Abbreviation | PCA |
---|---|
Formation | 1955 |
Type | Nonprofit 501(c)(7) |
Purpose | Social & Recreational Car Club |
Headquarters | Columbia, Maryland, U.S. |
Region served | USA & Canada |
Membership | 165,000+ |
Executive Director | Vu Nguyen |
Website | www |
The Porsche Club of America (PCA) is a non-profit organization of Porsche enthusiasts in the United States and Canada. It is organized into 148 regions, [1] which are grouped into 14 zones. PCA has more than 165,000 members and is the largest single-brand club in the world. [2] To the current date, the Porsche Club of America has been around for 69 years. [3]
The club has over 4,000 local and national events including driving activities, social gatherings and more. The club's largest event is the annual Porsche Parade, which is a week-long event where members from around the country gather to participate [4] in various events, [5] such as autocross and Concours d'Elegance. [6]
The national events include the week-long Porsche Parade, the Treffen North America social events, Werks Reunion Amelia Island and Monterey, ÜnStock modified Porsche show and Tech Tactics technical sessions.
PCA Regions across North America host thousands of events each year including driving tours, car shows, club racing, rallying, driver's education, autocross, sim racing, social events, and similar activities.
Each spring and fall, Porsche Club of America opens a member only raffle, in which members may purchase entries for a chance to win a brand-new Porsche. A number of Porsches have also been made specifically for the club, such as the Porsche 991 GTS Club Coupe, which was to celebrate the club's 60th anniversary. [7]
Membership is open to all Porsche owners, co-owners, or lessees who are 18 years of age or older. One can also refer members, but they need to follow the requirements. More information about membership can be found on the club's membership web page.
Porsche Club of America has a website with PCA and Porsche news, technical info, digital features, member-specific content, as well as weekly Podcasts, hundreds of YouTube videos and weekly and monthly e-newsletters.
The club was founded in 1955 in Washington, D.C. [1]
Bill Sholar, who was a commercial artist in the Washington, D.C. area in the early 1950s bought a new 1953 356 Coupe, and, as time passed, he met other Porsches on the road and flashed his lights at them in silent greeting. By late 1954, Sholar was convinced that a more personal meeting would be appropriate with other Porsche owners to discuss the positive and the not-so-positive aspects of driving the infrequently encountered marque. The first unofficial PCA meeting was held at the Sholar house on 8 February 1955. Following that meeting, several Porsche owners occasionally got together that spring and summer to share knowledge about Porsches. Eventually, they decided to start a club. A brief paragraph in the August 1955 issue of Sports Car Illustrated informed readers that a Porsche club was being formed in the United States; all inquiries were directed to Bill Sholar's attention. As part of the effort, Porsche was petitioned to recognize the proposed club.
Today, activities range from competitive events, such as autocrossing, club racing, rallying, sim racing, and Concours, to social events, such as touring, weekend trips, drive and dines, vehicle restoration, and Porsche history. A revised Treffen® now allows PCA members to visit the factory, the new Porsche Museum, the area around Stuttgart, Germany, and the research-and-development unit at Weissach. A professional staff, headed by Executive Director Vu Nguyen, operates the National Office in Columbia, Maryland, where a growing historical section is also housed. One of the objectives stated in PCA's Bylaws is to promote the enjoyment and sharing of goodwill and fellowship engendered by owning a Porsche.
PCA is arranged into 148 local Regions in 14 zones across the United States and Canada. Each operates as their own motor club. As of January 2024, the Upper Canada Region is the largest region with over 4,300 members.
Autocross is a form of motorsport in which competitors are timed to complete a short course using automobiles on a dirt or grass surface, excepting where sealed surfaces are used in United States. Rules vary according to the governing or sanctioning body, such as the length of the course, the amount of permitted attempts, or whether competitors start the course individually at intervals or at the same time as others. In this latter form, Autocross differs from other forms of motor racing by using a system of heats or alternative timing methods for the classification rather than racing for position and declaring the first across the finish line as the winner.
The Porsche 997 is the sixth generation of the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche between 2004 and 2013. Production of the Carrera and Carrera S coupés began in early 2004, all-wheel drive Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S began to be delivered to customers in November 2005, the Turbo and GT3 derivatives went on sale in late 2006 and the GT2 in 2007. In addition to the coupé and cabriolet versions, Targa versions of the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S were also available, which carry on with the "glass canopy" roof design used since its first application on the 993 until the 991, which reverted to the classic targa top layout used on the early 911 Targas.
