The Porsche 356 Ultimate Driving Tour

The 9th annual Porsche 356 Ultimate Driving Tour occurred in May 2019 in Lake Lure, North Carolina, a small resort town south of Asheville. Lake Lure also happens to be just 20 minutes away from Lake Lure so we stopped by to see the all series of Porsche 356 plus Air Brigade members Allen and Beverly.

The first day was cool and damp but twelve models of Porsche 356’s were in the parking lot including Porsche 356A, 356B, 356C and an Outlaw or two. It made for quite a sight to see such an array of models and colors.

On the first day of the tour the group was off to Highlands, NC with a visit to Whitewater Falls, the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. A made quite a sight to see 12 Porsche 356’s snake their way down the NC Scenic Byway, Drovers Road on their way to Highland. Unfortunately only 11 cars made the start as there were charging problems with one car.

Fortunately, ace mechanic Pete Martin, an Air-Cooled Porsche mechanic in nearby Hendersonville was able to get the troubled Porsche 356 back on the road for the final day of the three-day tour.

Even though Allen and Beverly and their 1959 Porsche 356A Cabriolet hail from nearby Hendersonville, the majority of the participants drove much further with cars from Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Texas, Georgia and North and South Carolina. Some of those trips are a long haul in a 60’s era Porsche 356. The event is organized by the Drei Staaten Gruppe out of Indiana so not surprisingly the group had heavy participation from the Midwest.

Day 2 saw several other Air Brigade members visit and welcome the Porsche 356’s to the fabulous roads of North Carolina. Carl and his 1979 911SC ended up joining the group on their drive to Mt Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi.

The final day had the group had the Porsches visiting Chimney Rock State Park before a tour up to Little Switzerland, a favorite of sports car and mortorcycle riders as the navigate the twists and turns of Diamondback as the climb the Blue Ridge Mountains on their way to a picturesque lunch at the Switzerland Inn.

The plans aren’t set yet for the 10th Annual 356 Ultimate Driving Tour but it is sure to be someplace with fantastic roads.