Agoura Hills man enjoys life in fast lane

MOTOR MAN—Agoura Hills resident Frank Schmidt is a connoisseur of fast and exotic automobiles. Two of his latest projects are a tricked-out 1979 Porsche 930 Turbo and a Ferrari Testarossa. He bought his first car at 15, a 1933 Ford Coupe. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers The deep growl of the 500 horsepower engine rumbles across the street and shakes the ground like an F-14 fighter plane making a low flyby.

The roar that emanates from the jet-black 1979 Porsche 930 doesn’t come from an altered exhaust pipe; it’s born out of the car’s powerful engine.

And there’s no racing stripe or gratuitous stencil work marring the Porsche’s original onyx paintjob. There’s no nitrous tank to boost engine power–it doesn’t need one.

Aside from the 993 Twist wheels, the modified Porsche looks like it did when it rolled off the assembly line over 25 years ago. And that’s how the car’s owner, Agoura Hills resident Frank Schmidt, likes it.

The unassuming sports car, dubbed by Schmidt as a “Stealth Street Rocket,” is the end result of engine modifications by PS Racing’s Doug Weaver, a Burbank-based mechanic specializing in German sports cars.

Weaver said the car is capable of reaching 200 miles per hour, which Schmidt believes might make it one of the fastest

cars in the Conejo Valley.

“Rather than seek horsepower by increasing displacement and raising boost pressure, PS Racing achieves higher performance by reducing combustion heat loss, lowering drag on the pistons, and improving breathing through porting and polishing work,” Schmidt said.

Other modifications include an oversized intercooler and extensive polishing of the K26 turbocharger.

According to Schmidt, polishing the intake and exhaust ports and manifold, “improves airflow by 24 percent over the stock setup.” The larger intercooler allows for “a 100 percent increase in cooling area, and a 27 percent improvement in flow.”

The Porsche uses stock pistons, rods with stock bearings and crank. It boasts custom cams and a custom suspension package. Sports car aficionado

Schmidt’s Porsche is only one of over 25 cars that he has souped up and raced during his lifelong love affair with the combustible engine.

“I’ve never owned a car I didn’t love,” Schmidt said.

His passion for making fast cars faster began as a teenager racing coupes in his hometown of Shamokin, a coal mining town nestled in the heart of Pennsylvania.

At 15, Schmidt bought his first car, a 1933 Ford Coupe. By the time he was 16-years-old, he had purchased three cars using money he had earned working in JC Penny’s and with the local coal mine.

Schmidt said his favorite car was a 1955 Chevrolet convertible he owned in college. Schmidt replaced the ’55’s engine with that of a 1957 Chevrolet, which he said gave him the edge on just about anyone who challenged him to a race.

From Fords and Chevys, Schmidt’s taste matured to Ferraris and Porsches. Currently, a Ferrari Testarossa shares the garage with the super-charged Porsche.

Even though Schmidt has been actively racing high-end sports cars for nearly 22 years, his worse car accident happened on his way back to his office after a meeting nearly five years ago. Schmidt was driving his BMW when another motorist ran a red light and slammed into the side of his car.

Other than noticing that the opposite ends of his car were nearly touching from the force of the impactSchmidt doesn’t remember much from the accident. East Coast, West Coast

Reminders of Schmidt’s East Coast past are scattered throughout his Agoura Hills home like carefully-placed sign posts pointing to a simpler time when you didn’t need a computer to tune a car’s engine.

The antique beer bottles from his family’s brewery, the model trains, steam engines and sportcar collection

from yesteryeaand the pillow embroidered with the crest ohis alma mater–the University of Pennsylvania–keep the retired marketing executive connected to his blue-collar town.

Schmidt graduated Shamokin High School in 1957 and went on to earn degrees from The Siebel Institute of Brewing Technology and the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He also graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a business degree.

Schmidt worked for Carling Brewing Company and then went on to spend a number of years working in marketing with PepsiCola and OLGA, one of the nation’s top makers of fine lingerie. Schmidt then switched gears and for over 30 years ran one of the nation’s top recruiting firms.

Schmidt is an active member of the Porsche Club of America and Ferrari Owners Club, and was named by Marquis to the “Who’s Who in the World” list in 1997.

Schmidt currently lives in Agoura Hills with Elizabeth, his wife of 16 years, and their three children, daughter Alex, 15 and two sons, Frank, 12 and Drake, 7.

He also has two grown daughters, Suzan and Tracie from a previous marriage. Both daughters live in Thousand Oaks and have two children each.