PCA Monthly Meet at Brier Creek
The PCA (Porsche Club of America, as opposed to the SPCA) has a relatively strong presence in my locale of Raleigh, NC. Maybe it’s because Raleigh is one of those booming up-and-coming towns, but when there is an “exotic car show”, the turnout is always impressive. I’ll begin with this little gem of a picture:
Even decades after it’s introduction, the Lamborghini Countach still attracts attention like Halle Berry standing topless in Times Square. It’s polarizing. No one has come up with a shape quite this dramatic since. There’s a good reason that every child of the 80’s and 90’s had a poster of the Countach on his wall at one point or another - it is THE Supercar.
Sure, it’s not the fastest or most practical - a modern Subaru WRX STI would actually eat one alive in a straight line - and to back up you have to open that crazy door, turn around and look. But this is what a supercar really is - it’s above and beyond the norm. It’s a doorstop of a car with a huge 12 cylinder engine, scissor doors, and it’s loud. Here’s what I’m talking about:
I was also happy to see this running around; it’s a DeTomaso Pantera of some vintage (can’t say I know - can anyone help?) the Pantera was interesting because it was an Italian-designed supercar that was powered by a good old-fashioned Ford 351ci Windsor V8. That meant that if needed a water pump, you went to the Ford dealer and bought one, and… things worked. Of course the electronics were typically Italian in nature and the cars were still very tempermental, with numerous electric gremlins as well as a propensity to overheat. The Pantera was famous for… well, being shot by Elvis Presley when it wouldn’t start. Go figure. Still, gorgeous - and good lord it must be a handful to drive!
Despite being a Porsche Club event, there really weren’t many Porsches. There was a 968, though, which I’ve always been a big fan of. These have to be fun to drive: big (3.0L!) torquey inline-four up front, rear mounted transaxle and rear wheel drive, very balanced… i bet these are great autocross cars. This was the final gasping breath of the 944 chassis, and I think Porsche did quite a good job. Imagine if they’d made a 968 Turbo for mass production… that’d probably be up there with the MKIV Supra and other turbo rockets that are so popular today with the aftermarket crowd.
There was also a new-ish 911 GT3 hanging around. This car sounded fantastic, I wish I had recorded it leaving. The GT3 is definetely the pick of the 911 litter for me; the hard-edged, high output naturally aspirated engine, the light body, the sharp handling, and the hardcore demeanor appeal to me much more than the ridiculous turbo thrust of the GT2 or the all-things-to-all-people appeal of the all-wheel-drive Turbo.
There was a nice collection of Honda’s pinnacle of road-car engineering, the NSX, in attendance. I wish I had some pictures of the yellow one, but it left before I had the chance to shoot it. It was fitted with a Comptech supercharger, full suspension, and a serious set of brakes. Oh well, another day. That’s still a remarkably high concentration of NSX’s, though.
NSX owners are a funny bunch, though. I mean, by the numbers the NSX isn’t that great. It’s really expensive, it’s pricey and difficult to repair, hard to find, and it’s not really that fast. But there’s something about a car who’s chassis was partially set-up by Ayrton Senna that really gets under people’s skin.
And, of course, the Italians showed up in force. We’ll start with the two-wheeled ones.
This is a Ducati 1098S, which is the brand’s latest and greatest superbike (not counting the race-bike-with-mirrors Desmosedici RR). Whatever you have, it’s probably faster. And like all things Italian, it’s gorgeous and red. As the name suggests, it has a 1098cc twin-cylinder engine that makes 160 horsepower and 90 lb-ft of torque. Must be fun.
This one’s a bit older, but the Duc 996 is still a standard-bearer in motorcycle design - to me at least. It’s got an older version of that same L-twin, and of course it’s red. Gorgeous.
The Italians really stole the show, to be honest. This is quite the breath-taking lineup here:
That’s a 308 GTSi, the aforementioned Countach LP5000QV, and a Ferrari 360 Spider. More on that Spider in a moment.
An F355 Spider with perhaps the world’s most obvious vanity plate. These cars are still a treat to see. Gratuitous badge shot ahead:
Here are two of my favorite “attainable” cars: a 944 and a BMW M Coupe. I still haven’t gotten used to the way the Z3 hardtop looks, but perhaps that’s the point.
And I’ve saved the best for last. That 360 Spider I was talking about earlier? This one here?
The owner saw fit to install a few aftermarket parts on it. Namely, a full Tubi exhaust as well as a Gruppe M intake setup (I believe they call that an “airbox” in Europe.) Expensive parts, but listen to the result:
Hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures and video! Until next time, dear reader.