From The President February 2014

GUTE FAHRT! / February 2014
Brrrr… As I write this, it’s 18 degrees. But the weather isn’t slowing down our club. 2014 is in full swing and there is a LOT to do for everyone. Before I continue, I want to pay a special tribute to Bob Nickel, who passed a few weeks back. Bob was truly an amazing man. He was devoted to his family, his business and racing. He was also devoted to our club and was always a major supporter. There are many singular stories about Bob – So many, in fact, that Panorama had great spread about him last year. My favorite story is that late June of 1986, Bob and his racing crew [including long-time club member, Larry Pryor Sr.] were asked by Porsche North America Motorsports director, Al Holbert, to run the new Porsche 944 Turbo S at Nelson Ledges “Longest Day” 24 hour race. They went up against pro drivers like Pancho Carter and Bill Elliott. The purpose was to test the new sport suspension and give feedback to Porsche. How cool is that?!? We will miss you Bob. Race on! Also, to K.C. Kowalick, his family and the Sewickley Car Store family, we send our condolences. K.C. let me know that there will be a celebration of Bob’s life this Spring at the Car Store. Stay tuned…

January was a relatively quiet month. First we had our business meeting on the 16th at the Car Store’s conference room [Gracias to K.C. et al at the Car Store]. Again, we had some new members show up!!! Please be the next new member to show up… Old members welcome too. We’ve never had so many people become a part of the planning and execution of events which is fantastic. Our year will be a busy one, both on track and off… The best way to keep up to date is on our website arpca.com and via email blasts [if you don’t get the email blast, please shoot me your email and I’ll get you on the list. As always, we NEVER share our club membership information with anyone… The day after our monthly meeting, TLN [the lovely Nancy] drove us in the mighty Cayenne through an impressive lake-effect snow storm on the way to the International Auto Show in Detroit where we met VP Ishler and his bride Mary Lee. Zone 4 PCA had an early admission [7am!] to the show and we saw all the new toys from Zuffenhausen… The Targa is soooo cool. Check out the video on our site. The Macan will be a monster success… The 918 Spyder is just superb… We were allowed to go into the hermetically sealed room to take pictures [see this month’s cover shot by der IshMeister…] and gawk and drool… After the Detroit show, a group of ARPCAers headed south to Daytona for the 24 Hour Race on the 25th-26th. This year’s race was the first of the unified sports car series now called the Tudor United Sports Car Championship. I’m sure one of the attendees will get us a recap of events including incriminating pictures…

February’s business meeting will happen at Auto Palace on the 13th at 7:30p. Our Mid-Winter party will also take place at Auto Palace on the February 22nd. March will have the business meeting again on the 13th @7:30p, location TBD. We’ll be having a detailing session in March as well. Check the site for details. March 16 is the date for Formula 1’s first race in 2014. I’m sure there will be a spontaneous gathering somewhere to watch… The first ARPCA Night at the Opera will occur on March 29th. Also we’ll be having our All-Member dinner on April 26th so please mark that date on your calendar! Don’t forget, new members attend this event free AND get great prizes to come gratis to events throughout the year. And our new Social Chair / Diva, Lisa Malobicky, is planning some ‘Ladies Night’ events for the girls in our club. THAT should be interesting…

As always, I am proud to be a part of such a great club. The cars bring us together, but the people are what keep us coming back. See you at the next event.

NEW GERMAN WORD
“Friend” translates as “Freunde“