Escape to the natural tranquility, beauty, and luxury of Black Rock Oceanfront Resort - an extraordinary retreat on Vancouver Island's rugged west coast.

Black Rock Website

Your destination is the beautiful Sun Peaks Resort in the scenic heart of British Columbia, Canada. Hosted by the Canada West Region of the Porsche Club of America

Canada West PCA Escape 2010 Website

Seventh Annual European and Classic Car Picnic Tops $100,000!!!!!

Raised over $100,000 for the Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children

Wow! Many thanks once again to the Vancouver Island Region Porsche Club of America. This year's European and Classic Car Picnic raised over $100,000!!!!!!

This wouldn't have been possible without the tremendous support of all the Porsche Club members. Many, many thanks to President Gary Glover and all the members for participating in the show, volunteering, and sending in your own personal donations. Special thanks are extended to Ernie Yakimovich, Carl Latzel and Ernie Kowal - the three ...

Cloudy skies and the threat of a shower were evident in the morning. By noon however the skies cleared and the sun shone down on the parked Porsches. Fifteen Porsches were parked among the flowers and trees on the grounds of the pub. Once again all enjoyed an excellent lunch of Old Country style pub food while discussing the virtues of Porsche Ownership. New members were full of questions about the club and what we do. Soon came time to leave and a convoy of Porsches was seen leaving and taking many back road. All headed towards Nanaimo, were a group from Victoria bid farewell. Many thanks to all who attended.

Another glorious summer evening was the setting for Oceanside Cruiser's Saturday Night Cruise. Over 200 cars were in attendance and in the middle was a group representing VIR/PCA. Amongst the classics and hot rods were two Boxsters, two 911's, a 993 and 964. The cruise meandered around Parksville/Qualicum through sub-divisions and recreational parks where many lined the road to watch. Kids played in the sprinklers and many sat under the trees with cool drinks. The line of Porsches drew many a smile, comment and thumbs up from the road side. Doug Hoare appears to have perfected the "Royal Wave" after this event.

After almost two hours, the group left the cruise and enjoyed a pleasant dinner at Fish Tales restaurant in Qualicum ...

If you are a car enthusiast this event is a must do. Don't just go for the three days of racing or you will most certainly be missing out on perhaps a once in a life time experience. If you want to take this in, book early because everything is usually sold out by the end of January. You can book tickets online at http://www.mazdaraceway.com/pages/Tickets

For this year's event I decided to drive down in my Porsche Spyder. We left Sunday morning and drove to Grants Pass, turned right and headed for the coast and one of the world's best drives down Hwy 101. In no time we were rolling through San Francisco on our way to Monterey and our final destination at our reserved campsite at the track.

Tuesday morning ...

As promised, the weather co-operated with brilliant sunny skies, as our annual event at Crown Isle took place on May 8-9-10 2009. Over 80 Porsche enthusiasts from Vancouver Island, Canada West and beyond, along with their Porsches, descended upon the resort for the weekend.

Friday saw the Golf Tournament, Lunch at Gary's Bistro and the Welcome Bar-B-Que. During the evening, as all got reacquainted, the Poker Tables became active and very noisy. By 11 pm all were supposed to be sleeping, waiting for the next day.

As usual, the wash stations became active at daylight and by 6:30 am, cars were being parked for the Show and Shine and People's Choice display. Also a few members with self-inflicted headaches where ...

Sunny skies prevailed for the drive into the Alberni Valley. Members checked into the hotel in the late afternoon and soon where headed for an authentic German Meal. Schnitzels and Beer graced the table. After all were feed, a short drive back to park the cars for the evening, then all were seen walking, yes walking to the hall. The hall was brightly decorated in "German" decor. Our reserved table waited. Members and friends soon filled the seats and the evening began. Costumes were noticed throughout the hall. The music soon had all dancing. German food was available for those who needed it. There was entertainment throughout the evening, even some including the attendees. By midnight, we all were feeling the effects of nonstop ...

I have been enthusiastic about Porsches since the early 1970's, servicing, repairing and driving them. I had, however, always considered it a shame that the factory had not manufactured a Spyder Model since the 550 of the late 1950's.

This thought had carried on with me until the year 2000 when a 1976 911 Targa was traded in at European Specialty Car Services. I had sold and refurbished the car several times since 1990 and now with over 400,000 km on her, it was time for a complete re-build or dismantle. I decided this car was an ideal candidate for my idea of a Spyder.

I set to work and completely dismantled the car down to a bare shell then began lightening the shell by removing any bracket, fitting or ...