Targa California Rally/Tour March 26-28, 2009

[TRE Cup]

Hello to all
My name is Dave Bouzaglou and I am the head Disorganizer of a new event called the Targa California. Inspired by the now defunct (and most excellent) Iron Bottom No Frills Motoring Tour, the TC follows the same tenets of fun for classic car owners touring some of So and Mid Cal's best sports car roads.

The event takes place over 2.5 days starting on March 26th- 28th, 2009 Thursday - Saturday. Our headquarters in the Black Oak Inn in Paso Robles for two nites with forays over some great roads in the area. We start from the So Cal area and the starting point will be announced on our site soon.

As with the original Iron Bottom, this event has no entry fee !

Hoping to see some 311's join us , as others have in the past. Check out our site link below

Please check your schedules as the hotel is already filling fast!

Thanks!
Dave
http://www.targacalifornia.com

[mraitch]

So call me bitter!! and I feel hijacked!

To be fair, I think Ed was somewhat glad to get out of the disorganisation of the Iron Bottom, but one thing that gave him impetus for his decision was some atrocious driving by some of the Porsche group.

Again, in fairness, Victor and I ran with a 911 (I think) that was out for fun (and nice people), but one of the other Porsche drivers happily posted a GPS announced speed of 160+ on a public highway. Additionally, I saw a Porsche overtake 7 of 8 drivers (in reasonably tight formation) on a right hand dropping blind bend, finally tucking in behind the front vehicle (which was not anyone on the Tour). In my opinion, stupid,dangerous driving is not what the tour was about!

Let's be honest, many of us (myself included on the 2007 in Eliza) exceeded the speed limit, and I indeed found myself on the left hand side of the center line (when there was one) but such a speed (160+) is just out of this realm on a public highway, regardless of the competence of the driver.

I will not tar all Porsche drivers with the same lack of consideration and road manners, because I have run with some, that while spirited, are at least aware and while I may not appreciate the later models (personal preference) seeing a concours 356 ( the tan one) partaking in this latest tour was an absolute delight.

And I for one, will not be taking advantage of this invitation. Hopefully something more appropriate to the original tradition will take place and hopefully we will hear about it.

Peter Harrison
Eliza 1970 SPL

[Linda]

Maybe the new Tour will emphasize reasonable speed. Maybe the drivers will emphasize it too.
Peer pressure on the show-offs might work.
I personally would just call the cops if I saw that. If the organizers suggested everyone did that for the speed demons that might be a deterrent. I doubt it would happen though because many people don't like to "get involved".

Linda
68 1600

[todd lorber]

Dave, this sounds very interesting. Can you give more information on the route?

[TRE Cup]

Todd
The route starts in Moorpark, follows some of the canyons to Ojai, then beyond to Lockwood, then Frazier Park, Pine Mountain, drops down to Maricopa, and then Taft for lunch. After lunch we take 33 to 58 and head west to Paso Robles for the first nite
Friday will have us exploring most of the twisties with a jaunt to Carmel/Monterey area and back to Paso again for the night
Saturday- we have an all hands breakfast in Creston, then a suggested route home

As a Thursday thru Sat am event, the roads are usually much less travelled by the public; which is why Ed and friends organized the original Iron Bottom in the first place

Over the top driving is indeed that; over the top. The porsche mentioned was actually doing 141 (saw the gps myself) and the place where he did it was a VERY empty stretch of 25 where you could see for miles in either direction.

This event was never meant to hijack the IB, and Ed was planning to quit it anyway. It certainly was not just the Porsche drivers that were guilty, but other marque drivers over the years that displayed over exuberance as well. Personally, I came up on a gorgeous 311 this year coming out of Pine Mountain and he decided to push a lot harder and within 2 turns almost caused a disaster. My very relaxed cruising speed far outweighed his capabilities. Was it the car? No- the driver should have checked his ego and slowed down. (I was NOT pushing him)
These type of events are not easy to do as there is a large discrepancy in driver ability, conditions, car preparation, and attitudes. We want to promote a fun time and expect people to be considerate and reasonable

[todd lorber]

I went on a run with the Porsche group on New Years day through Angeles Crest. It was a blast. Thankfully I had a ski hat and gloves on because at one point I noticed snow on the side of the road, (I have no top for my car).

There were a couple of Z's, my car, 2 or 3 others and the balance were around 70 Porsches. I didn't see any examples of eggregiously unsafe driving.

I hope to do it again next year. Hopefully we can get some more roadsters out there.

[todd lorber]

Is anyone here planning on going on this? It is right in the back yard of you Central California people. I'm trying to get permission from the wife-if not I'll probably have to seek forgiveness. It looks like a nice vintage driver's tour, and though mostly Porsches, there look to have been some other cool cars in the past. I found a link showing some pictures and comments from last year.

Lets get some 311's to represent!

http://www.early911sregistry.org/forum/ ... hp?t=20194" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mraitch]

nope - not me