Feb 2016 GEM Grapevine by Golden Empire Region PCA

February 2016

Social Meetings for February and March February Tuesday Eve Feb 16, @ 6:30 pm, Bill Lee’s Bamboo Chopsticks Chinese 1203 18th Street, in Beautiful Downtown Bakersfield

March Thursday Eve March 3, @ 6:30 pm, Rosa’s Italian Restaurant 2400 Columbus Street, in North East Bakersfield Tuesday Eve March 17th, @ 6:30 pm, Uricchos Trattoria Italian Restaurant 1203 18th Street, in Beautiful Downtown Bakersfield

April Thursday Eve April 7th, @ 6:30pm, Goose Loonies Bar and Grill 816 18th Street, in Beautiful Downtown Bakersfield Come on out to the Crest on Saturday Mornings and enjoy good food with good friends ! You don’t have to have a Porsche to come out and join in with the Lads !!

Our new GEM Chair in charge of Cuteness, Savanah Olivas, with daddy at breakfast !!

Crest RV Park, Every Saturday Morning at 8:am for Breakfast and Chit Chat , 5025 Wible Road 2

Porsche Club of America Golden Empire Region Board Members and Chair Persons

President & Communication Chair

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Loren Stumbaugh

Bob Goon

Chuck Anderson

Betsy Wadman

Communication & Membership Chair

Safety Chair &

Newsletter Editor

Insurance Coordinator

Michael Thomas

Lisa Abney

Omar Olivas

Webmaster

Social Coordinator

Anton Khatsanovich

Anna Stumbaugh

Autocross Co-Chairs

Charles Rook

PCA Membership

While our cars are very exclusive, our club is not. Did you know that you can add a family member or other interested person as an affiliate member, at no additional cost? The family or affiliate member must also be 18 years of age or older.

Please join us online at our newly remodeled Website and on our Facebook Group page:

For all of the details contact our President:

http://gem.pca.org/

Loren Stumbaugh Porsche Club of America Golden Empire Region Membership Chairman Loren7025@gmail.com (661) 747-4416

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ PCA.GoldenEmpireRegion/ And please send any Newsletter comments or content contributions to :

gemgrapevine@gmail.com

GEM Drives and Events:

Special thanks goes out to Lisa Abney for providing the review above in her semi-weekly Newsletter

GEM Driving Tour to Vintage V-12, WWII aircraft engine restoration, Tehachapi , California Saturday, Feb 20th. Leave the Crest RV CafĂŠ at 9:am sharp for a 10:am tour of the facility.

GEM Los Angeles Driving Event: Saturday March 6, 8:am, Crest RV CafĂŠ Southern California will host a series of Porsche related events from March 5 - 7th. GEM will hold a two part drive to the L.A. Lit Show and the Peterson Auto Museum. Anyone wishing to attend the Lit Show (details and description, on Page 8) can follow us on Saturday Morning from the Crest RV cafĂŠ to the LAX Hilton leaving at 8:AM. We will meet at the Peterson Museum at 1:pm. Anyone not wishing to attend the Lit Show can drive separately to the Peterson and group up with the other GEM members at 1:pm for a museum tour !! Refer to the Jan 2016 Grapevine for an article on the newly renovated Peterson Museum.

GEM Driving Events for the first half of 2016 January 30, Saturday. M.A.R.E. donation and Magical Mystery Drive to follow …... AT 9:45am GEM will meet at the M.A.R.E. riding facility to present M.A.R.E. with a donation check for the 2015 year. If you are not already familiar with the M.A.R.E. organization, they are one of the charitable organizations that our Golden Empire Region has contributed to for many years. After the M.A.R.E. presentation we will drive as a group on a mystery drive that will take us through some mountain passes and as always, ending with the consumption of food. We should be home by 2-3pm. They are located on Johnson road, just off the intersection of Stockdale Hwy and Nord Ave. The Saturday Breakfast will still be happening at the Crest RV Park as usual. February 20, Saturday. Vintage V-12 WWII aircraft engine restoration shop, Tehachapi, Ca Join us a drive to Tehachapi to tour the Vintage V-12 aircraft restoration shop. The tour begin at 10:am, so we will leave fro the Crest RV café no later than 9:am for the drive up. Lunch follows afterwards with a winding drive through the backroads home. March 5, Saturday.

The Peterson Automotive Museum, 1:pm tour

GEM will meet at the Peterson Museum at 1:pm, and tour the newly remodeled Peterson Automotive Museum. The museum has just reopened in December after under gone a substantial renovation that is said to be spectacular. The museum has also opened up the public what they refer to as The Vault. The Peterson Museum rotates its automotive displays throughout the year. The Vault is the underground storage area where they keep all of the other cars they own that are not being displayed in the museum. Viewing The Vault has an additional charge to that of the museum tour. But it is one tour there that I can’t wait to take. March 5, Saturday.

