2018 WERKS REUNION
Performance met art as Porsche celebrated its 70th Anniversary along the fairways at the beautiful Corral de Tierra Country Club, in the company of numerous Porsche outlaws, the featured genre at this year ʼs Werks Reunion. The fifth annual west coast gathering, hosted by the Porsche Club of America and presented by title sponsor Michelin, is a free spectator event that welcomes all automotive enthusiasts – notably Porsche owners.
A cool overcast morning gave way to midday sunshine as attendees perused the concours field, while those participating in the judged show polished and prepped their cars. This year the spotlight was on Porsche outlaws, a tradition that began at Valley Custom Shop in Southern California by Neil Emory over 60 years ago. The business came full circle when grandson Rod Emory, of Emory Motorsports, continued popularising and creating bespoke outlaw Porsches.
Rod is most recently known for his restoration of Porsche #46, a 1951 356 SL that won first in its class at Le Mans that same year (featured in Classic Porsche #40). For the outlaw display this year Rod brought a few of his truly exceptional Porsche 356s: a black 1959 356 Coupé, a 356 Speedster and his silver ʻEmory Specialʼ, a 1964 356 Cabriolet pulling a trailer with two bicycles.
“COOL OVERCAST MORNING GAVE WAY TO MIDDAY SUNSHINE…”
Other outlaws included a widened Speedster on a 987 (Boxster) chassis built by West Coast Customs, a highly modified Glacier Blue 1960 356B with custom metalwork and an 1883cc engine with a full flow oil filter, Weber 44s, custom interior, driving lights and third brake light, and a 1956 dark green 356 with an electric sunroof and a 2400cc fuel-injected engine with a crank-fired ignition set-up.
Throughout the day, visitors swarmed round the Porsches in the concours as well as those in the Corral, rounded up lunch from a variety of gourmet food trucks, and listened to various presenters on the award stage, including Porsche Cars North Americaʼs (PCNA) President and CEO Klaus Zellmer, outlaw customiser Rod Emory, racer Hurley Haywood, and Mike Brewer from TVʼS Wheeler Dealers.
Another eye-catching stage was Michelinʼs display called ʻPerformance Meets Artʼ, which featured a modern collection of Porsches that were all Paint to Sample (PTS), most of which were owned by Porsche enthusiast and collector, Lisa Taylor.
Awards were presented late afternoon to the enthusiastic owners as they drove past centre stage, all of which was being streamed live via the Porsche Club of America Facebook page for the world to see.
Porsche Werks Reunion 2018 was a delight for the eyes and an inspiration to the soul. To be able to view the cars and meet their owners is an experience that shouldnʼt be missed. Hopefully weʼll see you there next year – cheers! CP
“PORSCHE WERKS REUNION WAS A DELIGHT FOR THE EYES…”