I won't use the trendy word "throwback" because it's a tired word to describe a moment in time revisited for nostalgic reasons. Besides, I can't be nostalgic about 1966 anyway because I was never there; I suspect many of you reading this weren't either. So, I simply borrowed it.

There's no particular reason I chose the year 1966 — completely coincidental. You see, fellow PCA member and friend John Nitz recently gave me a box full of Porsche Panorama magazines to add to my already bulging collection that predates me, and it just so happens that I was missing large chunks of this decade's issues, Volume XI. So, I sparked up a cigar and belly flopped into No. 1, January of 1966, resurfacing hours later with No. 12.

It had been ages since I looked at any of these old issues of Pano, but a lapse in time is a good thing; a greater appreciation of the content tends to happen with maturity. Something else occurred; I came away with a newfound respect for our club’s rich history. This tends to happen when digging down to the roots. A deeper connection is felt because you “get it;” something quite difficult to do when the train’s hopped near the middle or toward the back.

What was the club like back then? And Panorama, what was it like, how was it put together? How many pages? What sorts of topics did editors write about? These are the kinds of questions that flashed in my head the moment I opened the cover page, and because I've no firsthand recollection of what PCA was like, these old issues are the next best thing.

To put things into perspective, let me give you an idea of how much the club had grown since September of 1955. From the initial 12 members admitted at the first business meeting at Blackie's House of Beef in D.C., the reported number in the January '66 issue rose to 3,508.

There were a total of 59 chartered Regions stretching from the founder's Region of Potomac at the top of the list with 151 members, down to the "charter pending" New Orleans (now Mardi Gras) Region at the bottom with seven members. Interestingly, Golden Gate Region had the most members at 309.

It wasn't a cheap membership: $15 with inflation figured in comes out to $109 today. Nevertheless, the club was a self-contained unit that reported nearly $43,100 in the first-quarter statement of receipts and disbursements (just north of $312,000 today). A demand for more advertising not only promised a healthier bottom line, but it resulted in the magazine growing from 24 to 28 pages in order to preserve a nice balance of editorial content and ad space.

What a few members didn't realize, including one from the Carolinas Region who wrote a letter to the editor complaining of getting his issues a month late, was that a good portion of the writing, rewriting, editing, laying the thing out and production was done voluntarily. The staff had primary jobs that paid the bills and fed the Porsche habit, which had to come first.

In ’66, Panorama had one editor, Paul R. Heinmiller — who also was vice president — and one associate editor, Bonnie Goetz. The table of contents page was broken down into news, features, technical, a special section and departments section wrapped in a quaint 7-by-10 format. The cover either had black-and-white photos or Porsche-themed art while ads like Valvoline High Performance Racing Oil and the 11th Porsche Parade in Colorado Springs July 3 of ’66/Chartered Regions, adorned the back.

Had a submission? Great. Send the text on 8.5-by-11 white bond paper, typewritten, double/triple spaced on one side ... with wide margins. Didn't have a typewriter? Send it in legible longhand. Any graphs, tables or drawings were to be drawn with black ink on illustration board or heavy bond paper.

Photographs were to be a set of glossy prints (Polaroids or snapshots OK, 5x7 or 8x10 were preferable) with clear and good contrast and no writing on the backs, as the ink would bleed through and render inferior engravings... Oh, and no color pictures or transparencies.

September 1966's Panorama cover.

Right, we've got a fairly good idea behind the nuts and bolts of the endeavor, but what was the scene like?

Well, let’s begin with issue one — January 1966. The Carrera 6 (906), destined for the “production sports car category,” was to be homologated that spring with 50 units, and a prototype was being shaken down in November of ’65. Technical information, such as the 220hp 2-liter six placed amidships and the fiberglass-bodied/tubularspace-framed chassis, was disclosed.

