Porsche of Wallingford
It’s always great to finish up the CVR monthly meeting calendar with a memorable meeting. When I reached out to Porsche of Wallingford’s General Manager Steve Gilligan about our closing event for the 2025 season, he indicated he wanted to do a meeting to celebrate the 911 model. He envisioned a collection of “milestone” examples owned by CVR members who could speak of their cars and what made them special. It sounded like a great idea but to put it together we were going to need some help. That help came from fellow CVRer Rob Keller. I contacted Rob and went over Steve’s vision and Rob went right to work figuring out which examples should be present, contacting owners, and working out the details of making sure the cars were available. A lot of planning work went into this meeting. When the invites went out, registration was strong so with the weather looking good, we knew we were in store for a great meeting.
The evening arrived and the team went to work. Steve and the Wallingford team, along with Rob, set up the service area for the special display. Steve went all out. He had curtains set up for the background, special lighting, tables, and an audio technician. Then Rob and team went to work setting up the cars. As the top of the hour approached, the CVRers started to arrive.
For dinner, Steve invited the Chunky Tomato Pizza truck out of Bristol. They went to work serving up delicious pizzas and the CVRers got in line to enjoy the large variety. Socialization was underway while the CVRers caught up with each other and took in the many Porsches found at Wallingford that evening.
With dinner having satisfied the appetites of the nearly 100 CVRer’s in attendance, they made their way to the showroom and took their seats. We kicked off the meeting with President Bob welcoming a number of new members that were attending the meeting, while board members that were present came up and provided an update on their end-of-season activities. Linda Goodman was in attendance and addressed the crowd on next year’s Parade, which will be held in nearby Lake Placid NY. Linda (along with AutoX chair Paul Kudra) had visited the location and she wanted to share her impressions. Based on Linda’s findings, it will be quite an event. You should start making your plans for the week of June 14-20, 2026. We are fortunate to have a major PCA event such as Parade held so close to Connecticut.
With the CVR business meeting complete, the time had finally come for the evening’s main event. Steve addressed the CVR audience and then invited everyone to the service area where Rob Keller and the special display waited.
As the members arrived in the service area, they were amazed at the spectacle in front of them. The service department had been transformed into a “nightclub” with the lighting and atmosphere that Steve had provided. The members formed around the seven special 911s that were on display and started to examine each. Steve then called everyone to order. He welcomed the audience, pointed out the amazing dessert table with Porsche-themed treats provided by Hen & Heifer of Guilford, and then handed the microphone to the owners of each special 911 for a brief review of their cars.
911 number one was a 1982 911 SC (Super Carrera) owned by Patricio Tomas, finished in Bamboo Beige.
911 number two was a striking 1973 911T owned by Jim Newton. Jim added that in 1976 the car was converted to a SCCA Pro Rally Car and was presented to the audience in its competition livery.
The Keller collection was well represented with three fine examples. Mike Keller presented key attributes along with a brief history of each car’s significance in the chronology of 911s.
911 number three was a 1994 911 (964) Speedster owned by Rob & Lynn Keller and finished in Grand Prix White with color-matched accents.
911 number four was a 2004 911 (996) GT3 finished in Speed Yellow and owned by Mike Keller.
911 number five was a 2007 911 (997) GT3 RS finished in Black with RS Orange accents, also owned by Rob and Lynn Keller.
Closing up the milestone group were two new 911s, both arranged for display by Steve. They were both model year 2025 examples, a 911 GT3 RS in Ice Grey Metallic with a black interior and an amazing 911 Turbo S 50th anniversary edition, 1 of just 1974 produced. Two Porsche of Wallingford’s staff members provided an overview of these cars. Allen Fossbender informed me that there is a YouTube video out there featuring the anniversary 911s.
With the presentation complete the membership applauded the cars, their owners, and Rob’s and Steve’s efforts. While the CVRers continued to ogle the display cars and enjoy their desserts and conversation, Steve wasn’t done. Gift bags with special 911 microfiber cloths were provided to each attendee in addition to our raffle. Wallingford had provided raffle items and a few lucky CVR members went home with an extra something.
Wow! What a night. We can’t thank Steve and the Porsche of Wallingford team enough for their continued, generous support of CVR and the membership. This amazing meeting was yet another example. And please consider Porsche of Wallingford when you are shopping for a Porsche or need service work or parts. The dealership is a great friend to CVR and our club certainly benefits from their long-time support.
For me, the October monthly meeting was an amazing way to finish the 2025 season and cap off a full schedule this year, with ten monthly meetings!
We’ll see you again next year at our 2026 kickoff meeting, our annual pancake breakfast held at The Trailer Depot in North Brandford. As usual, watch the CVR calendar and your email inbox for the detailed announcement and invite. Enjoy the holidays. We’ll see you in 2026!
Thank you, Jeff Coe, CVR Programs VP.