Thinking of joining PCA. Worthwhile?
 

As the title says, I'm considering joining the Porsche Club of America. Found out
we do have a local chapter though all of the events tend to take place an hour
drive or more away, I'm wondering if it's worth joining as I likely won't be able
to attend most events.

Yes.

Why?

1. The PCA members magazine, Panorama, is almost as good as the well respected Porsche magazine Excellence.
2. You'll get weekly emails about Porsche events all over Central and NorCal.
3. You might meet a couple of others who are in your local area and you can form a bit of a local sub-group and be in contact with them more often since they are closeby.
4. If you ever wanted to do a track day, autocross, concours, rally, or any one of the many other activities, the PCA is a great way to get started.
5. The PCA people you meet will almost always be very nice.
6. An hour drive in a great sports car to get to a great event is an opportunity.
7. If you ever move, you'll have an easy way to meet new Porsche people in your new location.
8. Give it a fair try and put some effort into it and you might be surprised at what you get out of it.

Best of luck!

Thinking of joining PCA. Worthwhile?
 

Not really interested in track days (did lots of that as a teen). But the rest are reason enough. Thanks!
Just joined. We'll see how it goes :) Thanks

Yes, but I'm biased. Just got home from a PCA BoD meeting. My wife and I have made new friends with some really nice people. Gone on some nice group trips/drives. What chapter are you considering?

From a purely financial view, you get a monthly subscription to PCA's Panorama magazine. Dealers will give you a 10% discount on parts and service. Most indy shops will also honor the discounts. (In my case, my membership has paid for itself via parts savings.) You can tap into a network of people who really know these cars and where to take your car for help.

Here is the link to their webpage that goes into more details. https://www.pca.org/membership-benefits

Thinking of joining PCA. Worthwhile?
 

Zone 7, in California. Sequoia region I believe they call it. My one concern is, my car is a Boxster... I've met a lot of snobs in the Porsche world.

New PCA member. Where to put the decal?
 

Just joined PCA but, I am very much averse to placing decals anywhere on my
vehicle. To me, it's a sacrilege to do so. Always has been. Honestly, I don't like
stickers/decals. I find them to be cheap looking. Don't want to hurt the paint,
don't want to block the view and certainly could never place it on the plastic
rear window so, what do You do? I don't honestly care if anyone knows I'm a
PCA member, not knocking them just, don't care about false status.

Do some track events... it will teach you that car, and your car will be the better for it. There is a distinct difference between a guy who “owns” a Porsche and a guy who “is” a Porsche. There will be a few in the club, but generally that’s not the case. My chapter is all over the place with 914s all way up to gt3’s. It’s all good!

+1 on what Tom said.

Like any organization or relationship anywhere, you will likely get out of PCA what you put into it. For me that means lifelong friendships and a large network of people who are far more talented and connected than I am. If you sign up thinking this volunteer organization is there to serve you, it will probably be disappointing. Get actively involved and have some shared experiences with other enthusiasts.

Snobs? Sure, every organization everywhere has em. Car clubs, yacht clubs, churches, business associations, musicians, homeowners associations etc. Yep the world is ripe with them. They are as thick as rats everywhere. Who cares? We have three ways to deal with car snobs: We can hide from them, simply ignore them, or drive around them on the race track. Choose the method that works best for you.

We were sitting around the campfire one night at a PCA event and I casually noticed there were 3 MDs, 1 hospital CEO, 2 engineers, 1 Chemist PhD, 1 Nuclear physicist, 1 Planetary astrophysicist, 2 small business owners, and 2 Porsche master mechanics. We all called each other friends, chased each other around the track, trash-talked each other in the pits, and helped each other change wheels, bleed brakes, diagnose issues, exchange track data, and looked out for each other when someone might have had too much to drink. That one event was worth a year PCA membership to me. There are a lot of those events.

You get out of it what you put into it.

Sounds like PCA is better than the London chapter of PCGB. All i've found there is a load of elitist snobs who are very cliquey.

ehh, depends strongly on the region and how into cars you are.

I disagree with Tom, Panorama is a terrible magazine and after about 5 minutes of looking at the pics, it goes in the trash.

Some regions are very active and do good events. Others are more sit and chat oriented, which can get old. Some regions the track events are like the wild west while others are like nazi germany. Its very region dependent.

Further, if you like the occasional chat about cars, I think its more interesting to go to the local cars and coffee where you get a variety of cars, not just porsches.

I became a member solely for the discount on track days, I have no use for the other stuff.

The decal you get from PCA is a static cling decal that goes on the interior of the windshield, I've got mine down low on the passenger side, it doesn't block the view and is easy to move around and reposition if needed. In fact this decal was on my previous windshield that was cracked by a rock and I moved it to the new windshield. That one along with the Boxster register decal (to the left) and the 60th anniversary decal were reused, the rest are exterior vinyl and I had to get new ones dang it.

Way back when it was the only decal I had, it was in the very corner of the passenger side. It looks good there, try it :)

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1514987707.jpg

It kind of blends in with the other decals though on mine :)

And +1 to all the stuff thstone said above about joining PCA, I too am about 45 minutes to an hour away - they do have socials and dinners around every month or so, and they had a car show at a nearby airport, and while I have only been to a few, that combined with the folks I see every few months at the track events, I have made a lot of new friends :) And the Panorama magazine is pretty good too. :cheers:

And welcome to here, even with the various FB groups (and I really like the Boxster Outlaw one) - this 986forum is in my opinion the premier 986 Boxster hangout and technical resource.

I got lucky and my home region (Florida Crown) is a good fit for me. The few times I have gone to the dinners or social events I feel like youngster but everybody was always really friendly.