The LA Lit Show, LAX Hilton Hotel, 9:am

Some of you may have wondered why I suggested we meet for the museum tour at 1:pm. Well, every year Los Angeles hosts an event called the LA Literature Show, or Lit Show for short. This is a Porsche event that bring Porsche-heads in from all over the country. A room of venders will offer everything from owner manuals and toys to steering wheels and chrome items for your Porsche, whether new or old. Three hours is plenty of time to shop Porsche paraphernalia and make it over to the Peterson for a tour ! 6

GEM Driving Events for the first half of 2016 April 30, Saturday.

Ladies’ Drive to Descanso Gardens in La Canada

The renowned Descanso gardens have delighted millions. This botanical estate was created by Los Angeles newpaper magnate, Elias Boddy after he bought-out nurseries from Japanese families who were being disposed to Japanese internment camps in the early 1940s. Acquiring as many as 100,000 camellias. With the two Japanese nurseries he now owned he began creating a Japanese tea garden on his La Canada estate. He named it Rancho Descanso meaning “ Ranch of Repose (or Restfulness) ”. The estate was later deeded to the County of Los Angeles and opened to the public as Descanso Gardens. I guess it has a lot of plants or something there. Rescheduled

The Vintage V-12 in Tehachapi

This drive will take us into the Tehachapi area. This shop rebuilds war-era air-craft engines. 70 years ago these engines powered the fastest planes of WWII. Hopefully we will be fortune enough to see some of these old Allison, Rolls, and Daimler beauties from the inside, out. And of course there will be a stop at the BBQ restaurant to fill our gullets. June 18, Saturday.

The Plane Crazy Event at the Mojave Air/Space Port

Every third Saturday of the month the Mojave Air & Space Port host a fly in and static display on the airport runway. However, this is no typical airport and you never know what is going to be shown on the runway. This is the home of many the California aero space companies, including such well known names as Scaled Composites, XCOR Aero Space, and Virgin Galactic Industries. Not to mention the fascinating Airliner grave yard that is the home of hundreds of out-ofservice passenger jet liners that is positioned as a backdrop to the Mojave runway. They even have an airport café that overlooks all of the activates on the flight-line. July (TBD), Saturday.

The Gathering of Friends car show in San Luis Obispo

The Gathering of Friends event is an all European car show and BBQ which happens on the lawn of Laguna Lake golf course. Not to be confused with San Luis Concours at the Madonna Inn which occurs a month early, this event features only gorgeous European automobiles and motorcycles, both new and vintage models. We will get there with a spirited drive over Hwy 58 West !! A BBQ fund raising event is also offered. So bring a bottle of wine to help wash that BBQ Tri-tip down with. 7

Other Great So-Cal Porsche Events throughout the weekend of March 4, 5, 6.

Call to Action! The Zone 8 California Festival of Speed (CFoS) has been scheduled for April 8th through the 10th. To learn more, visit the CFoS website at http://www.zone8.org/events/speedfestival.php. Check out this slide show to see some of the action from last year! http://youtu.be/h6tDpJ50qa8. Here is a great video too http://tinyurl.com/go7usft to whet your appetite. The main event! Club Racers, registration opens on February 22nd at http://register.pca.org/. For all Time Trial drivers (i.e. qualified DE drivers), registration opens February 28th at https:// cfos.motorsportreg.com/. This year the Porsche Owners Club is joining us so we should have even more racing action over the weekend! This will make for an even bigger and better CFoS for everyone! We need volunteers for various activities beginning with setup on Thursday April the 7th, activities on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and teardown on Sunday afternoon. We ask you to work 4 hour shifts for things like: credentials, traffic control, hot pit, track tours, placing cars in the timeline, membership booth and goodie store. Zone 8 has over 13,300 primary and associate members. Our goal is to have at least 300 volunteers. It would be great if we meet our goal. By volunteering you have a chance to meet up with old friends and make new ones! Get a group of your PCA friends and volunteer as a team, caravan to the event, and have fun. Remember the success of the CFoS is fueled by volunteers and the best way to enjoy the event is by helping out!  As an added incentive, Zone 8 will once again share Festival profits with the regions based on the level of volunteerism from each region.  As a thank you we have free parking for all volunteers and a gift for anyone working at least one shift. If you wish to volunteer we need your email address, contact phone number (cell and home) and the name of your Region. To volunteer or if you have any questions please contact Janice Witteried at volunteer@calfestival.org. This year the Saturday Timeline will feature 911 Turbos! If you are interested in displaying your 911 Porsche Turbo in the timeline, please contact Dick Douglas at ddouglass356@gmail.com. I am sure you have seen the Timeline display during the last few CFoS’s. They have been some of the best parts of the weekend every year! Track Tours on all three days. The track tours are a low speed tour in your car around the speedway track during the track lunch break. Parade laps do not require helmets and are intended to let you take photos and experience the speedway from the racing driver’s perspective! Sunday will include a Tire Rack Street Survival School hosted by the BMW Club. If you have a new driver in your household, you may want to enroll them in this fantastic opportunity to make them a safer driver! To learn more visithttp://streetsurvival.org/. To register go here http://tinyurl.com/jxsek3y. This WILL sell out! If you’re not a driver, there are plenty of activities for you and your family. Vendor Row will include clothing, gadgets, parts, toys, tools… and lots of other good stuff! Have some racing fun with Driving Simulators and Slot Cars for the big and little kids! Food Trucks have been a hit at the last two CFoS’s and this year there will be six truck to fill your tummy while you enjoy the Time Trials, Club Racing, and Porsche Owner’s Club races. Porsche Corral. Exclusively Porsches! Put your car on display in front of hundreds of Porsche enthusiasts. Each model will have their own corral. Just show up, we will be ready for you. I hope to see you, your family, and your friends at the largest Porsche event in Southern California. Together we can have fun and make this an even better festival! Sincerely Yours, David Witteried Zone 8 Representative 13

