The 928 Owner's Showdown attracted twelve wildly varied sharks. The crème of the crop was no doubt Terry and Diane Redinger's guards red '89S4 which I believe only had 9K miles on it when purchased recently. Yes, that's a single digit. It was so frighteningly mint, I didn't even want to get near it, although I would have liked to look at the odometer.
Equally breath taking was Louis Ott's 90 GT. With chips, true dual exhaust, and a confirmed 311hp dyno run, there is no doubt that this beautiful shark is as much go as it is show. I can still hear the sound of Louis leaving the Tacoma Waterfront under hard acceleration, it was pretty awesome.
The showdown was graced by a pair of decidedly different '81 Euro 5-speeds. Guy DuHamel's beautiful/mint blue shark, was an interesting mix of Euro running gear, with some western body trim. This is attributed to the car being registered in Switzerland, and then being imported to Canada by the P.O. Andy Pope's green Euro arrived at the event with the factory Porsche roof rack. Also equipped with aftermarket exhaust, Andy's shark was a definite combination of performance, utility, and with the checkerboard interior, style.
Many thanks to Rob Fossett, who willfully held off on doing a torque tube replacement on his '85S so that all could hear what a failing tube sounds like. Definitely a unique sound, and one that is good to be able to recognize. Rob's Shark was the most unusual color of blue I've seen. Sorry Rob, forgot the factory name, but it was very sharp. I think that there was unanimous vote that his '85 32 valve motor was the most ominous looking of the bunch. It's really a sight to see. Rob is an auto stereo specialist, and brought some amazing door speaker inserts he had created.
These fiberglass units were painted his exterior color, and will house two aftermarket speakers. The door panel area is cut around the stock speaker mounting area, and the preloaded insert bolts right in. It is a truly superior design, and I look forward to seeing (and hearing) the completed, installed unit.
Tom Middleton's '87S4 daily driver was equipped with an RMB (as were others) and had the carbon-fiber shift handle. I highly recommend both mods, the RMB speaks for itself, and the aftermarket shifter is dead solid, and more ergonomic. I want to thank Tom, and Ray Henson (chip/RMB '88 S4 Auto) for allowing me to drive their sharks, and fully confirming my fear that I own the slowest S4 in the western hemisphere.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to do a closer inspection of Dan Golich's '89S4, Rob East's low mileage '87 S4, or Chris Ford's '91S4. From just viewing them at the parking lot however, they all looked pristine.
The chat session after lunch on the water-front was great. We all got to show off our sharks, scratch our heads about some common maladies, and drool over the performance mods that had been done. It goes without saying, that it is absolutely invaluable what can be learned when you have several examples of our beloved cars in one spot. I really learned alot by being able to look and compare.
Well, that's it until next year. I must say, for our little corner of the world, the Pacific Northwest has an awesome cross section of Porsche's flag ship GT car, and some very deserving owners.
Adam 88 S4