2014 LA Lit Show weekend

[John Z Goriup]

Since the following material is not confined only to Phoenix Club coverage, rather, sets of photos at multiple venues I visited during my past weekend in the Los Angeles area, I feel safe in starting a new thread without incurring Chuck's wrath by not combining my contribution with the existing Phoenix club photos, which seem to have been expertly handled by "Flieger"……..well done, Max.

As you probably saw on the Phoenix Club thread, one factor pretty much dominated the entire weekend……WEATHER.

Yes, we need the water desperately, since California is experiencing the worst draught in the state's history, but the arrival of the huge storm dumping billions of tons on us all at once overwhelmed the infra-structure, caused almost immediate local flooding everywhere, since the parched soil just wasn't able to soak up all the water, so much of it resulted in run-offs contributing to mudslides, power outages, monumental traffic problems and from a more immediate personal interest standpoint, caused massive disruptions at the majority of the planned events at various venues participating in the Lit Show weekend events. The rain, downright hostile & totally unpredictable weather conditions forced many open house hosts to move their precious inventory inside, using up most of their available space, so when the guests arrived, everyone dashed inside to stay dry, making for extrememly crowded circumstances, making friendly, relaxed conversation, viewing of the displays and quality photography damn near impossible, you had to revert to flash, always the worst option of all, in short, as far from ideal conditions as possible.

The good news, the show(s) went off very well, spirits and attendance remained surprisingly high, and it was very obvious that almost everyone decided to simply enjoy the show's many genuinely pleasant aspects, inspite of whatever minor inconvenience the weather threw at us. Many came from areas of sub-zero conditions, massive snow pack and unprecedented rain, so even our foul ( for LA ) conditions were a vast improvement for them, but undiminished enthusiasm seemed to prevail for every aspect of the weekend, people still got deals, found things they'd been looking for and meet friends they hadn't seen in ages.

Hats off and my sincere compliments and genuine admiration to all the "true" early 911 and Porsche aficionados who appearantly never gave a moment's thought to frivolous, irrelevant considerations of value or reduction in parceived value or what rain might do to their precious cars, rather their first thought was to join the fun, allow the rest of the Porsche community see their cars, and if the damned thing got wet, well, so be it, they were meant to be driven first and preserved like holy relics second. It was particularly gladdening to see that the majority of the cars at the Phoenix Club were those of the "old-school" core members of this Registry, R Gruppe, and others totally committed to truly enjoying their Porsches ……..men who stand by their stated beliefs and put them into action no matter the circumstances….they drove their cars as always, Thank you !

I am starting out with a set of 5 random photos to illustrate the general tone of the weekend, and to give you an idea of what it was like to spend time in the LA area the last few days, then segueing into sets of 5 shots each from each of the various venues I was able to attend. Photo-wise I came away with about half the shots I normally take, so choice is rather limited this year, and I hope you will understand that I want to retain the best to send to John Dilger for the next issue of the ESSES. My biggest problem is that I was forced to use flash most everywhere, and I readily admit that I hate flash because I'm not very good nor experienced at using it, and obviously image quality suffered greatly this time around as a result of my shortcomings in flash photography….I'm just glad to have gotten some photos.

Thanks for looking

JZG

[John Z Goriup]

The first stop Friday AM was Wilhoit Restorations open house. One of the traditional mainstays of the LA Lit Show weekend, John's opne house is always a consistently good start to the weekend. The cars on display, whether done years ago and merely in for service, new completed restorations or builds-in-progress are always done to the highest standards, innovative, his metal and paint work remain unexcelled, and John and his poeple are always ready to answer any questions completely and informatively.

You will see fabled cars that have won some of the world's premier Concours that are in for service or refreshing, see evidence of truly fine workmanship, extraordinary examples of the best 356s anywhere and witness displays of automotive refinishing that in my opinion has no equal anywhere. The red '64 Carrera GS on the rack, for instance, the overall Best of Show of last year's Dana Point Concours is simply extraordinary ( front suspension shown ). The clarity, brilliance and depth of the red paint is stunning. Wilhoit's 911 restorations are just as thorough, well-researched and well-done as his efforts with the 356 generation cars. The Pastel Blue front end shows John's personal 911 driver, and serves as an effective lesson in precisely how and where to mount the lights he's selected.

This time around, the customary, extremely reasonably priced outdoor customer dyno-sessions had to be cancelled due to the rain, all cars were displayed inside, leaving less room for guests to view the cars and take photos, but John was kind enough to allow me access before the doors officially opened, thus permitting unhindered photography.

All in all, a wonderful way to kick off a consistently great weekend……….please see more in the next ESSES.

JZG

[John Z Goriup]

My second stop on Friday was Steve Hogue Enterprises's shop in Torrance. Not the largest of shops, every cubic inch is filled with machinery, tools, raw materials for fabricatiion and cars in dire need of expert metal fabrication ranging from replacement panels to the complete recreation of a 550 Spyder body, for example. Workmanship is consistently excellent, thorough, done in the correct material or to a client's special wishes and invariably based on research and constant reference to original blueprints or measured from actual known examples of the model being worked on.

