[Jeff Higgins]

Our local Alfa Romeo club hosts HPDE events at one of our local tracks. I've ran with them for decades. They have an event this coming Sunday, so when I went to sign up, I noticed that they had, in big red type, that they no longer allow convertibles unless they have some form of aftermarket roll bar installed. I found this odd, since while I usually run my '72 911, I have on occasion brought out my 986 Boxster S. For 20 years they never had an issue. Now they say I would not be allowed.

The Boxster design incorporates the windshield frame as, essentially, a forward roll bar. Porsche is proud of the fact that they incorporated that into the design. My car also has the roll hoops behind the seats, which are also very much roll bars. None of this stuff is there just for looks, it is all fully functional as a part of the roll over safety package.

While I would never expect the volunteers at the Alfa club that make this all possible for us to understand the nuances of each and every car design, I would hope they would be open to input from knowledgable participants. I provided such input, complete with plenty of web links describing the Boxster's relevant features. Didn't matter. Flat denied. O.K., fine, I had already registered with the 911. This was all merely "just in case".

Our local PCA and BMW clubs still allow cabs with factory roll over protection. That seems the more logical, with the least exposure liability wise. I'm sure there is a broad variety of aftermarket products, some good and some bad, along with an equal range of installer expertise and attention. They do not specify which aftermarket products are acceptable

I wonder what might have elicited this change after so many years. Is anyone aware of any HPDE accident recently involving any make of cab wherein occupants were injured? I'm leaning towards a situation wherein they have had a leadership or committee change, and someone might be just a little too proud of something they think they "know".

The only reason I think that is because I think I actually met "that guy" at the track a few years ago, awfully proud of his knowledge of the "broomstick test". He insisted that, on my Boxster, it was roll hoop to front fender, refusing to believe that the windshield frame was actually a roll bar. When I was able to produce documentation that it was (found right there in my owners' manual, which I keep stored in the little pocket under the steering wheel), he grudgingly allowed me to go out. He was not happy to have been proven wrong, though. I wonder if somehow he got to be in charge...