Past Events - Midwest 356 Club

We moved on to Zuffenhausen and the factory museum where one of my friends came back from retired life just to be one of our guides. The museum staff pushed cars out and opened them for our close inspection. They were available for questions and staging photo opportunities for all of us. After a detailed tour of the assembly facility we were hosted to a fantastic lunch in the company cafeteria, nicer than any that I have seen in any American corporation.

After lunch we bused to Weissach, where we were greeted by four test drivers ready to take us on as many high speed laps around the test track as we wanted. The only rule was no cameras. A Turbo, Carrera 2 and 4 and a Boxster S were using up tires as we all got dizzy. Edith Schumacher was first in line as she had been waiting for this day for over a year. I had never been a fan of the Boxster until this day - what a gutsy Porsche that was - far more stable than any 911 I have owned. My apologies to my Boxster and Cayman friends - I was wrong. After a few hours at the track we went back to Zuffenhausen to visit the restoration shop. The staff at the factory could not have been more friendly and open to us throughout the day. But more was to come.

Our factory representative, Mathias Menner, and his lady Louise Anna were our hosts at an incredible dinner where we were admonished by the owner of the Inn if we left anything on our plate. This was the end of a special day hosted by genuinely nice factory people who expressed their gratitude to us that we came and that we support the fine products that they enjoy building for us true enthusiasts. It was hard to get to bed after such a high powered day and all that adrenalin running through our veins. So in standard 356 tradition the Club closed the bar at the hotel.

This way!