Pictures: Attending a Porsche-themed event near New York city

I believe over 150 cars attended. I was slightly surprised that the single largest contingent was the 911 (in many flavors, model years, etc.).

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The Connecticut Valley Region (CVR) chapter of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) organized a Porsche-themed event on August 3, 2024 at Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, CT. Lime Rock Park (LRP) is among one of the US' oldest continuously operated circuits (www.limerock.com). The circuit is located in a particularly picturesque part of northwest Connecticut. LRP is roughly 3+ hours north of New York City, and about 3 hours west of Boston. The last time I visited LRP was a few years ago to see a festival of Ferraris, and when I read the CVR email announcing the Porsche event, I thought it would be a good idea to shake off any summer lethargy and wander over to see what the event would have to offer. In a nutshell, I thought it was well worth the effort (though in hindsight, I should have taken more photos).

LRP has a main 1.5 mile circuit that runs along the periphery of the ~400 acre property. On the inside of the track there are four broad areas (1) the main race paddock and prep area (2) a large paved general parking area, often used for autocross events or as a supplementary paddock (3) a mini circuit (they call it the proving ground), often used for demo driving and experience events (4) a large grassy open space (campground) for events, camping, and so on. LRP has a big fan following and the place is usually busy year round with various events. One issue with the LRP website is their apparent preference to only publicize events sponsored or organized by LRP. They tend to not advertise or mention any club or non-LRP events. So, unless you get to know about club events from other sources, relying on LRP's website to tell you what is going on each week could cause you to miss events that might have been of interest.

Getting back to the Porsche event, by the time I rolled up at a few minutes past 10AM, about half the campground appeared to be filled with Porsches on display. The display peaked at around 11:30AM and by noon some participants had started to leave.

Though I am guessing, I believe over 150 cars attended. I was slightly surprised that the single largest contingent was the 911 (in many flavors, model years, etc.). This is somewhat inconsistent with what one sees on public roads. In the US, you are more likely to spot a Cayenne or Macan. You often see Panameras and the occasional Taycan. I am assuming that events such as these attract the Porsche enthusiast rather than a Porsche owner (nothing wrong with that, of course).

Right at the entrance of the event, I noticed a Shark Blue 992.1 GT3 parked alongside a silver 991.2 GT2 RS. Further along, there was a Ruby Star Neo (pink to you and me) GT4 RS (with all those remarkable carbon-fiber aero elements), and a black Carrera GT. Each of these represent important markers in Porsche's pantheon of very special cars. The Carrera GT is a large car and, in my opinion, not a particularly well proportioned or good looking car (but what do I know). Almost 20 years since it was launched, low mileage examples of the Carrera GT go at auctions for over $1.2 million. Later in the afternoon, while wandering in the paddock area, I also saw a 992.1 GT3 RS (the one with the gigantic wing and the Weissach logo) that was being tracked. Those cars are quite rare and buying one new usually requires very good connections, or a willingness pay tens of thousands over MSRP. In any case, some brave soul had decided that was what he wanted as his track day tool.

On the campgrounds, there were several different models in a variety of colors. At one end of the spectrum, there were some project cars that were still being restored, while at the other end there were some relatively new 992.1 models. I did not see any 992.2s - likely still too new. Other sports car models included 928, 924/944, 718, 918, 914, 356, etc. There were a good number of cabrios, but I did not see any Targas. It may have been asking too much, but there were no 959's or 918's. There were a few Cayennes, Macans and at least one Panamera. I did not see any Taycans, though I observed that the campground had a group of Porsche-badged electric car charging stations.

Some notable cars and observations included the following:
1. A black wrapped 992.1 with custom wheels (large discs with five holes). The owner indicated the underlying color was also black. Not so sure I liked either the wrap or the wheels, though I appreciated the manual transmission. The owner did not ask for my opinion, and I felt it wiser to keep it to myself.

