EARLY 911S REGISTRY: SERVING THE COMMUNITY

The late ’80s saw a burgeoning interest in the early 911S. So much so that enthusiasts located on opposite sides of the United States separately came up with the idea of an organisation devoted to early 911S fans: Vern Lyle and Betsi Marsh in Pennsylvania, and Fred Trueman in California. Vern and Betsi’s concept ultimately stuck and they started the Early 911S Registry in 1990.

Their main objective was to compile a list of the early 911Ss in the country, though some enthusiasts viewed their endeavour with suspicion. Yet, it soon appeared that they did not launch the registry for personal gain, but to serve the Porsche community, releasing a quarterly newsletter: ‘ESSES’. In 1995, after five years at the helm, Vern and Betsi realised they could not run the registry any longer, thus motivating a few So-cal-based members to take over in early ’96.

Chuck Miller, who joined the club in 1994, offered to redesign the Early 911S Registry logo in ’96 and officially became a club officer as Creative Director in ’98. Throughout his 20-year tenure, the group has settled with four board members (John Dilger, Michael Hammond, Fred Trueman and Chuck Miller) and a couple of support staff (Ashton Amores and Peter Kane). Michael Hammond, who worked at the Long Beach Circle Porsche dealership in the ’70s, incidentally sold Chuck’s car to its original owner in June of 1973!

Chuck concludes: ‘Through the years, the Early 911S Registry has become inclusive of not only 911Ss, but all early 911s. Through our ESSES news magazine, our club database and the club’s message board [see early911sregistry.org] with our excellent and expert contributors, we are told we are the ultimate information source for ‘all things early 911’ internationally.’