RsR History

In the early days, if you had a Porsche and lived in Riverside, Redlands, the Inland Empire or in the Desert, and you wanted to join and attend Porsche Club of America (PCA) events, you had to endure a long 100 mile drive to and from the then existing PCA Region in Los Angeles.

In 1967, a Porsche Dealership, Sierra Porsche-Audi, opened in Riverside, where it became the place for local Porsche owners and enthusiasts to hangout. These passionate Porsche members soon decided that they wanted something closer to home, and through requests to PCA National, the Riverside Region (RsR) was established in March 1968.

There were 28 founding Riverside Region members. These passionate Porsche owners regularly arranged for social get-togethers, including their attendance of track events at Riverside, Laguna Seca and Las Vegas Raceways. These founding members always looked forward to their many lunches and dinners, followed by long drives in their beautiful Porsches.

RsR was very competitive in driving events as it expanded its membership. They would attend local autocrosses and track days, and if 23 trophies where awarded at those events, Riverside Region would come home with 20 of them. RsR later on acquired the nickname “Rowdy Riverside”, because at the other Region’s social and track events, the Riverside members were always seen as the loud, happy and rowdy bunch.

In the early 1980’s RsR had grown to 100 Members, with a strong foundation in racing. Some of its members, including its President Big Don Kravig, participated in a race in Daytona that had a field of 95 cars, and they finished 17th.

In the 1990’s one of the RsR members had obtained a Porsche that was called the #20 – – – which was one of the earliest known 911’s imported into the United States – – – in actuality it was a 1964 Porsche 901. Riverside Members helped donate parts from their own early 911’s to help with the restoration of the 901. The 901 was pretty much entirely restored in Riverside, except for haven been transported to a Porsche Facility in Reno to get its paint job. Since that time, it has won several show awards and was also featured in the “50 Years of the 911” collection. The 901 Porsche now resides in the Peterson Museum – – – and the Riverside Region still has tours to visit that famous #20.

Today, RsR is a very social Region involved with monthly breakfasts, tours, a Porsche Timeline Exhibition, and many other events. RsR represents the Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties of Southern California, extending into the high desert north towards Las Vegas and south throughout the southern desert, including Palm Springs. The Region is one of the largest geographical areas within PCA Zone 8 of Southern California, and currently has over 600 Members.