Web Site Users Remember Porsche Enthusiast: Charles Hammersmith Pioneered One of First Boxster Message Boards

By Nathan Cohen, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Jul. 12–He was known around the world simply as “Porsche Pete.” It was a persona created on a Web site devoted to Porsche automobiles — particularly the Boxster. The man behind it was Charles “Chuck” Hammersmith of Burlington. Hammersmith, who died July 1 at age 53, pioneered the Web site PPBB.com, or Porsche Pete’s Boxster Board, one of the first Internet message boards on the subject, and the most active dedicated to the Boxster, Porsche’s best-selling car. While Hammersmith had been bewitched by Boxsters since before he could drive, friends from his message board say that the car particularly interested him because it was the first Porsche made available to a wider audience. Costing around $45,000, the Boxster costs far less than the more traditional model, the 911, which has been in production in varied forms since 1964 and starts at $72,000. Before his first Boxster, Hammersmith owned three 911s. Through Hammersmith’s site, Porsche fans organized the Blue Ridge Boxster Summit in Blowing Rock, where PPBB.com users have gathered to meet for the last nine years. The biggest thrill for many who attended the first and subsequent summits, was meeting “Porsche Pete” in person, said Karl Folkens, a South Carolina resident and PPBB.com administrator. Most were surprised by who they discovered. “From the Web site, you got the sense he’s a pistol-pulling kind of guy,” said Folkens, “but when you meet him in person you find out he’s very mild mannered.” Hammersmith’s daughter Kim added that her dad was never one to dominate the spotlight, and would have been surprised by all the appreciation he received since word of his death began to spread. Thousands of posts have sneaked up on the Web site, highlighting Hammersmith through memories and photos. “Ten years ago, we didn’t realize how big an impact the site made,” said Kim who has an appreciation for Porsche herself and toured a factory while visiting Germany a few years ago. “He never really wanted to take credit for anything he did.” Hammersmith didn’t make it to the ninth annual gathering last month, where Boxster fiends spent four days driving along the 400-mile Blue Ridge Parkway’s winding mountain roads. For Gordon Mckeehan, parts manager at Porsche dealer Suncoast Motorsports, the honor was his and the other employees, to sell Hammersmith his last Boxster in 2003, Mckeehan said. Since Hammersmith opened his site 10 years ago, Porsche owners and other self-designated “car geeks” have posted millions of messages on the message board, said Cecil Thorpe, one of its administrators. The discussions featured on the board are monitored by Porsche’s corporate headquarters to learn what owners like and don’t like about the vehicle, Thorpe said. For Robert Granger, who cohosted the site with Hammersmith from Texas, the loss was especially difficult. “Chuck’s philosophy has always been, ‘It’s the people that make our place special,’” said Granger in an e-mail. “Personally I think that it was Chuck … that really made it so special.” In addition to meeting Hammersmith at Boxster gatherings, he had met Hammersmith’s daughters, and was especially struck by the father’s love for them. “While Chuck was a true Boxster fanatic, his real pride and joy were his two girls, Kim and Sarah,” he said. “He never missed a chance to brag on them. Whatever you write, please find a way to fit that in.”

—–

To see more of the Times-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.thetimesnews.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.