I am also lucky in that we have several good regions down here that do track events - Florida Crown, Florida Citrus Region, Coastal Empire, Suncoast. All are well run, while some do permit more (albeit) mild shenanigans than others.

When Coastal puts on a DE they have a BBQ at the hotel saturday nights with live music put on by some of their members, one of which has some connection to the Allman brothers band. I don't know exactly what the connection is, but she rocks on the electric guitar.

The others usually have pizza at the track or back at the hotel Friday nights.

I had forgotten about the discount but that is a nice perk as well :cheers:

I've been considering joining even though I'm close to two hours away from any activities. Been thinking about it for 4 years and the above posts convinced me to become a member though I doubt I'll be able to get to many events. The check is digitally in the mail.
Larry
The Bald Eagle

The NER region is extremely friendly and runs some terrific events. Not targeted at Bald Eagle, but readers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

PCA membership is 46 bucks a year. The magazine alone is worth that even if Quadcammer doesn't like it :). I look forward to Panorama each month as well as Excellence.

Our club just celebrated its 50th anniversary. We had a dinner with Hurley Haywood as our keynote speaker.

"It's not just the cars, it's the people".

PCA is my one exception to the Grouch Marx rule: I will never join a club that would have a person like me as a member. My 18 yo 986S gets (almost) as many compliments as the 1973 911 RS that regularly shows up at our GTGs - for different reasons, but there is little snobbery here. Nice cars. Nice folks.

I've been a member for a long time, but as was called out in our latest Panorama, the Suncoast chapter seems to be an aging group. Unfortunately, I haven't attended many of the functions because it's like going to a geriatric convention. When I'm the youngest guy at the event, well, that says something! :D

I will say however that the autocross and track days at Sebring are definitely awesome!

Have been to more than a few dinners with Hurley when he was the VP of the former Brumos Porsche. :)

I disagree with Quad, Panorama is an excellent magazine for the membership cost alone plus it's digital as well. With my PCA membership I get discounted insurance from Leland-West (garaged and not driven that much), plus reductions on parts if I need to hit the dealer (honestly sometimes they're cheaper than going online).

I have my PCA decal on the bottom driver's side. Hell, I even put one on my Subaru in the same spot. It's not a lie. :D

I should rejoin. Maybe it is better now.


I was with the Santa Barbara region for a few years. The egomaniac president really turned me off. I was sitting at a table for breakfast and mentioned that I belonged to the "R GRUPPE" the guy next to me went off on a street racing rant that would not end.

I was leaving one meeting behind a member and his wife, as they walked by by 1973 Carrera RS he commented on the primer on a fender we were fixing....."why would you bring and old piece of junk like that to a PCA meeting" he quipped.

I really should give it another try.

Wow that’s interesting. How long ago was this? Older air cooled have been a hot market lately so i would assume they would be drooling over it.

For the OP. Joining PCA for me was probably the best thing I did since owning a Porsche. I was a Porsche owner for 13 years before joining. Was I glad I did. Like some others I’m not a track guy but don’t mind attending once in a great while. A lot of fun when I’m there. The best part i like are the get together, weekend get away tours and Porsche Parade. I attend as many as my schedule allows and I haven’t been bored yet. In 10 years of PCA membership I’ve been to 3 Parades, one Escape and countless driving tours. Enjoyed each one of them.

I hear rumors that next year or 2020 Parade will be in San Diego. I heard the last one there was one of the best Parade in decades.

One on my Jeep as well. Why not? And I think Pano is very good. If nothing else it has very high production quality.

Well, there is ALWAYS THAT guy/gal.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! For $46 a year you get access to the mag, the discounts, the track/AX events and schools, driving tours, social events and many other things. But, as the saying goes, it’s not just the cars, it’s the people. I’ve made several strong friendships through my membership, and while there will always be those that you may not think highly of in any group - you can just ignore them and gravitate towards those you do think highly of. Just ask someone about their car, and you will be certain to get an interesting conversation. Volunteer for events, and you’ll be certain to gain many new friends.


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Yep, and they are in every school, business, hospital, club, or association. I never take that scheit personally and think it reflects far more on the individual bozo than the organization. Seeking kindred spirits and ignoring the azzwipes works best I think.

That sounds about as good as the PCGB magazine then. All that has in it is lists of what all the clubs did the month before.

Goes in the trash without being opened now.

Rejoined PCA after a ~25 yr absence when I bought my 986 in Feb ‘17. Not yet active in Zone 1 CNY region but I plan to be starting this spring even though it’s generally ~2 hrs each way for me to get to events.

I rejoined to reconnect to the Porsche community, get a feel for what’s going on in the Porsche world these days and have access to the PCA web resources and provider referrals. I just joined the PCA 986 Register / forum last night. No idea yet how valuable that will be.

I like the production quality and content of Panorama and I accept it for what it is. For me, Panorama alone is worth the annual membership cost.

Like Robert K, I don’t do decals or stickers anywhere but on my garage walls. To each his own on this point. It’s good we have diverse likes and dislikes, too boring otherwise.

Regarding other peoples’ expressed opinions at events (and on the street for that matter) - whatever . . . as in any affinity group there are great people and there are j@ck@sses. Life is too short to let the bad people into my sphere of consciousness :)

GOOD POINT.......It was a few years ago, and I do like the new pres.

15 plus year member. Definitely worth the membership even if it's just for the magazine which has undergone a complete transformation in the last few years. It used to be just okay but it has certainly evolved into a high quality piece. Everything else the club offers is a plus and yeah just ignore the few asshats.