Regional Historian/Archivist
Dave Wilburn
historian@carolinas-pca.com
My earliest Porsche memory is from sometime around the early 60s when I was a young boy. Dad had a red Cabriolet, 50s vintage, because I remember the beehive tail lights. Many times, our entire family (including my two sisters, who’d share the roomy back seat with me!) would go on “covered bridge” gimmick rallies NW of Pittsburgh where we lived. But my important bond with my Dad was frequently just about the two of us out and about.
That bond continued in many wonderful ways, including his next ’63 coupe, which was wrecked and sold 3 or 4 years later after its purchase as a new car. In the “old days”, Dad and Mom used to attend Watkins Glen together, where Dad frequently worked the course as a volunteer.
Finally, he bought an early 70s 911E Targa. We’d since moved with his Westinghouse Engineering management job to south-central Virginia. We’d go to VIR several times a year back before it fell into disrepair and went through its subsequent revival. I was bored as a teenager with the racing after about the first five minutes and would spend the rest of the day just waiting for the opportunity to ride right seat out on the course at the close of the day’s activities with my Dad.
When I lost my Dad in 2005, one key element I’ve pursued to try to deal with the grief has been to purchase my own car. I found it (an ’80 911SC Targa) on Craigslist, flew out to L.A., and drove it all the way back without incident, stopping along the way at several places of interest including Kennedy Space Center. Now I have found out why he enjoyed them so much. Cruising through the Rockies on the Interstate at high speed was quite a thrill!
So I’ve been a PCA member only for a year and a half (wonderful coincidence that Parade was in Charlotte!) and I found the desire to try to do more with my local region. I look forward to meeting more and more of you in the coming months, and I hope I can support the club in a meaningful way. I’ve worked as a Boeing mechanic for USAirways for nearly 20 years now. I am divorced with no children.