Further in was an article on preventing interior rear view mirror vibration in the so-called "C series," Porsches blowing up, breaking, or running on three cylinders at the American Road Race of Champions; and a psychiatrist advocating an enthusiast to dump his wife in order to pursue his love of Porsches. Bonnie Goetz wraps up the first half of the issue with a few words on encouraging the women of Porsche-driving husbands to make good, modern, capitalistic, and sybaritic New Year’s resolutions centered on club involvement with crafts, gourmet meals and dinner parties, wine tastings, renting dynamometers for the weekend, and fashion shows.

Advice on tarting up your Porsche with gadgetry like radar sentry detector, arm rests, head rests, map/trunk/glove-box lights, wooden steering wheels and Spyder mirrors was followed by a brief history lesson on the Connecticut Valley Region (formerly the Connecticut Westchester Region and one of the first-chartered PCA Regions along with Potomac, Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern New Jersey, Central New York, and Gulf Coast Florida), and transplanting a four-cammer out of a basket-case ’58 Carrera Speedster into a ’57 Normal Speedster, then buying the basket-case ‘58 to reunite it with its four-cammer.

What, you may be anticipating, was in the market section? Wait until you see this. It's incredible ...

(Just note that the equivalent 2015 approximate dollar amount is in parentheses)

• 1961 S90 Roadster — fully prepped for competition by Heinz Blade with Spyder brakes, bucket seats, new engine with roller crank: $2,700 ($19,560)
• 1957 Speedster — very good condition: $2,000 ($14,490)
• 904 GS — fresh engine. Holds Willow Springs Track record; includes an extra set of wheels, tools, and a trailer: $6,500 ($47,089)
• RS-61 Spyder № 718-073 — with ’64 SC engine and less than 7,000 miles on it. 5-speed, limited slip, set up for street: $3,000 ($21,734)
• 1956 1500 Carrera Convertible SN: 61307 Engine №: P90835 GT-465. excellent condition, driven to work daily, valve job two months ago: $1,500 ($10,865)

February 1966 opens up with a letter from Porsche's competition director, Huschke von Hanstein, who recapped Porsche's racing successes in 1965 and the upcoming schedule for 1966. A few pages over, Porsche reported a gross income of $50 million ($362 million), that it invested $1.3 million ($9.4 million) into plants, machinery, and tooling, and hired 300 more hands for a total of 2,717 employees. 11,300 cars were produced and sold; 1,700 Typ 356; 6,400 Typ 912; and 3,200 Typ 911, with the US getting a 42 percent share.

A reprint of Autocar's 912 road test was published, in which the "new car" was described as possessing “a sleek appearance” and “being smoothed out, rather like troweling a clay model, resulting with an even lower drag coefficient than its hunch-backed predecessor.”

The “Special Section” reported how 10 PCA members-at-large hosted a cocktail party on November 19, 1960for all known Porsche owners in both North and South Carolina; where 18 owners showed up to petition PCA for establishment of the Carolinas Region, which was granted six days later. This special report made that month’s cover of Panorama.

The club, like Porsche, was not only steadily growing in size, it also was evolving — ever so quietly. Those with an eye for detail would notice little things blooming in Panorama, such as a new department called “Any Questions?” that appeared in February's issue and provided contact information that members were free to use for questions pertaining to insurance, technical, activities, competition, or publications centered around PCA activities.

In the June issue (No. 6), another department appeared in the table of contents section called “What’s Happening…?” It contained reports from the Regions, which evolved into “From the Regions” found in today’s magazine. Panorama also gained a few more pages: there were 28 in January’s issue, 30 by May, and then 32 in June’s issue, which was maintained through the December issue, the 12^th and final one of 1966.

These sorts of changes weren’t formally announced, they just sort of appeared and became part of the landscape…until August. Panorama would officially announce a new editor, Judy Anthony. She became the Associate Editor—West adding a voice from the left coast to compliment Associate Editor—East, Bonnie Goetz’s, on the right. She and Bonnie would take turns writing a column entitled “From the Passenger Seat” discussing a woman’s point a view either as a Porsche driver, or the devoted wife of a man with this incurable disease borne of Stuttgart.

