From March 26-29, drivers brought their vintage air-cooled Porsches from as far away as California and Mexico to Kerrville, Texas, for the 2015 Hill Country Rallye (HCR). Spring weather, beautiful cars, challenging roads and great fellowship came together to form the perfect Porsche weekend.

If your mental picture of Texas is dominated by the featureless plains of Odessa or the cityscapes of Dallas and Houston, you owe it to yourself to visit the Texas Hill Country in spring. Evening temperatures in the 40s and daytime temperatures in the mid-70s allow comfortable driving in car without air conditioning.

This year, heavy rains the prior weekend gave HCR a bonanza of wildflowers, including a bumper crop of bluebonnets and pink evening primrose. Lush green grass made limestone cliff faces pop from the landscape, while the hillsides were dotted with the muddy yellow of budding oaks, the brilliant green of lacy new mesquite leaves, and the darker, forest greens of cedars. Imagine the hills of Malibu or Italy — only in technicolor.

Photos: Paul Moseley
If your mental picture of Texas is dominated by the featureless plains of Odessa or the cityscapes of Dallas and Houston, you owe it to yourself to visit the Texas Hill Country in spring.


What began as a few long-hood enthusiasts gathering for a Saturday drive 14 years ago has expanded to include all air-cooled Porsches from 1949-1989. The 2015 HCR hosted 120 participants with 90 cars, including 356s, several generations of 911s, 912s and 914s. While everyone enjoyed telling stories and kicking tires in the parking lot at the YO Ranch Resort, the cars showed at their best Friday night in downtown Kerrville as the sun set over the Colorado River.

The cars were arranged by type and year, with long-hood cars clustered together in the center rows. Participants, residents and the media enjoyed a spectacular display of Porsche history and a chance to stroll downtown or dine al fresco.

HCR participants customarily split into "spirited" and "touring" driving groups, and this year was no exception. On Friday, the spirited group, hoping to avoid the weekend motorcycle congestion, focused on roads west of I-10 to cover lots of backroad miles.

One touring group headed northeast instead, conducting a high-speed window tour of the gigantic pink granite mounds at Enchanted Rock State Park, sharing lunch at the Pecan Street Brewery across from the courthouse in Johnson City, and a enjoying guided tour and tasting at Becker Vineyards.

Photos: Paul Moseley
One touring group headed northeast, sharing lunch at the Pecan Street Brewery across from the courthouse in Johnson City.


Another touring group danced down Highway 39, swinging their Porsches side to side as the road dosey-doed back and forth across the Guadalupe River, ending in the Lost Maples Cafe, set for the movie "Seven Days in Utopia."

On Saturday, the spirited group abandoned its planned route to avoid an annual bicycle event at the LBJ Ranch. Instead they ad-libbed an impromptu drive, that, as usual, resulted in smiles and stories.

Photos: Paul Moseley
Driving through Texas Hill Country in the spring is quite a treat.


The touring groups sprinted out of Hunt on FM 1340, then dipped and twisted their way down FM 336, through Leakey to Utopia. FM 336 is one of the famous "Three Sisters" or "Twisted Sisters," and it rewarded our early drive with little traffic, spectacular views and an exhilarating combination of tight turns and elevation changes.

Socializing is central to the HCR, and the Saturday lunch at the Laurel Tree restaurant in Utopia is one of the highlights. The Laurel Tree is a prime example of the "If you build it, they will come" philosophy. This Tuscan-styled building is set "in the middle of no place" south of Utopia, in a field of poppies, with views of mountains to the east. It is open only on Saturdays, and you have to go a long way to go there, but the food is outstanding a four-course gourmet delight.

Photos: Paul Moseley
The Laurel Tree is a prime example of the "If you build it, they will come" philosophy. This Tuscan-styled building is set "in the middle of no place" south of Utopia.


This is not to say that gourmet eating is the main reason for meeting at HCR. Most HCR participants get their fingernails dirty on their Porsches, and they have stories to tell or stories they want to hear from other dirty-fingernail Porsche owners.

So the strongest social supports at HCR are the lawn chairs and the four-foot long coolers filled with Texas craft beers that keep the parking lot conversation going after Conan O'Brien goes to bed. Of course, no HCR is complete without the Saturday night banquet, where wine heightens the excitement of winning a door prize, and featured speakers supplement table talk.

So is the Hill Country Rallye the perfect Porsche weekend? If you enjoy sharing a drink and a story with fellow bloody-knuckled owners of old Porsches, if you enjoy exploring the fast, twisty backroads in the Texas Hill Country at its annual peak, and if you can stand waiting to come back next year, then the answer is yes.