test our cars on the Autobahn and to enjoy the wonderful, smooth roads that abound in Germany. On this latter point, I think that is where most of the Porsche testing must be done, since the road noise that is experienced with the newer Porsches is not found with the German road surfaces. A fuller write-up will appear in a later edition of PP. Happy motoring Martyn Lee Knierem winner of the air-cooled class
DIARY DATES
Selection of cars at Club night
NOVEMBER 5 Oicials’ Conference NOVEMBER 8 Club night Talk by Peter Bickers on one of Britain’s most iconic aircraft, the Spitfire. DECEMBER 13 Christmas dinner at Pontlands Park A reservation has been made for the conservatory. 7.30pm start with Bucks Fizz or orange juice followed by a three-course meal, ending with coffee and chocolates. £33 including service charge and VAT. To avoid disappointment, those wishing to attend please let me know as soon as possible for this popular event.
Norfolk & Suffolk Regional Organisers Tony and Colleen Wickins 01379 676251 – r12@porscheclubgb.com RECENT EVENTS
Selection of cars at Club night
WOTY Members in 15 models of Porsche attended our WOTY this year to Cochem, western Germany, where we stayed at the Hotel Kessler-Meyer, on a site overlooking the Mosel. The hotel, a 20-minute walk into town, was clean and well appointed. The organisers Greg and Kay arranged a trip to watch touring car racing at the Nürburgring on one of the days and a drive with a picnic on another. Several members went on a boat trip on the Mosel to get a different perspective of the castle overlooking the town and marvel at the steeply inclined vineyards. We had glorious weather with the chance to
R12 Tour to Germany We will give a presentation of our trip at November’s Club night and we also aim to submit a more detailed description of the tour with photographs in a future edition of PP when space allows, so just a brief report below. Tony began planning this trip a year ago, liaising with Kieran at Scenic Car Tours, who proved extremely helpful in booking rooms at some really good hotels, as well as providing a super rally plaque for our windscreens listing all our destinations (in case any of us forgot where we were going) and a bumper information pack on places to visit along the way. Nine cars and 17 people met up in the Gulliver Hotel at Bascharage in Luxembourg on Tuesday, September 13 to begin our tour. We had made our way there, by ferry
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and Eurotunnel, in beautiful sunshine with temperatures touching 33°C and the first thing to do was have a cold beer and shower (in that order) before dinner. The next morning we set off reasonably early for France to make our way to the Domaine Du Moulin Hotel in Ensisheim, near the German border. Several of us decided to drive the Alsace Wine Route and take lunch in the pretty town of Colmar, very similar to Bruges with its cobbled streets, colourful half-timbered houses, geraniumdecked balconies and interweaving canals. After lunch we continued on our way to our overnight stop at Domaine Du Moulin. Thursday morning dawned and we were off to visit the Cite de L’Automobile and The Schlumpf Collection with Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes and other glamorous marques on display. After learning the extraordinary history of the Schlumpf brothers and viewing their astonishing collection we made our way to Sindelfingen near Stuttgart for a four-night stay at the Marriott Hotel. We decided to drive the top half of the Schwarzwaldhochstrase, a ‘Route 500’ scenic road through the Black Forest with amazing views. At one point we were stopped by two young police officers as the road ahead was closed and we had missed the sign. They were very helpful and put us on the right track to continue our journey. So began our four night stay in Germany, with visits to the Porsche Museum and a factory tour lined up for the following day. More than 80 vehicles and many small exhibits are on display at the Porsche Museum, which also houses some of the outstanding technical achievements of Professor Ferdinand Porsche. After being greeted by museum staff we were allowed to park in front of the museum under the canopy, which was great for group photographs. A charming young lady called Nicola took us on a tour, after which we had lunch. Several of the group then enjoyed a factory tour while Colleen, Rosemary, Rhian and Theresa took a taxi into Stuttgart for a couple of hours of retail therapy! When we returned everyone was enthusing about the factory and how amazing it was. (Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed inside the factory so come along to our November Club night to hear more about this!) Saturday was a free day for individual exploration – we decided to visit Rothenburg (a two-hour drive from Stuttgart) where, again, the old part of the town had been preserved with beautiful buildings and a rich history to discover with the aid of an English-speaking guide. After our tour Tony noticed a 968 Cabriolet in a deeper blue than ours coming out of a car park with 13 more 968s following behind. Tony wandered over to the driver and said: “Good choice, we’ve got one of those and it’s the blue one over there.” At this point the driver immediately got out of his car, shook hands and told us they were the Porsche 968