At the moment the project carrying the highest priority is 911 R, Ser.# 019, requiring extensive repair and reconstruction. Please note the ultra-rare glimpses of details of this iconic Porsche model. It was pretty much all I could shoot effectively, since unfortunately, at the time of my visit the skies opened and drove everyone inside, creating a real scrum and severly restricting the ability to take clear, uncluttered photos.

Watching Steve working the visitors, one gets the impression that here's a man of infinite patience and the nicest of guys, who answered every question put to him and seems remakably generous in sharing his very broad knowledge and experience with metal-working.

A most pleasant experience, highly recommended to be put on every interested visitor's list…….personally, I'm looking forward to a warm sunny day with lots of the projects displayed outside and good light next year…….more in the ESSES.

P{S: I very much wanted to visit California Porsche Restorations in Fallbrook, about 80 miles South of Los Angeles, but I gotta tell you, after spending the entire prvious day in the car driving to LA, given the weather and my lack of familiarity with the area I simple chickened out and decided to pass on that visit. Dilger however was there , see his report and photos on CPR in the upcoming ESSES.

JZG

[John Z Goriup]

Stop #3 was Saturday morning's actual LA Lit show in the LAX Hilton's Ballroom halls. There was a notable increase over last year in the number of exhibitors, with more tables, more vendors and interesting goods being offered. Equally notable was the increase in international visitors, where I experienced literally minutes of walking the aisles without hearing a word of English, just German, Dutch, French, Italian etc. It seems the event is really growing in stature and is atracting collectors of memorabilia and Porsche related item from all over the globe - naturally the cheap dollar helps immeasurably…………but it's good to see theb Lit show stepping out of its California boundaries and becoming a global Porsche happening. Also adds greatly to the choice of items on display.

The "Early Birds " are allowed in 2 hours ( 7:00 AM ) before the doors are opened to the general public at 9:00 AM for a slight premium in the price of admission, and if you are seeking something specific that's obviously a significant advantage. It is my estimate that by 7:30 or 8:00 AM there were as many visitors in the halls as there were at the busiest time of the morning last year………highly encouraging and really promising for the long-term future of this event.

Another reason it's so much fun, especially this year, is that you're inside a very comfortable world-class hotel, completely independent of the weather, and if you're an out-of-town visitor, you take the elevator downstairs from your room and start enjoying a very accessible & rewarding Porsche people experience, as I hope the attached photos show.

The only downside of the Lit show, at least from my standpoint is that the lighting in the Ballrooms is awful…..there's really no alternative to using flash, my great nemesis in photography, with predictably mediocre results as you can see in the attached photos. I apologize and promise to learn how to do this part better.

Photo #2: Paul Abbot manning his minimalist and Oh-so-interesting and informative display. His work on Weber, Solex and Zenith carburetors is rapidly becoming known as the finest in the industry as many of his customers on this board can attest.

Photo #3: A wonderfully hale Roger Grago (center) with veteran Porsche driver Patrick Long (left) and Roger's close friend Mike S.

Photo #4: Jim Breazeale, owner of EASY ( left - gray shirt) and son Richard manning their display. I just can't imagine how many of us could ever have built our cars without Jim's and Richard's invaluable assistance, knowledge and availability of damn near impossible-to-find bits and pieces.

Photo #5: Nicolas Hunziger (right) and Chad McQueen in Hunziger's booth.

JZG

[John Z Goriup]

Stop #4 on late Saturday afternoon was Carparc in Costa Mesa. Unfortunately I arrived at the exact moment the rain was at its worst. Not a lot of useful photos since conditions inside the showroom simply weren't condusive to taking pictures, and I was rushing to get to the next stop before nightfall…….sorry.

JZG

[Flieger]

Small correction: it is Hunziker, though I don't know if it is Nikolas or Nicholas. That is a rare shot that Pat Long doesn't look small!

[John Z Goriup]

Small correction: it is Hunziker, though I don't know if it is Nikolas or Nicholas. That is a rare shot that Pat Long doesn't look small!

Max,

it was my genuine pleasure to finally meet you at European Collectibles the other day.

Re Hunziger's first name, I'm afraid it's neither of the above choices. I am attaching a shot of his Company's business card with the correct spelling of his name shown in his e-mail address.

JZG

[Flieger]

Max,

it was my genuine pleasure to finally meet you at European Collectibles the other day.

Re Hunziger's first name, I'm afraid it's neither of the above choices. I am attaching a shot of his Company's business card with the correct spelling of his name shown in his e-mail address.

JZG

Well, then I guess we are even.

I was likewise happy to finally meet you after viewing your many wonderful photos here. Case in point: the epic photo of the day thread.

[Bavaria911]

Is that Steve's son standing with all the posters.

[Flieger]

Is that Steve's son standing with all the posters.

Yup, that's Chad. He's a cool guy. I've met him a few times at a local biker hangout in the canyons and he is a calm, cool guy. Very humble and he remembers me even after several months between meetings. He is usually driving a 1970 911T that is built to a sort of narrowish ST spec. RS flares, fiberglass, lightweight interior, etc. It is a light orange- I think Signal.