Nearly 40 Porsches lined Canal Street in the Village at Winona Saturday for the 2015 Porsche Festival.
Village Managing Director Jeremy Marsh said this was the first year for the all-exclusive Porsche Festival. In 2014 an antique car show was a part of the event, but that was dropped this year.
“It’s something different for the community,” Marsh said.
Winona Lake is in the middle of the Michiana and Central Region Indiana Porsche Clubs so it’s a good location to bring them together, he said. The festival is good not only for the Porsche clubs but also the Village at Winona, he said.
The Porsche Club of America is celebrating its 60th year, having been founded in 1955.
Michael Koop, Fort Wayne, has owned his 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 for a little over two years.
“It’s extremely fun. The handling is incredible,” he said.
While he likes Mustangs, Koop said they don’t make Mustangs with all-wheel drive like they do with Porsches.
“Performance over power,” he said.
Koop said he only puts 3,000 to 4,000 miles a year on his car, and then only in good weather.
He has added some touches of his own to the Porsche to “black it all out,” he said. He’s also added LED sidemarkers and tail lights just to distinguish it.
With the upgrades he’s made to it – including $6,000 for the back wing – he estimated his car would go for around $30,000.
Asked how fast it goes, he said he read 185 is the top speed. “I have driven it 147 miles per hour,” he said.
Art Gakstatter has owned his white 1979 Porsche 930 Turbo for 15 years. He bought it two days before a Mid-Ohio Vintage Grand Prix.
In the 15 years he’s owned the 1979 Porsche, he said he’s only put 4,000 miles on it. He enjoys putting it away, only getting it out to clean up and then display at events like the Village at Winona Porsche Festival.
“It’s enjoyable for me,” he said.
The car is pretty much the way he bought it, but with upgraded wheels and a little paint work.
“I just made it cleaner and fresher,” Gakstatter said.
He also owns three other Porsches: a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo, a 1980 Porsche Targa and a 1998 Porsche Boxster. He plans to sell the Boxster.
Of his four Porsches, Gakstatter said he prefers the 1979 car.
“It’s gone up in value every year,” he said. “The Boxster has gone down. There’s no demand for the Turbo and I’ll probably sell the Targa for what I paid for it. I do like Porsches.”
Don and Beth Hass, Elkhart, own two Porsches, but only had their 1986 Porsche 911 at the festival Saturday. Their other Porsche is a 1973 Porsche 914.
Don said they’ve owned the 1986 Porsche for 21 years. It averages 5,000 miles a year now, but Beth previously used it as a daily driver so it has 124,000 miles on it. It was out of commission for six years, Don said.
“It’s fun,” he said. “It’s a great car. It’s a great car to drive in, it’s a great car to drive.”
Beth said she used to drive it daily, but now that they’ve restored it, she’s afraid to because she doesn’t want another shopping cart to put a dent in it. Don is more daring with it, she said.
“I’ve had it over 100 (mph). And it still could go more,” Don said.
Beth said she’s gone over 100 mph in it too, and likes the way it was engineered.
“It’s worth what we paid for it,” Don said.
Nicknamed “Greenbean,” a 1969 Porsche 912 owned by Maureen Arata stood out between a black 1986 Porsche 930 Slant Nose Turbo and a red 1963 Porsche 356 T6B.
According to information posted on a sign on Greenbean’s window, the 1969 Porsche was originally bought by Ray Nagle in Derlan, N.J. Nagle had an estimate done on rebuilding the car’s engine, but once he saw the price tag he decided against it.
Nagle took the car and engine home and it sat at his house until his death in 2004. It was then titled to his granddaughter, Kristin Schoenig.
The Porsche was forgotten for nine years until it was listed in Excellence Magazine and bought by Mark Chaney.
Chaney rebuilt the engine and listed it in 2014. It was then bought – sight unseen – by Jim and Maureen Arata. They then gave it the nickname of Greenbean.
(Story by The Times Union)
