Seminar – Mardi Quain presented the Budget for this seminar to be held on March 14, 2020, from 9:00 – Noon, location to be determined.
Motion
to approve amended Budget was made by Rob Lee; seconded by Rebecca Plourde.
Motion Approved.
g)
Vice President’s Report:
2020 Planning Meeting – Rob Lee presented a summary of the Planning Meeting held on January 7, 2020. Initial events planned for the year were 61; after the meeting and after adding agreed upon Region 7 events, the club is at 82 events for the year. There are still opportunities for members to host dinners, tours, etc. Rob Lee will maintain the annual calendar and have it distributed appropriately.
Insurance Readiness – Rob Lee stated that he’s been given access to the National website for Insurance and is ready to process all insurance requests.
h)
Past President’s Report:
Status of Bylaws Review – Gregg Plourde stated that he is still working with National on the changes to the Club’s By-laws.
i)
Treasurer’s Report:
Bob Peake stated that he will be placed on the bank accounts on January 11, 2020 and that he is waiting for the past Treasurer to turn over all the Club’s financial records.
j)
Membership Director’s Report:
Dual Membership – Rebecca Plourde discussed that since the major benefit of paying $25 dues to be a dual member, was receiving the Drifter (which will no longer be printed) was there a need for Dual Memberships (currently there are 18).
Motion
to eliminate Dual Memberships was made by Gregg Plourde; seconded by Bob Peake.
Motion Approved.
Membership Report for December:
Primary Members – 849
Affiliate Members – 526
Total Members – 1375 (includes 10 New Members, 2 Transfer In, and 3 Transfer Out)
k)
President’s Report
Steve Barker stated that the year end reports had been submitted, as appropriate. He also asked each Board member to submit a budget for their functions, due by January 31, 2020.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:52.
Next Board Meeting:
February 12, 2020, 7:00 p.m.
Sacramento Fire Station #32
Fair Oaks, CA
Respectfully Submitted – Julie Lee, Secretary
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Editor note: Please contact our Vice President Rob Lee,
vicepresident@svr-pca.org
to include an event on our calendar. This should be done prior to making any event arrangements to find a date that is not in conflict with other SVR events.
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TrackMasters Racing is a leader in the High-Performance Driver Education events in Northern California and invites SVR-PCA drivers to participate in these events. For the complete schedule click the link below.
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SVR 's Classified Porsche Ads. For additional information and ads Click below
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PCA Members may place non-commercial classified ads for no charge. Photos will be published on this web page at no charge.
Non-PCA members may place ads on our webpage, on a space available basis, as follows: Ads without photos $20.00; Ads with photos $35.00. All ads run for two months unless canceled. There will be no refunds for paid ads.
Ads must be submitted electronically with attachment to
classified@svr-pca.org. PCA members must include your PCA membership number on all submissions as proof of membership.
Paid ads will not be published until payment has been received. Checks must be made payable to PCA-SVR, and mailed to: Porsche Club of America; Sacramento Valley Region; PO Box 254651; Sacramento, CA 95865-4651
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Sacramento Valley - Red House® - Mini-Check Non-Iron Button-Down Shirt
Price:
$72.99
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Sacramento Valley - Eddie Bauer® Ladies Hooded Soft Shell Parka
Price:
$104.99
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Sacramento Valley - Element 095
Price:
$33.99
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Tentative 2020 West Coast Race Series Calendar
March 28-29
th
Buttonwillow Raceway
April 24-26
th
Thunderhill Raceway
May 22-24
th
WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca
September 26-27
th
Thunderhill Raceway
October 24-25
th
Sonoma Raceway
PCA Club Race Schedule Link:
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Submitting Material to the Drifter
The Drifter is Produced online monthly for its members. Written contributions are welcome and should be e-mailed to the editor. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month prior to the month of publication. Submissions in WORD or TEXT are preferred.
Photos are always welcome.
Photos should be sent separately from the text. (You may also use a downloadable link to the photos.)
To change your email address or street address, please email our membership director to insure uninterrupted delivery.
Rebecca Plourde at
or call her at 530.210.9686
All material in this newsletter is protected by copyright.
However, newsletter editors of other Porsche Club of America regions may reprint any article provided that credit is given to the author and Sacramento Valley Region and that The Drifter
is cited as the source.
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