CAs a total Porsche fanboi I’ve been pining over, and jealous of, photos from past Luftgekühlt events of the past 5 years, watching them get bigger and badder every year. And after missing out on Rennsport Reunion last summer, my mind was made up to finally make it out to the sixth edition.
Things were of course complicated by the event being held mother’s day weekend, but since my wife is an amazing woman, she actually encouraged me to go. So I bought a plane ticket to LA as soon as the date was announced, waited agonizing weeks to hear the venue announcement, scored an Airbnb a mile and a half from there, and finally hopped on a plane bound for LAX last Friday evening.
Now, 4 days removed from the event, I’m still in full air-cooled mode. I haven’t really gone through the 435 photos I took in detail (no wonder my phone battery was dead by the middle of the day!), and writing this post will be a good way to process.
I’d always read about the Porsche scene and the people who comprise it, and seeing it first hand not only affirms everything, but also strengthens that. I think Porsche in general and this event in particular brings people together with a shared passion, and Luft is honestly probably the best place to have a conversation with a complete stranger, because you already know you have that common passion.
To summarize my Luft experience:
- I put names to a ton of faces I only knew through Instagram, including @911customwerks, @vintage_43, and @porschecollection143, all of whom you should definitely follow.
- I delivered two cars to new owners, and sold a third one to a guy who is building a 930-based Baja 911, another account you should follow on IG: @the_baja_911.
- Saw a ton of cars I only knew of through the interwebz, a few of which I built replicas of.
- Gained a TON of inspiration for future builds.
- Finally met hero and 356 Outlaw legend Rod Emory.
Anyway, enough belly-aching, let’s roll the tape!
[For more Luftgekuhlt coverage, check out Tfritsch’s post on Oppositelock!]
I went from one day not having seen any Singer Porsche 911s in the flesh, to being greeted by three of them right off the bat as I got off the shuttle. Apparently I didn’t even take photos of the trio, probably due to being overwhelmed by the enormity of the whole event. I think there was one in the parking garage too, so let’s say my Singer count now stands at 4.
One of my favorite shots from Luft6, and the reason why I’m very glad I spent the extra $20 for the 8am entry ticket instead of 10am. They were still in the process of getting cars set up, so this lonely 2.7RS sitting in front of a fake row of buildings looks all the more special. Damn you, security guard, for ruining my perfect shot... I might have to edit him out one day.
One of several customs I brought was this Safari 911, and what better place to show it than next to of its big brothers, the Luftautos, cars built especially for two of the past Luftgekuhlt events.
One of the two customs I delivered was the Emory-built Porsche 911k, which matches a 908k Vic Elford once drove. It was awesome to meet the new owner and hand him this replica of his car. It was hard to let it go though, at the same time...
This is the second car I delivered, an as-close-as-possible replica of the 1960 356B owned by the Rennfilms founder. The build was a pain in the butt, but it came out so nice!