2. One car that caught my attention was a 992.1 Carrera (or Carrera S - not sure) in Aventurine Green with a beige interior. The green is almost grey in color, but I quite liked the interior/exterior combination. The beige interior was offered as a no-cost option to the black interior that is somewhat more common. The visual appeal of this particular car was improved by the chrome edge trim surrounding the side windows. This is not a commonly selected option, but made this car stand out. The buyer had also selected the model designation delete option, and replaced it with the "911" badging in non-italicized font leaving an air of mystery about what specific model the car was.

3. Two cars away, I noticed a 992.1 Carrera S in Agate Grey. I mention this only to highlight the subtle difference between the Agate Grey and Aventurine Green paint. You can also see the blacked out window edge trim and the quad exhaust outlets.

4. Most supercar or classic car owners likely take keen interest in keeping their cars in good condition. But there was this 928 with some damage on the right rear fender. What caught my attention was the quotation from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "...'tis but a scratch...". Monty Python enthusiasts who know the scene and the sentence from the movie will appreciate the joke.

5. There were several 992.1 GT3 and GTS cars. Most of them appeared to be equipped with manual transmissions. The 992.1 GT3 appears to have rocketed to the top of the Porsche pantheon and reviews seem to run out of words to describe how great the car is. This was the closest I had been to one of them. They look good, and the concept of combining a naturally aspirated engine with a manual transmission is interesting. These cars do not have a frunk. Most of that space is occupied by a large radiator and a huge electric fan. Not sure how they are to drive (more particularly, not sure they match my driving style).

6. I also observed that most of the newer model cars (e.g., 991’s and 992’s) had PPF installed. In most cases I saw full body installations, while in a couple of cases, owners had preferred covering the hood, front fenders and a small patch on the leading edge of the roof.

7. On the subject of roofs, most 911’s appeared to have been configured with glass sunroofs. There were very few that had the sunroof delete option. One 992.1 was interesting - it was a paint-to-sample Gulf Blue Carrera T with a manual transmission but a metal (non-glass or carbon fiber) sunroof. Someone must have picked that option intentionally. Personally, the glass sunroof introduces a unique look. When you see the car from a height, it looks as though a single curved glass panel extends from the front to the rear windscreen (more commonly seen on Teslas).

8. Many of the newer cars (e.g., 991 and 992) were outfitted with PCCB. Those have large rotors that look as though they have already developed surface cracks like an old porcelain dinner plate. PCCB is an expensive option, but is said to be useful on the track since they apparently offer consistent fade-free performance. This is quite at the other end compared to some SUV’s that are equipped with relatively tiny rotors - good for one hot stop.

Over on one side, there was the usual collection of food, drink and ice cream vending trucks. There was a small swap meet with a few exhibitors selling a collection of old, hard-to-find parts, shop manuals, posters, the famous Fuch's wheels, and so on. There were also a few tuning shops, independent specialist Porsche service companies, and one or two spare parts resellers (e.g., FCP Euro) who were advertising their capabilities and entertaining visitors.

On the other side, on the proving ground, there was a rather distracting event in progress. An exotic car rental company had, very inconsiderately, brought along a Ferrari 488 (?), Lamborghini Aventador, Lamborghini Huracan and a Maserati MC20 and were offering 4-6 lap packages. People seemed to be very interested, as were young children who were being offered a 2-lap ride-along for $20. The lines were long and by the time I wandered over to check, the wait was about 2 hours. It was fun to watch those cars go around the mini-circuit. If there is one thing the Italian cars do really well, that would be the exhaust note. A screaming Italian V8 or V12 is quite the pinnacle of automotive music. Enough said about the competition, but the Porsche crowd did not seem upset.

As the event wound down, several participants lined up and were permitted to take a couple of laps around the main LRP circuit. There was a pace car and a sweeper car to ensure everyone played by the rules and stuck to the agreed speed limits. The parade lap ended and the track crew shooed everyone away before a different driver-education program settled in for the rest of the afternoon.

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