Rallycross is a form of sprint style automobile racing, held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit, with modified production or specially built road cars, similar to the World Rally Cars. It is mainly popular in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Great Britain. An inexpensive, entry level type of rallycross is the Swedish folkrace or its Norwegian counterpart, the so-called bilcross. The folkrace is most popular in Finland where it was founded back in the late 1960s. In Europe, rallycross can also refer to racing 1:8 scale off-road radio-controlled buggies.
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the SRO Motorsports Group since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017.
Evo is a British automobile magazine dedicated to performance cars, from hot hatches to supercars.
Peter Holden Gregg was an American race car driver during the golden age of the Trans-Am Series and a five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He was also the owner of Brumos, a Jacksonville, Florida, car dealership and racing team.
The BMW Car Club of America is a U.S.-based organization of enthusiasts and owners of BMW-made automobiles. Organized into five regions and 69 chapters, the club boasts more than 55,000 active members within the United States, making it the largest BMW owner/enthusiast organization in the world. The BMW CCA arranges a wide variety of social, technical and driving events, including autocross, high-performance driver's education, rallies, club racing and owner education on topics such as mechanical repair, automotive maintenance and collecting vintage vehicles.
Justin Derek Bell is a British race car driver, who after a successful career behind the wheel, transitioned into the media world in front of the camera and established himself as one of the top US based automotive content hosts. He is the son of Derek Bell.
Gemballa GmbH is an automobile manufacturing and tuning company based in Leonberg, Germany, specializing in customization and aftermarket parts mainly for Porsche cars. Gemballa was founded by and named after Uwe Gemballa in 1981.
The 944 Cup is a grassroots motorsports road racing series dedicated to the front-engine water-cooled Porsche 944. The race series was created as a standalone series which began operating as such within numerous sanctioning bodies. The series was founded by the current National Director, Dave Derecola, and his son Chris Derecola, who continue to own and operate the series. The series currently races within the Porsche Club of America, under the direction of the National Director as a guest series.
The Chrysler Viper GTS-R was a successful racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France and Reynard Motorsport of the United Kingdom. Officially unveiled at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours, it has won numerous championships and famous events in its history.
Autobahn Country Club is an auto racing road course located in Joliet, Illinois, operated as a country club, while also hosting many outside events. Autobahn was the first purpose-built motorsports country club in the United States, and has inspired several others. The club has a sanctioning body called Autobahn Member Racing, which hosts series for Spec Miatas, GT cars, karts, Radical Sportscars, a discipline called Chase Racing similar to bracket racing, open wheel cars, as well as competitions for rallycross and autocross. As of the 2023 race season, the club requires a $45,000 membership initiation fee. Annual dues is $6100. Membership includes unlimited access to the tracks six days a week in season, use of the Member Clubhouse, which contains a bar and 40,000 sq. ft. event space. Members can purchase land to build garages and personal condos. A Social/Karting Membership is $5900 and includes all Member Social Events and unlimited access to the go-kart track at Kart Circuit Autobahn, during member hours. Notable members include legendary racers Bobby Rahal, Graham Rahal, David Heinemeier Hansson, Cooper MacNeil, Jay Howard, Peter Dempsey, and Tom Bagley. Many members use the club to drive their exotic and classic cars.
The ISO standard vehicle identification number (VIN) was introduced for the Porsche model year 1981.
The Porsche 991 is the seventh generation of the Porsche 911 sports car, which was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September as the replacement for the 997. The 991 was an entirely new platform, only the third since the original 911 launched in 1963. Production of the 991 generation ended on December 20, 2019, with 233,540 units produced.
In the United States, autocross is an individual motorsport in which drivers compete to set the fastest time on a temporary course. It differs from autocross in the rest of the world as events are usually held on large paved areas, such as parking lots or airfields compared to grass or dirt surfaces used elsewhere. Courses consist of turns, offsets, and slaloms marked by traffic cones; new courses are typically created for each event. In the rest of the world these types of events are known as autotests, autoslaloms or gymkhanas.
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