If you’ve been noticing a large number of vintage sports cars in gorgeous colors and shapes around Spokane today and wondering of some event is happening, you guessed right.
It’s the annual national meeting of Porsche enthusiasts, an event called the Porsche Parade.
The 2017 National Porsche Parade has come to town, bringing an estimated 2,500 enthusiasts and literally hundreds of the classic German sports cars to Spokane this week.
Monday was a Concours d’Elegance event in Riverfront Park, highlighting many Porches of the last 60 years in mint condition.
Event organizer Vu Nguyen says the importance of the Porsche marque to motorsport and automotive history cannot be overstated. Nguyen say, “There’s always a special aura about them because they were not the big motored high-powered cars, they were the lightweight, nimble, very efficient vehicles, and a lot of people can relate to that. They were the underdogs, and they also have a very iconic styling to them. If you look at the early 356’s to 911’s to the 911’s of today, you can see the DNA, how it has evolved, it hasn’t changed.”
Roy Hayashi is a Seattle resident, who like many who came from much further away, drove his 1967 Porsche 911 S that he bought brand new to the event. Like many Porsche fans, it was not unusual that he had held on to this car for so many years.
One person who didn’t have to drive too far for the Spokane event is Will Pitman of Athol, Idaho. But Pitman’s car may have made the longest journey to get to its present home. His 1958 model 356 was purchased by Pitman when he worked in Libya in 1971. The car was used before he bought it to run the Tripoli to Tobruk rally as a Mobile oil sponsored car.
He paid just 700 dollars for it, and used it as a daily driver in North Africa, and even when he moved back to Idaho. Pitman says, “It’s very fun to drive. It’s bullet proof. I rebuilt the motor 3 times. It probably has 300 thousand miles on it or more. It’s been all over North Africa, when I first moved to north Idaho, I took the front seat out and replaced it with a chain saw, a can of gas and oil. I was going to do some logging.”
The Parade of Porsche event continues all week in Spokane. Wednesday and Thursday the cars may be seen at the Northern Quest casino, participating in an autocross event. On Saturday, the cars will participate in a parade event starting at the Fairgrounds at 1pm, and winding up at the Davenport Hotel.