BOARDWALK REUNION 2019

by Kobus Reyneke


From the January / February 2020 Registry Magazine - With Bonus Photos

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Sadly, neither my high school in South Africa, nor the two US colleges I attended, ever arranged reunions of any sort. Despite my lack of experience with such events, when the Porsche Boardwalk Reunion was announced for Ocean City, New Jersey, many moons ago, I duly signed up and marked my calendar with great anticipation.

Somewhat a misnomer because the original event was a 356-only get-together, the first annual reunion invited Porsches of all vintages. Last year’s Porsche 356 Registry East Coast Holiday was a multi-day event that drew more than a hundred 356s onto the Ocean City boardwalk and many more in town. The October 2019 reunion attracted roughly twenty 356s and almost 300 other models. Ellen Beck and Bob Gutjahr once again ran the show with precision and enthusiasm.

The Porsche Club of America Zones 1 & 2 and the Porsche 356 Registry supported this year’s event at one of New Jersey’s most iconic boardwalks. The Jersey Shore’s most historic hotel—the charming Flanders—hosted the evening’s festivities, and the Atlantic Ocean served as the scenic backdrop. Porsche Cherry Hill and Hagerty were sponsors and, together with the PCA, set up tents at the Music Pier.

Like last year, I was recruited to do the evening cocktail hour and dinner video show, so my priority was to record a video of the cars driving onto the boardwalk, shoot a bunch of photos, and retreat to my hotel room to edit the photos and video. Luckily John Novotnak was on hand and took a photo of every Porsche as it drove onto the boardwalk, which I added to the evening’s video. Because I was busy doing the video, Chris Martella, who flew in from Detroit just for the event, kindly drove my cab onto the boardwalk.

The first Porsches started staging at the small local airport shortly after 8 a.m., and by 10 a.m. the roughly 300 cars were lined up by type. After Bob Gutjahr’s entertaining driver briefing (conducted from the roof of a huge U-Haul), and with goodie bags tucked away, the police-escorted procession started toward the boardwalk. Split into two rows, the boardwalk was soon filled with Porsches, and all the gaps between cars were quickly populated with appreciative spectators. Several hundred Porsches could be seen in the streets behind the boardwalk. Although it was off-season, most restaurants and shops were open and a huge crowd filled the boardwalk.

Lee Raskin, an expert on James Dean and his motorsports exploits, gave a fascinating presentation on one of the most famous Porsche 356 Speedsters—Dean’s “lost” 80126. Lee is known as an early Porsche historian, has authored several books, and is a regular contributor to this publication (see the first installment of his lost Speedster article elsewhere in the magazine). He’ll also be publishing a book on the Dean Speedster in 2020.

Other tech sessions included “356 and Early 911 Restoration Tales” by John Paterek, one of the world’s best Porsche restorers, who talked about his latest projects; “Classic Porsche Tool Kits” by Jerry Manna, a Northern New Jersey Region member and a 356 Registry guy, who talked about kits ranging from early 356s to 964s, as well as Boxster fun facts; and “The Boxster Through Time” with Pedro Bonilla, who also delivered a Boxster register tech quiz.

The evening’s banquet started off with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a delicious buffet dinner and some dancing.

And so my first-ever reunion turned out to be most pleasant, with the chance to meet friends old and new. Everything worked out well and I was able to put together a 30-minute video. Amusingly, several attendees took photos and videos of my video as their cars appeared on screen. (Link to video below.)