MEET PETER SONTAG... Founder, Fast Lane Travel, and your Treffen®- and Festmeister!

Peter Sontag, your Treffen®- and Festmeister has been conducting PORSCHE trips for PCA members, their families and friends for 36 years! The 2011 Spring Budget Treffen will be the 94th PORSCHE trip Peter has organized! In total, there have been over 3,000 Porsche Trip participants who have enjoyed Europe in a way they could not have done on their own. As a result of the trips at least 500 PORSCHES (roughly $35 million worth) have been sold over the years. A trip to Stuttgart and/or Leipzig is a must for any PORSCHE enthusiast. Not only do you experience the amazing design, workmanship and history of PORSCHE but you actually are driving a PORSCHE of your choice on the AUTOBHAN, fabulous mountain roads and scenic villages unmatched anywhere else in the world. To fully understand the quality, ambience and fun that trip participants enjoy you need only read the feedback after each trip, such as the 2010 Feedback. Everyone has been gracious, fabulous and loads of fun. Peter currently drives a 1996 993 Cabriolet and recently sold his 1992 928 GTS which he had actually kept in Germany. He has owned 32 Porsches over the years (they were a ‘64 356, two ‘71 914s, an ‘83 944, an ‘86 930 Turbo, six 928s and the rest were 911s). He is planning to get a PORSCHE Panamera – read the article he wrote “3,600 Miles in a 2010 PORSCHE Panamera Turbo” based on his experience in 2009. Peter sold his second Boss Hoss motorcycle (it was 2000 model weighing 1,600 lbs. with an 8225 cc - 502 cubic inch, 510 hp, Chevy V-8 Big Block) and bought his third Boss Hoss – it has a patriotic US Flag & Eagle motif on it. It is a 2002 model with a modest 5700 cc - 355 cubic inch Chevrolet Corvette ZZ4 V-8; 0 – 60 mph alleged at 1.8 seconds (He has never tried it); top speed = unknown! (He has never tried that either).		In his “real life,” Peter sold his travel company, US Travel, Inc., which he built from scratch in 1994. At that time, it was the third largest travel distributor in the U.S. with sales of $2.4 billion and 540 offices in the U.S. plus 400 franchisees. After that, he was Chairman and part-owner of one of the largest distributors of hotel rooms in the country (they sold 28.5 million room nights a year), which Peter successfully sold to trip.com. Peter is currently serving on 3 corporate boards and is involved in two new ventures. He has served on the board of a major airline for 14 years and was on the committee to successfully sell it in 2007. Business Travel News Magazine honored him this spring, along with a few other industry leaders as having been elected four or more times as one of the 25 most influential executives in the travel and transportation industry. Peter is very proud of his daughters Alicia (MBA Harvard ’01) who is the chief strategist for a cosmetic company, Bobbi Brown, divisions of Esteé Lauder, and Julie (BS Cornell ’99), who, along with her husband David, just completed a one-year stint at Americorps in San Diego. Peter enjoys skiing in Steamboat Springs every year, sailing, Porsches, motorcycles, and all the friends he has made over the many years on the Porsche trips. As custom dictates, at least once every year during our vacation in Steamboat Springs “the Austrian” is on the slopes in his traditional Lederhosen. I know it’s silly but you’d be amazed how many people want their picture taken with him as he schussing down the slopes. Peter is Austrian by birth and a naturalized U.S. Citizen – consequently, he speaks German fluently (which is absolutely essential in putting these trips together). Ah, yes – also shown is a proud dad dancing with his daughter, Alicia, in Vienna on February 19th 2009 enjoying the Opera Ball along with Dave Hatch, our host, and another half dozen friends. It was spectacular!

Meet Thomas Höferlin... Assistant Treffen® Meister & Tour Coordinator

A new addition to the Fast Lane Travel staff in 2010 was Thomas Höferlin, now the Assistant Treffen Meister and Tour Coordinator of Fast Lane Travel Inc. Thomas is a native of Germany, he speaks German fluently. Thomas has been leading PORSCHE European Travel tours for over 10 years. Thomas has been the lead PORSCHE drive guide on virtually every single PORSCHE Treffen and Fest trip Peter organized. All participants universally acclaimed Thomas as THE best, fastest and safest PORSCHE drive guide! On the October 2008 trip Peter suggested to Thomas: “Thomas, you’ve been dealing with Americans now for over ten years and you’ve NEVER been to the States – why don’t you come over and spend a little time with me in Florida?” Thomas arrived in March 2009 and spent a fun week at Peter’s house. One evening there was a party in St. Petersburg. Thomas came along and met Paula Brunelle – they looked at each other . . . and as they say, it was love at first sight. Thomas subsequently came back to the U.S. once a month. He sold his physical therapy practice, apartment, car and all his worldly possessions in Germany and moved to the U.S.		They were married on May 22. 2010. And you thought there were no more love stories!!  Paula and Thomas share their home with two “Dackels”, Hänsel & Gretel (Dachshunde). Between them, they have two sons, a daughter and two beautiful grandchildren. Paula is a registered nurse, that is currently working for Humana as a Care Manager. She oversees Humana members living with chronic health conditions. Thomas was awarded the “Presidency of the 300 km/h club” by Peter Sontag at the 2009 PORSCHE Fest. He is a fanatical about driving safely in Europe and wants to make sure that every participant gets the maximum enjoyment out of their Treffen trip. Indeed, his passion is to give you the BEST PORSCHE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE!
To really understand at least one aspect of my trips is to reach back to the quote of one of the participants of the 2008 Spring Treffen trip who exclaimed after a nice run on the A-7 Autobahn South: "You haven’t lived until you have passed a German Highway Patrol Car and you’re doing 150 mph, sucking off his hubcaps as you whoosh past, and he just smiles and gives you the thumbs up.”

 

Come join us on one of the fabulous trips
and auf Wiedersehen in Stuttgart!

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
— George Carlin (1937-2008)

"Porsche," the Porsche Crest, "Carrera," "Targa," "Boxster," "Cayenne," "Cayman," "Panamera," and the distinctive shapes of the Porsche models are trademarks of Porsche AG. Permission Granted.