Over 35 Years
- Founded in 1972, the Las Vegas Region Porsche Club of America has been very active ever since.
We now have well over 300 members and run all types of events: Concours, Social, Charity, Family, Tech Sessions, Tours, Fun Runs,
Driver's Ed Track Events, Rallies, Autocross, Time Trials, and we will soon sponsor Club Racing.
In 1973 about 15 Porsche owners arranged an organizational meeting at the public library then located on East Flamingo
to begin the process of rounding up the 25 signatures necessary to apply
for a PCA region charter. In June, 1974 the charter ceremony was attended by several PCA officers.
Activities included a social at the home of Carl Young, cocktails and dinner at the Showboat,
an autocross, and a poolside get together in the afternoon. Volker Gurr was the first
Las Vegas Region President. In late December '74, a contest was held to choose a name for the monthly newsletter.
Doug Moir won with the name "Sandscript." The monthly newsletter first appeared as the Sandscript
beginning with the February '75 issue.
Our Las Vegas Region has been active for over 35 years, and today we are still very active with an average
of 3 to 7 events every month.
Typical activities are competitive driving events such as autocrosses,
time trials, club racing
and rallies. We also offer non-competitive events like racetrack driving schools,
tech sessions, fun rallies, social events
such as luaus, pool parties, brunches, lunches, cocktail parties, dinners and tours,
and other related events such as family picnics and charity events.
See our local Las Vegas Calendar, the southwestern United States Zone 8 Calendar, and the National Porsche Club of America Calendar:
History of the PCA
Over 55 Years
- Founded in 1955, the Porsche Club of America was originally founded by Bill Sholar of Alexandria, VA who placed an ad in a sports car magazine
to attract members. He wrote, "The main function of the club will be to act as a clearing house of
information on Porsches, owners and members. We hope that a good, strong, active Porsche Club will merit the recognition
and active cooperation from the Porsche works that we owners deserve."
We are fortunate to have Gene Bussian, a charter member of the PCA from over 55 years ago,
as an active Las Vegas Region member. Active in sports car racing of the period, Gene was originally published in the very first
issue of Panorama Magazine and continues to write articles for various Porsche magazines today. Gene has offered this account
of early PCA history and has also provided the many documents and vintage photographs seen here.
Gene's fascination with speed started when Gene climbed into his first Porsche. He loved and excelled at sports car racing
until 1967 when he retired from Porsche racing after 12 years of success.
Gene worked for Ferry Porsche at the Porsche factory in Germany in 1961 personally handling new car delivery for overseas buyers.
Gene Bussian was also the Chief Steward in the Porsche pits at Sebring for a number of years during the heyday of early Porsche
racing and in 1958 is credited with taking these historical photographs of race drivers Fangio and Moss.
Early PCA gatherings, which began in 1956, included a Parade of Porsches in Gaithersburgh, Maryland. Parades have been held every year since.
Club members from all across North America came together once a year for the parade and to participate in a week of competitive events,
socialize with old and new friends, learn about and enjoy their cars, and incidentally, conduct the business of the club.
The Porsche Parade is now a potpourri of social and competitive events, with seminars, boutique shopping, and tours adding
to the variety of activities. For many club members, the Parade is the highlight of the club year.
Today growth of the convention soon made parades logistically difficult. However, there's always a showing of a variety of Porsche models.
See the national PCA website for more about the Parade of Porsches.
In the 1960's the fledgling Porsche Club of America arranged charter flights for its members to Germany.
The word TreffenŽ was chosen for this event. "Treffen" is the German word for "getting together."
When the PCA members arrived at the Stuttgart airport, PORSCHE A.G. had dozens of 356's lined up waiting for their new owners.
Today, Treffen Tours are designed to provide
PCA members with a total Porsche experience in Germany including driving a Porsche as it was designed to be driven -
on the Autobahn with no speed limits.
Carl Young was one of the original Founding Members of the Las Vegas Region. He was also the Las Vegas Region Porsche Club Historian for many years.
In addition to holding the office of Club Historian, he was also a past President and very active as Driver's Ed Chairman.
A retired US Air Force fighter pilot, Carl owned and operated the Porsche Service Shop "Carl's Place" and was thus well known throughout the area.
Carl was active in many forms of motorsports events. In 1999 Carl Young drove the Silver State Classic Challenge and his wife Ellen
navigated for a First Place finish in the 165 mph class, missing the 165 mph target by just 104 TEN-THOUSANDTHS of a mile per hour. Carl Young
drove a 1996 virtually stock Twin Turbo except for safety-related upgrades such as a full roll cage, fuel cell, and fire system.
He averaged 164.9896 mph over the desert course.