WE WERE BACK at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls this year, on Sunday, August 25, for another great event, complete with beautiful weather, a large selection of gorgeous Porsche cars, and many new and old Porsche friends.
Firemen’s Park is a very pleasant venue that offers a heavily treed backdrop for our cherished cars, plus very nice amenities that include a popular restaurant. However, entry numbers have declined somewhat over the past couple of years and feedback has told us that many find the trek to Niagara just too long and traffic very tedious, and we tend to agree, and will do our utmost to hold the event in a more central location in the future, as we did in the past.
Incidentally, for this year, we had tried to secure a location on the lake in Oakville that we used for several years a couple of decades ago but, unfortunately, that fell through very late in the planning stages and we had no choice but to go back to Niagara at that point. There are only so many weekends, and so few venues available throughout the fair-weather months, while we tend to also have scheduling conflicts with other UCR events, which is a shame, so we will do our best to deal with all of that in the future as well.
Nonetheless, those who did come out to Niagara this year had a wonderful day and we heard no complaints from anyone but, rather, received many positive comments on our feedback sheets.
As usual, the UCR Concours event awarded many trophies to winners and runners-up in no fewer than a possible 26 classes in the Show & Shine category and eight classes in the Full-Concours category. Show & Shine is the more relaxed way to participate and features peerjudging, where every entrant selects the winner in each of the 26 classes in their category. The results get tabulated, and up to 52 trophies awarded at 2pm.
In Full-Concours, cars are scrutinized more seriously by a group of trained UCR Concours judges and evaluated on cleanliness and condition (not originality), following the rules of ‘Preparation Group II’ at PCA Parade Concours. Due to not all Porsche models being represented, the Show & Shine category ended up with only 20 classes and the FullConcours with seven.
Additionally, in Show & Shine, entrants had the choice of competing for one of the four Special Awards: Best Preserved Porsche, Best Presented Porsche, Best Restored Porsche and, new this year, Highest Mileage Porsche at the show. All entries were also eligible to win the People’s Choice Award, selected by all in attendance, including the spectators who entered the event free of charge. But, the most coveted award might well be the Judges’ Choice Award, presented by our Title Sponsor, Porsche Centre Oakville, to the top car in the Full-Concours category – selected not necessarily by the number of points earned but by the car’s overall allure.
Please see all of this year’s results in the sidebars but, spoiler alert: Porsche Centre Oakville selected the absolutely stunning blue 1989 Porsche 930 Turbo of Rocco Malfara. And hey! It is the year of the Mighty Turbo, after all, so that was only fitting! The UCR Concours and Show & Shine would not be possible without the support of our very generous sponsors; we are extremely grateful to them. Please see the sidebar for details. We also thank Porsche Canada for providing us with a Cayenne-load of goodies for our event goodie bags; combined with what our sponsors and UCR provided, every entrant walked away with not just one but two stuffed bags of swag.
And, not least, the event would not get off the ground without the many wonderful volunteers we have every year. No fewer than 21 UCR members volunteered to be Full-Concours judges, a new record, and went through judges’ training at a Porsche restoration facility in Vaughan; plus, we had 31 general volunteers helping at a variety of posts throughout the day, which made for fairly light work for most.
While entry numbers were down somewhat from last year, I had a chance halfway through to take a moment and stand and look, with the event going on all around me, and I have to say, it looked great. We had really good looking car groupings, there were lots of spectators, including young families pushing strollers through, and the park had given us seven 20×20-foot awnings to use, lending the event a festive appearance, plus we had a number of sponsors with displays and awnings and banners and, not least, Porsche Centre Oakville went all out and put on a great show with eight cars or so, including an original Porsche Junior tractor and giving out free t-shirts with quite a number of staff who seemingly never stopped smiling. It was truly a Good Day, Sunshine!!
Photography by Lucas Scarfone, Matt Nowak and Robert West
A sincere thanks to our generous sponsors!
