For over 35 years, Potter's Picnic has been the highlight social
event of the summer for the Porsche Club of America's Chicago Region.
In recent decades, the cars that showed up at Potter's have tended to be
later models than the 356, but the 2008 event changed that in a dramatic
fashion. Invited for the second time to bring our cars to the
event, our club didn't just show up. We brought over two dozen
cars representing every model of the 356 from 1953 to 1965, and we
arranged them in a historical display designed to educate our hosts
about the heritage that stands behind their late model Porsches.
To see the photo galleries from this event, click on either of the
pictures below:
Our efforts were appreciated by both the crowd that attended the event
and the judges who picked the winning cars in the concours. Pat
Yanahan has many friends in the Chicago Region, and he collected these
comments as he talked with people in the crowd:
In the concours, 15 of the 26 cars brought by club members were winners,
including Charlie Presta's 1957 Coupe (First Place, Class A), Tom
Klingbeil's 1959 Speedster (First Place, Class B), and Hank Weil's 1964
Coupe (Second Place, Class C). (The complete results are in the
September 2008 issue of the Chicago Scene, which is available online,
click
here and
then go to page 27). That means our cars are not just beautiful
but were carefully prepared for the show.
Getting the cars lined up in the proper display order along the fence
was a somewhat chaotic process, and the club appreciates the patience
and cooperation of everyone who cheerfully complied with our many
requests to move their cars. Next year (and we have been invited
back!), the place for each 356 will be reserved and marked ahead of
time.