It’s one thing to drive one of the world’s great sports cars; it’s completely another to enjoy that experience with other Porsche owners. Joining the Porsche Club of America (PCA) and affiliating with other members in your region offers a rewarding social and driving experience that can yield friendships for a lifetime.
The Schonesland Region of PCA, comprised of the central corridor of Iowa from Minnesota to Missouri, is home to nearly 250 Porsche households. Active since 1975, the Schonesland today is the fastest growing region in PCA Zone 10, which covers most of the midwest.
Active year-round, the club offers a variety of activities, beginning with regular events like Cars and Coffee on the 2nd Saturday of every month, Drive and Dine held the 3rd Tuesday, and a number of both unique and annually-recurring social events and community events.
And when the weather gets nice and Porsches come out from hibernation, Schonesland offers a double-digit number of touring events every season. These fun runs range from half-day jaunts around Iowa that exploit all of Iowa’s beautifully curvy highways, points of interest, and, of course, great places to eat, to 8- and 9-day long grand tours to surrounding states and beyond – occasionally crossing international borders! These tours offer a little bit of everything but, most importantly, one of the best means for our members to stretch their legs and spend a little more quality time behind the wheel of their favorite car.
In the beginning there was but one PCA region covering the State of Iowa. Called “Central Iowa”, many of its activities took place in the eastern part of the state. One day, probably in 1974, while preparing to return to the Des Moines area, the thought occurred that there were enough Porsche folks in the Ames-Des Moines area to form our own region; thus the process began.
The question of what to name this upstart came up early. The easterners were not going to relinquish their “Central Iowa” name with its sinister CIA motif to a bunch of upstart renegades. An initial thought was to name it the “Hawkeye Region” (Iowa is, after all, the Hawkeye State). This idea was quickly panned by Drake Bulldog and especially Iowa State Cyclone supporters who could not stomach the notion of sharing the name of the state’s oldest university.
But events must go on. One day Doug Hillman and his wife, SueAnn were planning a rally and stopped at a rest area on Interstate 80. They noticed a marker which noted that “Iowa” in a Native American language meant “Beautiful Land”. The light bulb went on! This is a club for owners of German cars; translating “Beautiful Land” into German, the Schonesland region was born.
Many thanks to our original members:
Sid and Jane Jepson
Bob Brown
Stu Lehr
Chuck Abbott
Joe Watton
Steve Eckstat
George Eckstein
Tom Boots
Bob Didricksen
Doug and SueAnn Hillman
Schonesland Region Coverage Area:
The Schonesland Region offers a full year-long calendar of events for its members. No matter your pace, there’s something for you:
Don’t forget to check our full calendar to see a complete listing of everything we have planned!