TITLE SPONSOR
Presenting the Judges’ Choice Award
Porsche Centre Oakville
PREMIER SPONSORS
People’s Choice Award: JRP Johnston Research & Performance
Highest Mileage Award: Bermanis, Preyra LLP
Best Preserved Porsche Award: Hagerty Canada
Best Restored Porsche Award: Restoration Design
Best Presented Porsche Award: SONAX Canada
ADVERTISING SPONSORS
All-Risk Insurance – Rocco Malfara
Autobuf – Fine Detailing and Restyling
C17 Auto Armour
Dent Doctor
Mantis Autosport
Kyser
Tomcsak Art
VENDORS
Armchair Motorist
Collector Car Canada
Eeze Plate
Randy Gananathan
SPECIAL AWARDS WINNERS
SPECIAL AWARDS WINNERS JUDGES’ CHOICE AWARD – PRESENTED BY PORSCHE CENTRE OAKVILLE
WINNER: ROCCO MALFARA, 1989 PORSCHE 930 TURBO
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD – PRESENTED BY JRP – JOHNSTON RESEARCH & PERFORMANCE
WINNER: RANDY GANANATHAN, 1963 PORSCHE 356 B COUPE
HIGHEST MILEAGE PORSCHE AWARD – PRESENTED BY BERGMANIS, PREYRA LLP
WINNER: RANDY SPENCELEY, 2001 PORSCHE BOXSTER S AT 295,182 KMS
BEST PRESERVED PORSCHE AWARD – PRESENTED BY HAGERTY
WINNER: SHAWN TOMBOLINI, 1988 PORSCHE 944 TURBO S
BEST PRESENTED PORSCHE AWARD – PRESENTED BY SONAX
WINNER: DAVID ADAMS, 2010 PORSCHE 997 TARGA 4
BEST RESTORED PORSCHE AWARD – PRESENTED BY RESTORATION DESIGN
WINNER: ZACK WANKUM, 1984 PORSCHE 944
SHOW & SHINE PEER-JUDGING RESULTS
Class 2 – 356 B / C WINNER: Randy Gananathan, 1963 Porsche 356 B Coupe
Class 3 – 911/912 – Pre ‘74 WINNER: Ravi Menon, 1973 Porsche 911S
RUNNER-UP: Ken Wong, 1971 Porsche 911T
Class 4 – 911/912 – ‘74-’83 WINNER: Mario Ervalho, 1979 Porsche 930 Turbo
RUNNER-UP: Mike Martin, 1974 Porsche 911
Class 5 – 911 – ‘84-’89 WINNER: John Zizzo, 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera
RUNNER-UP: Sandy Behrend, 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera
Class 7 – 993 – ‘95-’98 WINNER: Daniel Ilias, 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera
RUNNER-UP: David Hunter, 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera
Class 8 – 996 – ‘99-’05 WINNER: Grant Cooper, 2002 Porsche 911 C4S
RUNNER-UP: Jeff Wheeler, 2004 Porsche 911 Carrera
Class 9 – 997 – ‘05-’12 WINNER: David Adams, 2010 Porsche 997 Targa 4
RUNNER-UP: Delis Lus, 2009 Porsche 997 Twin Turbo
Class 10 – 991 – ‘12-’18 WINNER: Frank Danna, 2018 Porsche 911 GT2RS
RUNNER-UP: Don Rhule, 2017 Porsche 911 GTS
Class 11 – 992 – ‘19-Present WINNER: George Zamfirescu, 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera T
RUNNER-UP: Brent Cornelissen, 2022 Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS
Class 13 – 924 / 944 WINNER: Adam Ivers, 1989 Porsche 944 S2
RUNNER-UP: Zack Wankum, 1984 Porsche 944
Class 15 – 928 WINNER: Matt Basso, 1988 Porsche 928 S4
RUNNER-UP: Brian Ebbinghaus, 1987 Porsche 928 S4
