The Appalachian Region conducted its first-ever Sport Utility Drive on US Forest Service roads in the Pisgah National Forest. With the Porsche Macan now being the highest-selling vehicle in the Porsche line-up it was decided to try an off-road drive to appeal to this segment of the club.
The club is lucky to have Rob Doudrick, the United States Forest Service, Southern Regional Research Station Director and his wife Susan as Porsche owners and club members. Rob mapped out and led a 45-minute drive along unpaved Forest Service roads that gave our SUV’s a good workout on the cold crisp fall morning in the mountains.
Thanks Rob and Susan for organizing this event. An annual SUV off-road drive may be a new feature on the APR calendar.
The tour gained elevation and wound through the forest on twisty gravel roads with several water crossings as we followed the Mills River and enjoyed the sound of rushing water in the still of the woods.
Campers along the way must have been surprised to see a line of Porsches winding down the frosty trail at eight in the morning.
The surprise vehicle performer on the twists and turns in the Pisgah Forest was the 1968 Porsche 912 of President Peter and Claudia Graham’s. Their tried and true 912 was not deterred by the bumps and water crossings that the tour encountered.
Porsches just do it all.
Porsche Asheville also joined the region on the tour by bringing an all-new Porsche Cayenne to the staging area and on the drive where everyone got a good look at the vehicle before there was an opportunity to drive it on the route. The Cayenne features a new state-of-the-art instrument panel with an interactive display that visually displays drive modes for gravel, mud, sand, rock and onroad.
At the end of the forest drive the SUV tour met up with another 20 members who drove their Porsche 911’s, Caymans and Boxster to Brevard, NC for a joint breakfast of Porsche Sports Cars and SUV’s.
Breakfast Ramble organizer Joe Watson did another great job of picking out the Creekside Restaurant for the Appalachian Region. The Creekside Restaurant served 40 hungry Porsche owners in record time with terrific hot breakfasts.
Rusty Russ photographed the breakfast attendees and cars for everyone to enjoy. Click this link to be taken to Rusty’s site where you can view his photos. https://www.photoimagingbyrusty.com/Other/PCA-Breakfast-Ramble-11-17-18/
Photos of the SUV drive are in the photo show below.
This was the last drive and breakfast for the year as winter comes to the Appalachian Region and the fabulous driving roads in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
However, December brings together members for the Annual Member Meeting at the Asheville Country Club on December 1. The Holiday Gathering occurs on December 11 and is hosted by Porsche Asheville. You don’t want to miss this event. Please register for this event here.
See you in December!
To pause the slide-show, move your cursor onto or below the image.
Jim Moore
Events Chair