2002 MUSR (Mid US 914 Ramble)

We renamed MUSR 4 the Mid US RainRamble (MUSRR), because it drizzled for 4 days. The nice weather we expected showed up Sunday afternoon and really came out in force on Monday...lasted all the next week. Darn!

This year, we met in beautiful SE Oklahoma. This part of the state has some of the best Porsche roads anywhere. For example Oklahoma State routes 1 and 2. We explored both of them. Our headquarters was the Kerr Mansion south of Poteau for 2 days. We then rambled over to the Belle Starr Lodge at Robbers Cave. Both were great locations!

While the wet weather didn't cause anything to be canceled, it did encourage us to spend more time indoors and talk. We bonded a lot...

We had 52 people and 23 cars this year, down somewhat from previous years. We have a little bit of money left, which will be used for next year's event.

Can you believe that my navigator didn't see the sign to the Runestones and we drove around for hours in the dark, leading a P-train? Everyone else saw the sign but didn't say diddly. Later in the event, they gave me a WONDERFUL "Crimson Shaft" award that Lawrence "Rusty" Bonkoski made, for devotion to duty beyond all reason or the biggest screw up or something. Oh joy...

After the futile search for the Runestones, we had a Halloween party. About half the people came in uniform. No tricks...just treats. We may do this again, in spite of the fatality at Turn 10 of Mid Ohio. Joe Yoder wore part of his costume all weekend. I think he was trying for the Dave Darling look--pony tail and all!

A couple of entrants went back and actually found the Runestones the next morning. The effect would have been better on Halloween night in the dark!

The seminars were WONDERFUL!!! Jon Lowe's session about the "Evolution of the 914" was superb. He presented a few pictures nobody had ever seen before, plus we learned a lot about how and why the 914 came to be. Most importantly, we learned how lucky we are that some of the proposed designs never made it to production!

Dave Darling's talk about "Suspension 101" was equally well attended and generated lots of good discussion, including arguments about the best setup. But the panel discussion about "Why would you ever want to become a CW"...well, it was actually called, "How and Why to Prepare Your Car for Concours, was the best of all.

The climax of this seminar was when Jean Yoder (a retired physician and 1st time MUSR attendee) stood up (everybody else just asked questions sitting down) and announced that she had found a new career. She now understands Joe better, because she understands that all his friends are terribly sick. Even has a clue what is wrong with us and thinks she can help us. Next year, after going back for a psych refresher, she will conduct group therapy. She doesn't understand that we are in denial and don't WANT to be cured... Everyone agreed that Jean is a saint to put up with Joe and his obsession with old German sports cars. This weekend, she saw that Joe is not alone in his obsession.

Jean liked MUSR 4 and plans to return...plus, she has work to do. Actually, I think she liked us and is starting to get an obsession? Shhh.

The Winding Stair Mountains were fogged in. Bummer! The fox didn't like the fog either. Neither of us saw the other until too late. Oh, yes...Al Swanson collected the "Deerslayer" award this year, but not in the fog on the Mountain. It's been 2 years since the last one was awarded. The car was drivable. The deer wasn't. But the tension of driving in the fog was somewhat forgotten when we got to the lodge at Queen Wilhelmina and sat down for dinner. Nobody was hungry or in a hurry as they drove back through the fog!

We had the Concours in the rain. Went like this: Each car was driven under the portico in front of the Kerr Mansion and the peanut gallery inside the lobby (where it was warm and dry) would clap and agree on a score. Rusty would write the scores down. Then the next car would drive up. [Actually, we did it the old fashioned, wet way. But if there had been a portico...]

John Swanson ended Rich Johnson's monopoly and took home the "Peoples Choice" award, the coveted Hildreth Trophy. The new-this-year "Elegance" award went to Charles Stephens from New Ulm, MN. He also took home the Long Distance Award...for driving about 750 miles each way.

The rain dissolved a diode in Betty Perrine's alternator, so Clay and Dave Darling made a quick trip to the local AutoZone looking for a 914 alternator. No such luck. Instead, they picked up a couple of spare batteries, a charger, and hurried to re-join the tour over to the Belle Starr Lodge.

Before dinner on Saturday, we took Clay Perrine's tech quiz. It was quite fiendish, with some questions about real minutiae. And some very good ones--the 914-6 relay board question was very tricky! [Seems like it is traditional to have a relay board question at MUSR...] This year marked the demise of Ed Mayo's long reign as Ramble Tech Master. Jon Lowe won, with Dave Darling 2nd. Ed was 3rd. But there was only one point separating each of them!