Class 16 – Boxster ‘97-’04 WINNER: Chris Costley, 2002 Porsche Boxster S
RUNNER-UP: Ted Kalman, 2001 Porsche Boxster S
Class 17 – Boxster ‘05-’12 WINNER: David Keighley, 2005 Porsche Boxster S
RUNNER-UP: Chris Smout, 2005 Porsche Boxster S
Class 18 – Boxster ‘13-Present WINNER: Mike Bryan, 2020 Porsche 718 Spyder
RUNNER-UP: Michael Ellig, 2022 Porsche Boxster 25 Years
Class 19 – Cayenne ‘03-’10 WINNER: Viktoriia Shuliepovska, 2010 Porsche Cayenne S
Class 20 – Cayenne ‘11-Present WINNER: Jamie Roshan, 2014 Porsche Cayenne
Class 21 – Cayman ‘06-’12 WINNER: Gerry Cornwell, 2006 Porsche Cayman S
RUNNER-UP: David Hopwood, 2010 Porsche Cayman
Class 22 – Cayman ‘13-Present WINNER: Carolyn Stewart, 2024 Porsche GT4 RS
RUNNER-UP: Joe Amati, 2014 Porsche Cayman S
Class 23 – Panamera WINNER: Uttam Kalicharran, 2019 Porsche Panamera GTS
RUNNER-UP: Terry Bowman, 2016 Porsche Panamera
Class 24 – Macan WINNER: Jessica Swallow, 2016 Porsche Macan
RUNNER-UP: Larry Funnell, 2023 Porsche Macan
FULL-CONCOURS JUDGED CARS RESULTS
Class 2 – 914 – ALL YEARS WINNER: Bert Schmitz, 1974 Porsche 914 CanAm
Class 3 – 911/912 – Pre ‘74 WINNER: Kye Wankum, 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7
Class 4 – 911/912 – ‘74-’89 WINNER: Rob Grootarz, 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa
RUNNER-UP: Kevin Liphard, 1978 Porsche 935DP Turbo Slantnose
Class 5 – 911 – ‘89.5-’98 WINNER: Rocco Malfara, Rocco Malfara, 1989 Porsche 930 Turbo
RUNNER-UP: Rob Grootarz, 1991 Porsche 964 Cabriolet
Class 6 – 911 – ‘99-2012 WINNER: John Stanford, 2007 Porsche 911 S
RUNNER-UP: Bill Russell, 2004 Porsche 911 Cabriolet
Class 7 – 924, 944, 928, 968 WINNER: Chris Peitchinis, 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo
RUNNER-UP: Gord Dimitrieff, 1995 Porsche 968
Class 8 – Boxster, Cayman – 1997 – 2012 WINNER: Uttam Kalicharran, 2012 Porsche Cayman R
RUNNER-UP: Csaba Tomcsak, 2004 Porsche Boxster S
THANK YOU TO OUR FULL-CONCOURS JUDGES
Raffaele Sasso, Chief Judge
John Stanford, Assistant Chief Judge
Mike Melo
Randy Gananathan
Bev Best
Wanna Sripitivitya
Mike Martin
Logan Wolfe
Bill Russell
Paul Church
Cameron MacLean
Anthony Battista
Rob Bernacci
Michael Siddall
Gord Dimitrieff
Lindsay Gillespie
Marc Etherington
Srdjan Pejic
Uttam Kalicharran
Michael Melo (Jr)
Ali Mahmoud
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
Gerry Cornwell, Volunteer Captain
David Adams
Jaime Beauchamp
Michael Ellig
Tony Estrella
Marichu Estrella
Tracy Ginn
Paul Gogan
Roxanne Hein
Andrea Heitz
Sarah Heitz
Sawyer Hume
David Keighley
Caroline Keighley
Tom Kouroukis
Pauline Boulos
Julia Laur
Rick Laur
Scott Lyons
Robb McLeod
Bob Menzies
Matt Nowak
Jennifer Nowak
Jana Odenica
Logan Wolfe
Susan Shaw
John Shaw
Danylo Shuliepovskyi
Randy Spenceley
Roxanne West
Rob West