GEM members John and Diane White toured Germany last year. John has been kind enough to share with us his experiences touring the Porsche facilities in Stuttgart, Germany.

A Recent Trip to Stuttgart During the second week of November 2015, my wife Diane and I were finishing up a short vacation in Germany. We had started off by first visiting Berlin for a few days before traveling by train to the beautiful city of Dresden. This was our first visit to either city, and as the region was enjoying an unusually mild autumn, we did a lot of walking.

to get to your train. There are three underground levels, and I’ve always appreciated the helpful directions. Zuffenhausen is actually a suburb of the main city, and within it is the popular stop named, Porscheplatz.

After visiting Berlin and Dresden, including a day trip to an art museum in Hamburg, we boarded a train to arrive at our end destination – Stuttgart. We have friends and family in Stuttgart, and usually have an itinerary planned out weeks in advance of our arrival. There’s so much to recommend seeing when visiting the city, as well as making short day trips to neighboring small towns. You may have read the article entitled, “On Winning,” in the December 2015 issue of the Panorama magazine. The building shown in the article’s two-page opening is the Solitude Palace. We visited the location in November, and toured the grounds before having lunch at a nearby restaurant. On our drive to the Palace, our friends pointed out a beautiful neighborhood home belonging to the Porsche family.

Stuttgart ‘s Main Train Station I normally purchase a ticket to ride the U-Bahn (small commuter train) to visit the Porsche museum and factory, but that afternoon the particular train line I needed was shut down. I did not have a backup plan, and so I turned to one of the station employees who instructed me to ride one of the S-Bahn (street trolley) lines to arrive on time for the scheduled factory tour.

On the afternoon of the 12th, I walked with my wife and her girlfriend over to the popular pedestrian shopping street known as the Königstrasse. There, we parted. I turned left making my way to the main train while my companions turned right, happy as two Larks, for an afternoon of unfettered shopping.

The nearest S-Bahn stop was a couple of blocks away from my familiar Porscheplatz stop. That actually worked out well for me because the afternoon was warm, and I could see the distinctive design of the museum a short ways off. That was a comforting sight after exiting the train in an unfamiliar part of town.

It’s difficult to focus and write an article centering on only one aspect of Stuttgart, and for that matter, the Baden-Wurttemberg region of Germany. But, maybe some of what I’m writing will spark an interest with you to visit that area of Germany, in addition to visiting the Porsche plant.

My walk took me past a great many workshops that lined the street. With their large unscreened windows open wide and facing the street, I could peer inside to see technicians working on various projects.

Stuttgart’s main train station is located at the downhill end of the Königstrasse. It’s big, and impossible to miss. There’s even a large tourist office across from it. Once inside the station, you’ll find many train station employees wearing yellow vests who speak excellent English, and are all too familiar with spotting tourists searching for a train to the Porsche facilities, including the museum, in Zuffenhausen. They will help you with operating the ticket machines, and they will tell you how

Porscheplatz is a fairly large complex. The museum is unmistakable as it stands out predominately from the other nearby buildings, and it is situated conveniently close to the U-Bahn stop that bears the factory’s name. The tours assemble just inside the museum’s front entrance doors a few feet off to the right. However, beware, most museums in Germany are closed on Mondays, and the Porsche museum is no exception. 16

