Zuffenhausen 2019

It’s 4:45AM. I am sitting in my truck at Pasadena City Hall and for a second, I am questioning whether being a volunteer for Zuffenhausen was the best thing for my sleep.  A few weeks ago, I saw an Instagram ad for a Porsche gathering in the city I reside in, Pasadena, CA. My fiancé, a current Porsche driver, and myself, a former Porsche driver, were drawn immediately to this, after all, it was Porsche that brought us together.  Not an Uber Black car or anything, but we both have loved Porsche for a long time and it’s something that unites us - her unconditional love of the brand and my self-loathing that I love Porsche so much. We wanted to be a part of it and immediately fired out messages to the organizer - Jack, the owner of Scientific Porsche - an amazing independent shop located a stone's throw from us.  Jack immediately responded to us and we set up a meeting. A scheduled 30 minute meeting turned into a 5 hour dive into life, love, loss, and everything in between. Once again, Porsche had done something it’s done forever - bringing people together.

Let’s get back to me sitting in the dark at 4am. I had volunteered to set up the event, so the previous day, a Saturday, we loaded up a bunch of tables, chairs, and signage into my truck. On Sunday morning, if you want to call it morning - more like “middle of the night” - I wake up as quietly as possible as to not wake up my fiancé and dog, get ready for the day ahead, and get to City Hall.  

Around 5am, I start to see other trucks and cars showing up and familiar faces show up in the darkness. A party supply company slowly assembles the tents and the sun begins to rise offering us a beautiful morning sky to work under.  The event map that Jack showed us a few weeks prior begins to take shape in front of our eyes, as Pasadena City Hall becomes the setting for an epic Porsche event.

By 8am, vendors start setting up under their designated tents, cars from all vintages slowly start filling up the assigned parking grid Jack meticulously designed.  This show begins to come together and my heart skips a beat and my jaw detaches from my face as a 1992 Ruby Stone 964 Turbo saunters in and parks.

I later meet the owner, Sean, who tells my fiance and I how it took 3 years to import this car from Japan where it had originally been imported by Mizwa - the historic sole distributor of Porsche in Japan for over 45 years.  Still donning original Japanese inspection, vehicle information, and the holy grail Mizwa stickers, this car was one of the more unique cars at Zuffenhausen that caught my eye.

Another car that will haunt my dreams and will further increase the bar height for which my secret dream car bank account needs to be at, was McCoppin Automotive Design's custom 911 - nicknamed the Mad RS.  Besides the beautifully sculpted interior, with its no nonsense lightweight design philosophy, the gem of this car was the 4.0L motor with individual throttle bodies and gold velocity stacks. *Mic Drop*

There were more than just rare Porsche's there. It felt like every single Porsche model was represented from base 981 Boxsters all the way up to a 993 Turbo S. If you wanted to be around Porsche and not the pretense, this was the show for you.

Passing a trio of Singer 911s, yes three of them; I headed to the furthest point from city hall and basked in the glory of Jack’s creation.  This wasn’t just a sea of Porsche’s showing up for a photo op. It wasn’t just a gathering of Porsche lovers, air cooled & water cooled alike. Nor was it just an event that had a Porsche Club of America Concours D’elegance within it. This was more than all of that. This was an organic way to create friendships and relationships that go past the hello and goodbye you receive at your local cars & coffee. This was an event that was uniquely Porsche. I truly believe Jack has something here that will surpass all other Porsche events and I am glad we were able to be part of it.

Once again, Porsche had done something it’s done forever - bringing people together.