No Rain, No Rain – that was the chant that kept going through my head in the last couple of weeks leading up to this year’s UCR Concours d’Elegance and Show & Shine event, reflecting what I heard on one of my very first albums, the Woodstock triple set, and my choice of car to bring out this year, a 1969 911T Coupe. Yes, admittedly, I am a vintage guy all the way! Of course, we always have a rain date set for this event but, as the racer’s saying goes – or maybe it’s my own: “If you bring it, you won’t need it!”, and so, in all the years since co-organizing my first UCR Concours in 2010, we’ve had to make use of the scheduled rain date only once. Even then, we could have just postponed by a couple of hours to let a violent storm pass through, but how does one make that call? Wait! Did I just now jinx next year’s event? Nah!
To be very frank, I love this event and over the years we have tried so many different things, different venues, reduced entry prices, different formats, and this year, a completely separate Full-Concours category and area – we keep learning, and the event keeps evolving. What I love about it, aside from the many different and beautiful Porsches of all models and vintages and colours we get to take in for just a few hours, is the interaction of the people at the event. This is one of the few UCR meets where people really come together to talk about, compare and even commiserate about their Porsches in a very friendly atmosphere. Every participant is a true enthusiast and has a smile on their face. This is an event where the whole family can come and participate, where the general public is invited to spectate free of charge (and even vote the for the People’s Choice winner), and where we invite ALL Porsche enthusiasts to participate, PCA membership not required. In a way, this is one of UCR’s truly big community outreach events, the other one being our annual Shift Into Spring open house. It is also an opportunity for our advertisers and supporters to be more personally involved, be present at the event, and put a face to the name of the person or company. This year we pushed for this aspect a little more and were successful in attracting no fewer than eight supporting sponsors, half of whom had never been involved in this event before. There’ll be more next year…
Another fantastic thing that has happened over the past two or three events is that we have been attracting more and more volunteers calling in to be part of the team. Some are repeaters, some are totally new to the event and even to the club – kudos to them for getting involved and getting the most out of UCR membership. We must be doing something right and had no fewer than 20 volunteer judges, plus 35 general helpers – incredible! Maybe it’s the free shirt and hat? Nah, I don’t think so! But we thank them all profoundly!
This article is not the place for getting into all the details but one for photos of beautiful Porsche cars and their enthusiast owners in the gorgeous setting of this year’s UCR Concours, Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls. Please see the side bars for more details on our event supporters and our volunteers and our class winners. In the Show & Shine category, we had every one of the 26 Porsche model classes covered, with the exception of the very early 356, the Taycan, and the Panamera. In the Full-Concours category, we had every one of the 10 classes of car models covered that the factory currently considers to be a Porsche Classic. We had incredible door prizes, ranging from many high-end goods and coupons provided by our generous advertising sponsors, we had three $600 Porsche car models made available by UCR, we had beautiful goodie bags for every participant filled with items provided by our sponsors and a very nice event grill badge memento designed by yours truly, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Porsche and the 60th year of the 911. At 25 bucks to enter, I don’t see why any Porsche enthusiast would not want to be part of this awesome show – you can’t afford not to be!
I want to offer a special thanks to John Cappella, President and CEO of Porsche Canada, to agree to participate and be the Grand Marshall of the event and to hang out with us the entire time, give a presentation on Porsche in its 75th year, AND bring the super-rare and awesome new Porsche 911 Dakar to the show! John is a true Porsche enthusiast and we loved having him there! Sincere thanks must also go to Porsche Centre Oakville, our title sponsor, and to our Premier Sponsors and Advertising Sponsors listed on these pages in a sidebar. The UCR Concours would not be possible without their generous support.
We count on seeing you all at THE Porsche Gathering of the Season next year!
PS. Thanks to Provinz Contributing Editor, Marc Etherington for prompting me to think about this event and my involvement a bit more than I normally would!
Photography By Frank Tsang & Eshel Zweig
SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS
Judges’ Choice: Philip Eeles – 1997 993 Carrera S
People’s Choice, Awarded by JRP: Kye Wankum – 1969 911T
Best Presented Porsche, Awarded by Sonax: Jeff Wheeler – 2004 996
Best Restored Porsche, Awarded by Restoration Design: Kevin Zimic – 1989 964
Best Preserved Original Porsche, Awarded by Hagerty: Eddie Cazes – 1988 928 S4
SHOW AND SHINE: PEER JUDGING AWARDS
Class 1 (356 Pre A/A)
No Entries
Class 2 (356 B/C)
Winner – Dave Tiessen
Class 3 (911 & 912 Pre 1974)
Winner – Kye Wankum
Runner Up – Ray Lapid
Class 4 (911 & 912 – 1974-1983)
Winner – Mike Martin
Runner Up – Johan Carnell
Class 5 (911 – 1984-1989)
Winner – Sandro Stramenga
Runner Up – Nick Rizzotto
Class 6 (964 – 1989-1994)
Winner – Kevin Zimic 258
Class 7 (993 – 1994-1998)
Winner – Syed Ali
Runner Up – Kathrin Menge
Class 8 (996 1999-2005)
Winner – Robert Neumann
Runner Up – Norm Dawe
Class 9 (997 2005-2012)
Winner – Nelson Henriques
Runner Up – John Adam
Class 10 (991 2012-2018)
Winner – Michael Pohlmann
Runner Up – Paul Gorgan
Class 11 (992 2019-Present)
Winner – Donald Jackson
Runner Up – Shaun Patrick Gunton
Class 12 (914)
Winner – Todd Martin
Class 13 (924/944)
Winner – Shawn Tombolini
Runner Up – Zack Wankum
Class 14 (968)
Winner – Rob Duench
Class 15 (928)
Winner – Adam Henderson
Runner Up – Matt Masso
Class 16 (Boxster 1997-2004)
Winner – Csaba Tomcsak
Runner Up – Ted Kalman
Class 17 (Boxster 2005-2012)
Winner – Wendy Gallomazzei
Runner Up – Bob Green
Class 18 (Boxster 2013-Present)
Winner – Adam Ivers
Runner Up – Robert West
Class 19 (Cayenne 2003-2010)
Winner – Daniel Ilias
Class 20 (Cayenne 2011-Present)
Winner – Dave Moore
Class 21 (Cayman 2006-2012)
Winner – David Hopwood
Runner Up – Gerry Cornwell
Class 22 (Cayman 2013-Present)
Winner – Carolyn Stewart
Runner Up – Chen Lim
Class 23 (Panamera)
No Entries
Class 24 (Macan)
Winner – Piotr Kotyra
Class 25 (Taycan)
No Entries
Class 26 (Special Interest)
No Entries
