2011 DETROIT AUTO SHOW

January 14-16, 2011

Ron Carr, Zone 4 Rep.

I would like to celebrate the return of Porsche A.G. to the North American International Auto Show being held in Detroit, Michigan at the Cobo Hall Conference & Exhibition Center Jan. 15-23, 2011. They have been absent from the show since 2007 but have decided to return in 2011. The show opens to the public on Saturday, January 15th, 2011. Porsche has announced that it will be introducing a new concept car at the show, which will make it a very special event to attend for all of the Porschephiles in our Club.

I thought it would be fun to plan a gathering at the Porsche Display around noon on Saturday for a Zone 4 “Meet and Greet”, look at the cars, take some photos, and generally provide some support for our friends at PCNA and the local dealerships. Because of the distance to Detroit for many Zone 4 members, you may want to plan a weekend trip to the Motor City. I am helping by coordinating the following weekend events for those individuals and regions that would like to make this a “weekend destination event”:

  • There is a block of rooms for Zone 4 PCA members at the Dearborn Inn (Marriott) near the Henry Ford Museum. The block is for 10 rooms on Friday, January 14th and 20 rooms on Saturday, January 15th. The rate is $109.00 per night plus applicable taxes.  Reservation cutoff date is 5:00pm on December 30th and the room block will be listed as Porsche Club (group code-prcprca). Contact The Dearborn Inn, A Marriott Hotel, 20301 Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn, Michigan 4 8124 USA, Phone:1-313-271-2700, Fax:1-313-271-7464, or follow the link- http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/dtwdi?groupCode=prcprca&app=resvlink&fromDate=1/14/11&toDate=1/16/11.
  • (Contrary to my earlier posting, there will NOT be a Shuttle Bus service from the hotel area to the Cobo Center this year). For those of us staying in Dearborn, we will organize vehicles on Saturday morning, drive downtown and park at the Cobo Center. This will take around an hour each way with traffic. We will leave the Dearborn Inn parking lot at 9:00 AM and leave the Cobo Center at 5:00 PM to return.
  • Dinner gathering on Saturday Evening around 7:00 PM for all Zone 4 members (Individual Pay); location is close by the hotel; Andiamo of Dearborn, 21400 Michigan Ave, Dearborn, Michigan 48124, (313) 359-3300. http://www.andiamoitalia.com/index.html Please RSVP to me by Wednesday, January 12th if you plan to join us at dinner so I can confirm the reservations.
  • · Optional self-guided tour of the Henry Ford Museum and/or Automotive Hall of Fame on Sunday before returning home. If you have not been to the Henry Ford, you owe it to yourself and family to make the trip at least once in your lifetime. http://www.hfmgv.org/

Several regions have done this as a very successful event weekend in the past- it can be a great family weekend adventure in the midst of winter. I will leave the details of any group travel plans to and from the event to each region to organize what their membership might like to do. If you have any questions please contact me at zone4rep@embarqmail.com or (740)-967-6027 home phone. Regards, Ron