We need a 914 R Gruppe Options

[Bobby Smith]

I usually frequent the 914 world classified section only so I may late to the party but how about a 914 R Gruppe. Something for the modified 914 owners. Maybe a gathering (I'm on the "right" coast) Drives, tech sessions, T shirts, decals etc.
Just a thought. If one already exist, sign me up.

[stevegm]

It's funny you mentioned that. I have an article coming in Fourteener Motoring about a 914 R Gruppe. I'll post a link in here when it is live (if I ever get around to finishing it).

[Larmo63]

My idea was to do a take off on the idea.

Since 914s and their owners are already so different, how about "914 F Truppe?"

We could use the same logo they do, but to be a 914 owner, you already are a bit "off."

[mepstein]

I'd like to have a gathering at our shop. Owner started out as a 914 guy and stil has his first 914 and 914-6 race car. Plenty of room to host inside if it rained and we are 5 minutes from 95 and 5 minutes from fun driving roads. Maybe a month or 3 after Hershey.

[stevegm]

If you all decide to do something and want a logo/shirt designed, I'll do it if you like. And send me the info on the group and I'll stick it in the next issue of the magazine. I'd like to say I'd show up with a 914. But, at this point I am not even sure I will have one at Hershey this year. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

[EdwardBlume]

My idea was to do a take off on the idea.

Since 914s and their owners are already so different, how about "914 F Truppe?"

We could use the same logo they do, but to be a 914 owner, you already are a bit "off."

Or maybe a 914 F Union?

[EdwardBlume]

Sorry, what's an R Grouppe?

[Alphaogre]

How about N.A.R.P Gruppe? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Chris H.]

^^^^^ (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

[bigkensteele]

I am not sure that I would want to be part of a 914 R group if they operated like the 911 R group. I am fine with clubs having selective membership, but theirs just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. I could have kept my 911 and sold the 914, but I decided to keep the 914 and sell the 911 instead. It came down to which community I wanted to be affiliated with. I have been here for almost 12 years. After a couple of years on Pelican, the choice was clear. I am by no means insulting anyone who owns a 911, but the vibe is just different.

Put it this way, I owned a slantnose conversion that happened to have red gauge faces when I bought it. The reception that I received was similar to if I had brought a St. Bernard/teacup poodle mix to the Westminster dog show.

[rick 918-S]

How about this? Honorary member of the SoCal 911 R Gruppe

[colingreene]

should buff right out.

[tweet]

From http://petrolicious.com/

What would entice you to wake up early on a Saturday morning and stand in the rain on a small side street in front of an auto salvage yard? What would make you want to come back and do that every month? For the members of the Porsche R Gruppe, the enticement is a little bit about cars, and a little bit more about the owners of these cars.

Formed as a result of a magazine article and a couple guys with common interests, the R Gruppe is an invitation-only classic Porsche car club with membership focused on the early 911 (1963-1973). The cars on display this particularly dreary Saturday morning spanned the range of early 911 model years, but as the club’s “Dictator”, Cris Huergas would tell you, the cars are only a part of what makes the group special.

In April 1998, Porsche Excellence magazine featured Cris’ lightweight modified 1969 911S along with his 1974 911 Carrera and three other early 911s owned by his brothers. Shortly after this article appeared, Huergas was contacted by Freeman Thomas who had been working on an early Porsche of his own and was impressed with Huergas’ build. The two spoke on the phone for several hours and out of the conversation (and a few subsequent in-person meetings) came the realization that there wasn’t really a car club for the type of car they wanted to build and drive. Since there was no car club for the hot-rod Porsche, the idea for the R Gruppe born.

The club doesn’t have any written requirements for membership, but is generally limited to early Porsche 911s—long-hood Porsches built through 1973, prior to the US introduction of impact bumpers—that have been modified with a “sporting” purpose and owners that exemplify the R Gruppe ethos. Huergas noted that, “just having a nice car doesn’t guarantee membership.” He said that prospective members are encouraged to attend events and get to know the group; if there’s chemistry prospects might just earn their membership.

In 2000, a year after the club was formed, Huergas and Thomas organized a meet in central California for the club members from Northern and Southern California to meet up. Only expecting about 30 cars, word had quickly spread and nearly 100 modified Porsches showed up to a small hotel in Cambria. The meet was ultimately a success and everyone had a great time...subsequently, the group was also asked to not come back to the hotel. While there wasn’t a possibility for a reunion meet at the same hotel, the R Gruppe has since held its annual Treffen (German for meeting) on the mid-coast of California for members from around the globe.

It was quickly realized that the group could grow out of control if a cap wasn’t placed on membership. Since that time, membership has been limited to around 300 worldwide and to maintain good standing within the club, members are expected to make efforts to attend events when they can. People who join just so they can get an R Gruppe badge and then don’t show up to events don’t last long with the group, who are protective of the membership and the group’s identity.

Over the years, the club has earned a reputation for being overly exclusive and arrogant, but to Huergas, the exclusivity is there to maintain the camaraderie of the group, without which it would just be a group of guys with old cars, “the spirit of the group is in the people, not their cars.” Despite this forthrightness about the membership, a 2010 article in Automobile Magazine sums up outside opinions of the club. (Click here for the link.)

“…the organization has become a lightning rod for haters from all four corners of the car world. To the august Porsche Club of America, R Gruppe is populated by a bunch of yahoos with no respect for tradition. To the hard-core racers who dominate the Porsche Owners Club, R Gruppe is full of poseurs who'd rather look fast than go fast. To early 911 aficionados who haven't been invited to join the club…R Gruppe is a gated community reserved for arrogant snobs. To high-dollar collectors, R Gruppe provides a prescription for replicars and fakey-doos that cost more to build than they're worth on the open market.”

Even if other clubs hold a less-than-glowing opinion of the R Gruppe, that didn’t seem to prevent a number of non-members (myself included) from showing up at European Auto Salvage Yard in Emeryville, CA, on a grey morning early in April. The Bay Area R Gruppe members meet at EASY every first Saturday of the month to hang out, talk shop, and show off their latest modifications.

The members I met were convivial and happy to talk about their cars, from a rare and recently restored 1968 911S to a 1973.5 911T CIS that’s still undergoing its own restoration. Among the members’ cars, you’ll find Porsches of every vintage and people wandering from one curb to the other ogling the cars. It’s a monthly car show that isn’t really a show, hosted by a club that seems to be the antithesis of all the other Porsche clubs out there…and the R Gruppe wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Larmo63]

After reading that, I think F Truppe is even a better idea. I have an idea for what our logo could be:

[colingreene]

F Truppe 4 lyfe.
Lets get stickers.

[whitetwinturbo]

F sounds good............everyone tells me to F Off all the time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

[VegasRacer]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) "F" stands for "fourteen", right. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[23e Heure]

I own an early 911, and am not a member of R Gruppe, and have never felt the desire to be.

A 914 equivalent however would be different (as the responses so far in the thread have amply demonstrated)...

Whatever we call it, put my name down now for membership!

[brant]

Narp

[mbseto]

Like the outlaw thread a while back, it seems like this kind of 914 owner is the rule, whereas that kind of 911 owner is the exception. The subset of 914 owners would be the "normal" guys.