Friday, July 22, 2011

More on Personalized Autohaus’ Wayne Baker

Once he felt he had exhausted the 914-14, Wayne decided to take on another challenge by campaigning a 934 Porsche in the GTO class for the 1983 IMSA racing season. That year, Wayne competed in 17 races coast-to-coast with co-drivers Jim Mullen and Kees Nierop. He enjoyed five class wins and was the first to win the 12 hours of Sebring first overall. But the pinnacle came when he won the IMSA GTO Championship.
In 1985, Wayne decided to retire from racing … but three years later he was introduced to vintage Porsche racing when he entered a customer’s 1958 RSK at Laguna Seca for the 50th anniversary of Porsche. The experienced paved the way for many other events, like racing a 1967 Porsche 910 in the Tour Auto in France, 24 hours of Magny Cours in a 1965 Porsche 911, racing in Spa, Belgium, Nurburgring and Monza, Italy.
Wayne organized the Porsche 2.0 Liter Challenge Series with HSR-West in California in 2000. Due to his experience and background, Wayne offers custom Porsche setup, mentoring and an arrive-and-drive program for new and experienced drivers alike. He has traveled to many of the U.S.’s famous tracks, like Sebring, Daytona, Road Atlanta, Road America and Watkins Glen, with his 4-car transporter and 6-car transporter.
{Photo Credit: opencage.info}

Monday, July 18, 2011

All About Wayne Baker

When we say we specialize in vintage Porsche repair, we mean it! Personalized Autohaus’ Wayne Baker became a Porsche mechanic trainee in 1963 and went to Porsche Certified School in 1965. After working in the Porsche dealership system in L.A. as a journeyman mechanic, Wayne moved to San Diego and established Personalized Autohaus in 1974. That same year, Wayne wed Nancy and she became a major part of the complete Porsche restorations business in 1976.
In the late 1970s, racing became a large part of Personalized Autohaus. After racing in SCCA, Wayne moved up to the professional series in IMSA by racing a highly modified 914-4 cylinder, light-weight, 2.0 liter engine—and he achieved over 230 horsepower!
To our knowledge, Wayne was the first and only person to win an IMSA race in the GTU class in a 914-4 cylinder, when he won Sears Point, and also to completely finish both the 12 hours of Sebring and the 24 hours of Daytona in this same car.