These columns were among my favorites. As much as I live and breathe all things technical and mechanical, I found their voice to be a bouquet of Gerbera Daisies on a workbench strewn with pistons, roller cranks and con rods. It added a much-needed balance to Panorama, one that reminded a man possessed that the topic needn't always revolve around Le Mans, decambering a '58 Speedster, rallying with graph paper or modifying the overspeed governor on a 911. Having nothing else to talk about save for topics of an esoteric nature tend to make one a trifle boring and cautioned to avoid at cocktail parties.

Such articles include “Is this fashion’s new frontier?” (March 1966), in which Bonnie talks about opening up a boutique where she’d hand-pick the decade’s best fashion designers to create a look for your Porsche — a Carrera 6 with seats of silk twill by Emilio Pucci; Britain’s Mary Quant would cover your Speedster’s exterior in white vinyl over a coffee-colored suede interior; and Coco Chanel would drape your 911’s interior paneling in a nubby wool boucle, seats in white and navy plaid, and the dash in shiny black patent leather.

Yet another of Bonnie’s columns in July 1966, “A Pants Suit in every Porsche,” has her raving about this period fashion ensemble that’s perfectly practical for touring or attending races and meetings. She ends beautifully by mentioning a pants-suited woman driving a Carrera 6 as the in-est thing going — ooooeeee!

In the August issue, guest columnist Ann Ross from PCA Germany writes about the outerwear, tents, rainwear, portable radios, beer, schnitzel, Kleenex, air mattresses and toilet paper needed when “Camping at the Nürburgring.” Judy’s piece in the October issue, “Want to make a great big hit with your husband?”, instructs how to do a concours detail job on your spouse’s Porsche to become an even larger part of the passion in his life.

One of Bonnie Goetz's columns in 1966.

The "Special Parade Section" in the April Panorama had a page entitled “Femme und Frau” which reported that “over half of our membership in the Porsche Club of America is composed of women.”I’m not sure what the current composition is, but this quote underscores the fact that a woman’s voice was and must continue to be a crucial part of Pano’s identity.

What I've been holding in my hands, these 39-year-old Panoramas, and reading intently is like an archaeological dig. These journals transported me to a time I never knew because I wasn't born yet — I came into this world when the 911 had an oil tank flap on her right flank. Nevertheless, they documented the times in this club's young life, making me feel as if I were dropped into their world by a time machine. There was this frothing energy, this maverick vibrancy of a time I regret not being a part of.

For anyone with a profound interest in Porsche history, these early Panoramas are absolutely priceless and packed with juicy nuggets to entertain the palette of even the most jaded historians.

Some of the juiciest bits include a report on the 911’s 1-2-3-4 sweep of the Grand Touring category of the 1966 Monte Carlo Rallye, and the new 911 Targa was analyzed by three designers: David Bache from Rover, Count Albrecht Goertz designer of the BMW Typ 503 and 507, and Ferdinand Porsche III, “Butzi,” designer of the 904, 911/912 — that sums up the March issue.

Then a report of the first 6,000 miles in a 912, and the 11th Annual Porsche Parade held in the Rocky Mountain Region makes up April.May 1966 enlightens with a report on Sebring in which PCAer Joe Buzzetadrove a Carrera 6 to 4th place while George Follmer and Peter Gregg placed first in class and seventh overall in a factory-entered 904 Carrera GTS. A few pages further, we learn about what it cost to operate a new 911, followed by Linda Cole’s (SE Michigan Region) report on PCAer Audre Kennedy and Teddy McLaughlin’s trip south of the border in "On the Pan American Highway."

A look at a Carrera from 1966

June 1966 covered the 50th Targa Florio, which featured two fuel-injected Carrera 6 prototypes and a Carrera 8 (2,200cc 8 cylinder); one of the Carrera 6s with Herbert Müller and Willy Mairesse behind the wheel won first overall. Another Carrera 6 scored a 1-2-3 win at Monza, which was followed by an in-depth pictorial of the Carrera 6, Keith Congdon of the Maverick Region reporting on a road trip to Mexico, and Peter Taylor’s article about life with a Super 90 356 in Uganda, Africa. Lastly, the birth of the Carrera Region was announced in July’s issue.