The banquet on Saturday evening was fun, especially considering the thousands of $$$ of door prizes that Rich Johnson collected. Everyone got something, thanks to our generous sponsors:

   • Lawrence Bonkoski: 914-6 Poster & Trophies
   • Zims Autotechnik: Misc 914 Parts & Acessories + Parts for Trophies
   • PCA: PCA National Subsidy, PCA Technical Committee Rep, Insurance and Paperwork
   • Pelican Parts: Misc 914 Parts & Acessories + Dave Darling
   • Restoration: Metal Restoration Parts
   • German Parts and Restoration: Misc 914 Parts & Acessories
   • H&H Enterprises: 914-6 Light Flywheel & H-3 Fog Light Conversion Kits
   • Stainless Systems Inc: 914 Heat Exchanger Set
   • Al Swanson: 914 Solid Transmission Mounts
   • Ed Mayo: 914 Maintenance Items
   • 914 Limited Inc: Longitudinal Reinforcement Kit
   • Boardwalk Porsche: 914-6 Fender Flares
   • High Performance: Bursch 2.0L Muffler
   • Metric & Multistandard Components Corp: Metric Fastener Catalogs
   • The 914 Network: Umbrella Targa Cover & 914-6 Conversion Shift Rod
   • Rich Johnson: 914-6 Engine Conversion Mount & 914 Trailing Arm Reinforcement Kit
   • ArtechnikA.com: Porsche Art Painting
   • Kerry Herr: Top Rear Seals

For more information, logos, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc, go to the MUSR 4 Sponsors page.

Please support/recognize these businesses and individuals and say "Thanks" when you can!

Oh, yes: the drink statistics:

We had 3 wines on Saturday evening...Merlot, White Zin, and Chablis. We drank all the Merlot, half the Zin, and none of the Chablis. But it would have been different if 911 owners had been there and if we had cheese (which we didn't). I didn't get a tally of the beer, but since it was all 3.2% stuff it probably doesn't matter.

In contrast to the beer and wine on Saturday evening, we drained the coffee pot on Sunday morning. This was mostly a result of the contingent that was up until 5 AM Sunday, drinking some sort of hard stuff. They mostly didn't make the morning tour over to the Cave, the subsequent exercise, and the group pictures. Even the sick and lame survived the hike up to the Cave...but not the hung over contingent. You can look and see who is missing from the pictures and figure all this out. BTW, there is a "ringer" in the picture at right. A little white haired lady joined us and smiled broadly for the camera. Can you find her? Her husband was shy...

But the 5 AM group was so mellow (or inebriated?) that they took up a collection and coerced Ron Mott to give it to us (he may have been the only one of the group able to stand?)...suggesting that we treat ourselves to a fancy breakfast on the way home. Much appreciated, guys, but look as we did, there was no place in Oklahama to spend that much on breakfast! Had we not collected 6-months worth of beer and wine, the donation could have been used for beverages. I guess we'll have to use it more creatively, like doing something nice for Jean, who has some pending education costs...

The box that Rusty made for storing my "Shaft" was nice, but it didn't fit in a fully packed 914 very well. But it will be good to have, as it completely hides the "Shaft" from view. We did get it in the car.

After packing the car, we drove across the highway to pay for the last 2 meals and Darlene (the food lady for the Belle Starr) mentioned that we didn't drink enough! She had several cases of beer and half of the wine left. Since she doesn't drink the stuff, she wanted us to buy it and haul it away! We explained that we didn't have much room...little green car...4 days of clothes, spare parts, tools, leftover T-shirts, cameras, etc. Plus a hideous red trophy in a functional Oak casket.

But we felt sorry for her, so we hauled her cooler out to the car and stuffed 63 cans of beer in all the little nooks and crannies in the car, then found a place for two 5-liter boxes of California's finest box wine (we couldn't afford the jug stuff) in the car. This devotion to duty is especially notable if you realize that the beer is Oklahoma beer...3.2% stuff! There is an old urban legend that Dr. Pepper is the drink of choice to clean out the oil passages in crankshafts... I may pour some of this "beer" into the cute casket Rusty made and see if 3.2% beer will dissolve the entire "shaft" before next year?

We had a some special guests this year. John Straub, who is the Special Interest Group Coordinator and his wife Monique, flew in from San Diego to see what all the excitement is about. John, BTW, has a 914-6 race car. Gudmund Olsson and his cute girlfriend, Rikke Hallengren, flew over to the US to pick up a car and timed the trip to attend the Ramble. We enjoyed and appreciated these guests. They all seemed to have fun.

Of course, our regular "special" guests were there: Ed and Jan Mayo, Dave Darling, and Jon Lowe. They always contribute a lot to these Rambles.

MUSR 4 was hosted by Cimarron Region. Thank you John McDermott for all your help! The other helpers were:

   • Lawrence Bonkoski: Designed/fabricated trophies and organized the Car Show/Concours/Car Wash

   • Clay Perrine: Wrote the Tech Quiz

   • The Davises: Constructed the Rallye/Tours, handled registration, and did the T-shirts and caps

   • Diane Johnson: Prepared cute goodie bags and name badges

   • Rich Johnson: Door prizes

Thanks guys!

    The following are the results of the competitive events at the 2002 Mid US 914 Ramble.