On my recent tour, the visit to the assembly line was hurriedly cut short when the guide received a message ordering him to quickly clear the area of tourist because a prototype was coming down the line. When I asked about the prototype, the guide responded that I could see the finished product in a couple of years, possibly at the car show in Frankfurt. I also asked whether Porsche was hopeful in offering a fully manual transmission in the near future. The guide stated that the requirements on designing and manufacturing a clutch strong enough to handle the horsepower had been developed. However, the costs associated with producing and introducing such a new clutch into the existing line of cars was overwhelming, and would not be carried out to fruition. But the tours are still on, and they assemble outside the locked museum doors beneath the building’s structural overhang. The museum’s ground floor also has a nice cafeteria, as well as a small gift shop. Tickets to gain entrance to the museum are purchased from a cashier in the same area. I believe the tours now charge a six Euro fee. When I stepped up to the cashier to pay, I was told that I was not being charged. I didn’t argue. Don’t arrive too early for the tour. It starts promptly at the appointed time. It’s wise to register for your tour a few months beforehand. However, I’ve been on several tours over the past ten years, and have always seen the tour guide add “walk-ons” to the group without any sign of annoyance.

I was told that Porsche contracts with many corporations in providing design work and testing. An example I was surprised to hear concerned Porsche’s current design work with Harley-Davidson Corporation. The guide did not go into specifics about what the work entailed.

Your picture taking cell phone, known to the Germans as a “Handy,” is surrendered to the guide before the start of the tour. The request follows a government law that protects the employees from having their pictures taken without first being asked. Such devices are safely locked up by the guide and returned when the tour ends back at the museum.

Several years back, the tour included a stop where you could observe individual mechanics assembling the engines. Then, I was told it required approximately seven hours labor to complete one engine. I don’t remember whether the allotted time also included the assembly of the transmission. Today, both components are assembled offsite. Porsche requires the companies that provide assembly line components to be physically located within a specified distance of the Zuffenhausen facility. I believe the distance cannot be greater than fifty kilometers.

I believe each day consists of two tours, one spoken in English and the other in German. I’ve always found the tours to be easy going and informal with the guide being cheerful and happy to field questions. Porsche tries to keep tour group sizes below a dozen individuals. This helps with hearing the guide when brief lectures are given at various stops along the way. A small group also helps the guide shepherd the tourists safely through the assembly line areas where computer controlled “parts” trains are delivering components in accordance with a just in time inventory system.

I toured the BMW plant in Munich a couple of summers ago. The BMW tour is much longer, but offers greater insight to the manufacturing process than you will find at Porsche. At BMW, the tour begins with observing sheets of metal rolling into the various stamping molds. 17

Nearly every stage of the manufacturing process can be observed at BMW. I found the painting process especially interesting at BMW.

One such example, was a 911-body that had recently returned from having a roll-cage welded inside. I asked about it, and was told the work is subcontracted out to a nearby business specializing in custom welding.

The BMW manufacturing process is nearly all-robotic. They even have robotics checking the quality work of other robots. If a supervising robot finds a flaw, the car is pulled from the assembly line with another substituted in its place. I believe the production process is over 90% robotic, but BMW turns out approximately nine hundred cars each day. Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant produces fewer than two hundred, and its assembly line is only 12% robotic. In earlier years, I saw two Porsche workers installing the front windshields using suction cups. Today, the same job is completed with robotic machines. I asked the guide about the substitution of labor, and was told that it is much safer and quality consistent using the robots.

Tourists are also shown the parts inventory holding area and how workers go about pulling orders to be sent to the assembly line. Every item is bar code driven to coincide with the car’s shell. Workers scan the order list at each aisle of inventory parts and lights light up what bins to pull from. Thereafter, the robotic trains haul off the parts to match up with an assigned station on the assembly line. There’s much more to see and learn during an actual tour than what I’ve included in this article. You really have to see it for yourself. The tourist is only a few feet away from the actual assembly line allowing one to hear and . I asked about it, and was told the work is subcontracted out to a nearby business specializing in custom welding.

Tourists are also shown the parts inventory holding area and how workers go about pulling orders to be sent to the assembly line. Every item is bar code driven to coincide with the car’s shell. Workers scan the order list at each aisle of inventory parts and lights light up what bins to pull from. Thereafter, the robotic trains haul off the parts to match up with an assigned station on the assembly line. There’s much more to see and learn during an actual tour than what I’ve included in this article. You really have to see it for yourself. The tourist is only a few feet away from the actual assembly line allowing one to hear and sense the activity. You see the workers grabbing the parts and going about their installation work giving the impression that the human element continues to be involved in each car’s production.

It’s worth the experience. Big Thanks to John White for sharing his tour with us. The Porsche tour also involves walking along a catwalk observing the mechanics as they perform the finishing touches and testing on some of the engines. The racks of empty beer bottles are still in plain sight of the assembly lines. Here and there, off to the side are projects involving special construction requirements before reinserting the car into the general assembly line.

As John mention, no photos can be taken on the tours. I provided several assembly photos which I found online for visual effect. Mike Thomas, Grapevine Editor ….. 18

Please enjoy several of the photos that John took during his Porsche Museum tour !!