Porsche palooza!

By JANA MACKIN

Contributor to the News-Press

Last Thursday, the Porsche Club of America staged a Wild West concours d’elegance through the Idaho Panhandle, showcasing the area’s finest in historic red light and imbibing establishments.

“A Doozy of a Floozy” gimmick rally offered nearly 200 Porsches from throughout the United States an opportunity to tour Idaho’s scenic autobahns as rallyists competed in a poker rally with a twist through five checkpoints from Spokane to Wallace.

During their tour, they could sip vintage Huckleberry shakes, dine on fine Rocky Mountain Oysters and flirt with historic madams and card sharps, included at the Enaville Snake Pit and the Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace.

At the Snake Pit, a Porsche banner hung from the upstairs balcony welcoming exotic named Porsches: Boxster, Cayman, Cayenne, Macan, and Panamera into a parking lot that is more accustomed to muscle cars, Harleys, and pickup trucks than $100,000 turbo rides powered by 7-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung.

Throughout the day, historic Silver Valley madams, Dolores and Loma, welcomed the rally drivers who picked a poker card and threw dice as part of their rally scoring.

“Welcome. We are the floozies. We are both ladies of the night,” said Audrey Chapman, portraying Loma.

“I’m Loma, a good Catholic girl. This is Dolores, she’s a great business woman.”

Chapman’s mother Nina Bathurst portrayed Dolores.

These Spokane Porsche lovers were among the floozies and cardsharps who hosted each checkpoint.

The Comancheros Car Club, out of Pinehurst, also brought out some rides such as a ’67 Nova and a 1940 Ford to greet Porsche drivers- some from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska. Snake Pit owner Tom Richards also parked his vintage ’67 Camaro to greet the Porsches.

“We wanted to welcome them,” said Jack Shiplett, owner of the red, hot Nova.

“This is a Porsche club. We’re hot rods and classic cars, but a car lover is a car lover.”

Of course, a pair of patched Mongols motorcycle club riders passing through weren’t so impressed:

“Porsches, what Porsches?”

This gimmick rally along with tours, concours, autocross, rallies, and other events were part of the 62nd Porsche Parade USA 2017.

The PCA’s annual week long event was held in Spokane from July 9-15.

Each year, the event is held at a different venue in the United States with some 2,500 people or 1,200 registrations and at least 900 Porsches at the Spokane event.

As a PCA event, the gimmick rally was like a poker rally but with a historical twist using PCA members to play historic figures at each of five check points where drivers selected a poker card and threw dice that were then marked on score sheets.

In order, the five check points were: the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center where the event began; Fredneck’s Saloon and Beanery, Rockford, Wash.; John Mullan Park, St. Maries; the Snake Pit, Enaville; and Oasis Bordello in Wallace.

Participants then turned all paper work to officials at the Northern Pacific Railroad Depot Museum.

When the drivers finally arrived at Wallace a couple hours after their time-staged departures, they filled the town with Porsches in a car show of elegance and style.

As they walked around taking in this unique place, they were able to savour the historic, off-color icing to what was “A Doozy of a Floozy” day.

“You rolled out the red carpet,” said Ellen Beck, rally co-organizer with her husband, Bob Gutjahr and PCA members.

The couple is from the Chesapeake Region of PCA and live near Frederick, Md.

“I was happy to share Wallace with everybody in the club,” she said.

“Everybody is quirky (here) but in a good way. We were not making fun of the ladies but wanted to highlight that a lot of the ladies were pillars of society and good business women.”

“We planned a good route,” said Bob.

“Every scene is a post card.”