A Super 90 in Uganda.

August is all about the 11th Porsche Parade, with loads of images including ones of the guests of honor, Dr. and Mrs. Ferdinand “Ferry” Porsche. September had Bonnie Goetz asking "Are you a 'woman driver'?" on page three, more Parade pictures, and a Special Section on the history of the Pacific Northwest Region. And the October issue announced the 1967 models, contained a massive DIY on valve adjustments, and an article on the “Operating Peculiarities of the 911 and 912.”

Finishing off 1966, November’s Panorama brought its much-anticipated test of the “new” 911S and an interview with Butzi Porsche, who discussed the Carrera 6, the 904, and the Ferrari Dino. December's issue, well, that one has a feature story that’s not only interesting but pretty provocative: a complete report on the eighth Treffen entitled “When PCAers toured Russia,” which was about 28 members in 13 cars touring the communist state. Three of the Porsches in the group formed a peculiar color scheme: one red, one white, and one blue, which made a rather bold statement in the USSR. You've gotta read that one.

This is what Panorama circa 1966 was about. It was similar to what Region magazines are today, with pages that are peppered with small anecdotes written by members whose personal stories involved tribulations, discoveries and experiences centered on the sculpture of alloy, rubber and oil from Zuffenhausen.

It portrayed the true Porsche spirit of fending for yourself. Nothing set a better example of this than when Ed Barney of the Santa Barbara Region reported how owners of the new 911/912 series were dealing with fragmentary component and systems information that the factory provided, leaving them to improvise and experiment with problems as they arose (June 1966). Yeah, the cars and races and the factory reports in Panorama were and continue to be essential for club members to read about, but so are the tales and lore.

28 PCA members ventured beyond the Iron Curtain in 1966.

Getting busted by the cops in Russia. Using a five-foot plank as a lever to single-handedly lift a 356 S90’s engine into place in the middle of the African plains. Walking across a hotel lobby with a clear plastic bag of clothes and unmentionables in one hand and cans of Castrol in the other (hey, that’s what schlepping across the country in a 356 was about). On and on it went, one swashbuckling tale after another. I began to think today's reports in Pano seemed, well, tame — a bit too polished.

But then I thought about that sentiment for a bit, leafed through a bunch of this and last year's dog-eared issues and found that modern Pano has a few elements I dig about the early times that speaks to my old soul yet stimulates my slant for modernity, art, history, engineering — and most of all, patina.

Different times? Sure, but not as different as one might think. On the face of it, the old Panoramas put together nearly 40 years ago portrayed a greater sense of intimacy, something akin to a small family — like the House of Porsche. But I was fooling myself. The fact is that even though our club's membership count dwarfs that of '66, that intimacy still thrives from within.

I only too soon forgot the small groups of 928, 924, 944 and 968 enthusiasts I've befriended a little over two years ago. The stories of adventures, the friendly rivalry and rebelliousness among the groups, and this pioneering spirit that’s so often portrayed now as it was then still exists... I know it does because I’m part of it.

So, does today’s Panorama seem a bit more polished? Yep, but underneath the haute couture, Editor Pete Stout goes and gives it a bit of a rock-and-roll edge that keeps a nearly 60-year-old magazine in step with the 21st century and in a state of perpetual evolution its members can help shape.

If you’re looking for a great summer reading suggestion, do yourself a favor: scour eBay, Craigslist, and Porsche swap meets and pick up any vintage Panorama magazine you can get your hands on — the closer to your age, the better. The borrowed nostalgia will leave you with the understanding that life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body (or Porsche for that matter), but rather to skid sideways, beer in one hand, pizza in the other, body thoroughly used up and totally worn out screaming “YeeeeeeeeHaaaaa! What a RIDE!”

October 1966's Panorama cover.