RANDY and ANN STOLZ, ORPCA Member
Like most of you, it began when I bought my Porsche, though it feels like way before …
I was just a kid really, maybe 7 or 8 when I saw racing Porsches first. It was at Vineland Speed- way, one of those local bull rings with a drag strip and a snaky, widened, return road back to the pits. The South Jersey Region of SCCA was having a race and Mom and I were doing a lap chart for Scoring. I’d call out the car numbers and Mom would write them down. The start of the race and the resultant first lap was a catastrophe. So many cars are close together on the first lap you can barely get the numbers out of your mouth with- out missing some. The one I never missed was the silver 550 RS Spyder driven by Bob Holbert. The following year it was Roger Penske in an RSK. A lasting impression for a kid.
The following year, we moved to Los Angeles and soon we’re at strange dusty tracks like Willow Springs and Riverside which made the coastal course at Goleta Airport (Santa Barbara) seem cramped but far more pleasant. Ken Miles, Jack McAfee, Jay Hills, Scooter Pat- rick, Don Wester and John “Bat” Masterson all in Type 718s, race after race, created the icon and my dream of driving one. A few years later in high school I’d let that dream out with my ’62 Beatle terrorizing the freshly paved streets of virgin hous- ing developments and Mulholland Drive.
The years and other cars sped by and it’s 2004. Interest rates are low and after 34 years in hi-tech I decide to go for it. The decision to buy a Boxster instead of a 911 was pretty easy. While the 911 had become the definition of a Porsche it wasn’t the one I wanted nor could I afford it. Nope, I wanted a mid-engine car. The Boxster wasn’t an RSK or RS60 but it had the look and it was much better … for my purposes at least. Those “purposes” included being my daily driver to work for two years, a grand turismo on ‘sun runs’ to Phoenix, L. A. and Monterey via the coast and alternatively US 395 or CA 49.
Then, there was Rainbonnet, the Cabin Fever Tours, Tech Sessions, The Mille, The Covered Bridge Tours, Parade, probably 5000+ miles of Arrive and Drives led and followed, a Track Day or two, Wine Tours, The Burrito Run, The Northwest Passage, three seasons of Autocross, Volunteer and Summer Pic- nics, Holiday Parties and more Dinner Socials than my waistline needed. Beyond club activities there were many times I felt the need to share with you other memories, adventure, discovery, opinion, humor and other trivia because to truly enjoy the sport we love it must have a context. Just writing those stories was fun for me and, I hope, for you.
Recently, we learned of the passing of Sir Stirling Moss. It’s hard for me to remember a time when I wasn’t following his races as a boy, or some other activity through all these years. One of my heroes, my lasting vision of him was pulling away from the field in dramatic fashion in a lime green Lotus 19 … Riverside 1960. He loved the Porsche 718 too as he says here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82w_fRzictY Godspeed Stirling.
Throughout this journey there have been my “fast friends”; they‘re the ones that show up at events and have provided encouragement over the years. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give thanks to all of you who supplied ideas, copy and pictures to help me tell my stories (Bob Ellis took the one on the previous page).
Thanks for all those good times. Randy & Ann.
