Category: Air Cooled 911s (Page 1 of 5)

The first time I spent several hours wandering around looking at a collection of air-cooled Porsches was over ten years ago. I was one of the relative few who had the chance to do so. Thanks to my Porsche Club cronies, I had heard about Luftgekühlt, a unique, new car show featuring air-cooled Porsches. The founders of the event, Pat Long and Howie Idelson, were local guys. They suspected that they they had a tiger by the tail and they were trying to keep a lid on the buzz surrounding the event, which, in my opinion, only added to its allure—at least for me.

Pam, on the other hand, had no interest in going with me, especially since I told her it was going to be an epic Porsche event. She was not impressed and opted not to go, much to her ultimate chagrin, as she could have met Patrick Dempsey had she come along with me.

Luftgekühlt 1 was held at Dues Ex Machina in Venice. The location was spectacular, if too small, as evidenced by the throngs of people spilling out onto Venice and Lincoln. The cars were amazing. I knew many of the attendees, making it feel more like a cocktail party than a car show.

On the way home, I called Pam. With more than a modicum of sarcasm, she asked, “Was it epic?” I said, “YES!!.” I was not the only one who felt that way, as over the years, Luftgekühlt has grown into the preeminent air-cooled Porsche show in the world.

I was not able to attend Luftgekühlt 2 or 3, but I attended and had cars displayed in Luftgekühlt 4, 5 and 6, which occurred in 2019 and was held on the backlot at Universal Studios. I thoroughly enjoyed attending each of those shows. I still laugh about the fact that several of my Porsche Club friends and I did traffic control at Luftgekühlt 4. Frankly, I never understood why the drivers followed our directions, as we were in ous street clothes and not even wearing reflective vests. Though the drivers listened, the cops were not happy about our efforts.

By the time of Luftgekühlt 6, which was held on the backlot of Universal Studios, the event had matured. It was professionally run and was unbelievably well organized. I still remember the joy I felt driving my 89 911 Carrera onto and into the backlot and parking it on one of the streets built to look like New York. I had a great time at that event, which I attended with my friend, Marc, who is very connected to Pat Long. We spent the day looking at cars, talking with Pat, drinking and hanging out with my Porsche Club friends.

Yesterday, I attended Luftgekühlt 10. Once again, I spent several hours wandering around the backlot of Universal Studios, gazing at hundreds of air-cooled Porsches. The show was great. The cars were great. The location was great. The food trucks and drinks were great. The attendance was great. It was a spectacular show, easily eclipsing the epicness of the first Luftgekühlt.

But something was different for me this year. Maybe it was because I had an overwhelming sense of deja vu. Maybe it was because Marc, who was on the east coast, was not there. Maybe it was because I did not drive my 89 Carrera to a parking spot on the backlot, which given the heat of the day, turned out to be more of a blessing than a curse. Maybe it was because I did not see anyone I knew. Maybe it was because I have seen so many air-cooled Porsches over the years, they had lost their impact, though not their appeal.

Interestingly, I spent more time observing other people looking at the Porsches instead of looking at the Porsches myself. I spent more time listening to them as they oohed and aahed and talked, sometimes erroneously, about the attributes of the cars or as they pushed strollers and talked about introducing the next generation to the air-cooled world. I enjoyed talking to a father who had given his camera to his young daughter so she could experience the joys of taking pictures of Porsches parked in uniquely interesting locations on the lot.

Maybe it was different because, I knew I would never be buying another air-cooled Porsche. I am happy with the one I have, and buying another one is not on my bucket list.

Maybe it was because as I approach seventy, I have finally grown up—God, I hope not!

I used to take pictures of cars. Thousands of them, the vast majority with Porsches in them. Not so much anymore. I used to hang out with Porschefiles. Hundreds of them. They were my cronies. Not so much anymore. I used to drive my Porsches on backroads. Miles of driving on them. Not so much anymore. I used to wash my Porsches. Not so much anymore, though that may have more to do with the drought than anything else. I used to attend and write about scenic drives and cars and coffees. Not so much anymore. I used to go to Air-Cooled Porsche shows. Not sure if I will anymore, and that is the crux of my issue.

I am experiencing a significant first world problem. I am not sure how much I love my Porsches, the four wheeled kind, not my two-legged granddaughter, Portia, whom I love dearly, kind. I do not think I have any interest in attending Luftgekühlt 8, which will be held in October. This is a big deal. A Richter Scale event in my life worthy of the issuance of a tsunami warning.

Luftgekühlt, which means air cooled in German, is arguably the best Air-Cooled Porsche show in the world. I have been to four of the first six Luftgekühlts, and I have had cars on display in three of them. Attending Luftgekühlt was once the highlight of my year. It was a chance to stand next to Patrick Dempsey, to meet Magnus Walker, to kibbitz with Patrick Long, who is the event founder, to put my car in a unique environment, to see many beautiful Air-Cooled Porsches and to hang out with many of my cronies. I think even Pam would agree that Luftgekühlt is an epic event, even though she abhors it when I refer to it that way.

To put my problem in perspective, since December 2019 I have not attended many Porsche related events, meaning no scenic drives or cars and coffees, which has resulted in a near total absence of hanging out with my cronies, of having opportunities to snap Porsche pics, or to write Porsche blog posts. It’s not like the events didn’t exist. They did. I just did not go.

I have hardly driven either of my Porsches since December 2019, putting about 1,600 miles on my Cayman and about 800 on my Carrera. That’s 2,400 miles in over 32 months. Or put another way, I have driven them on average about 75 miles per month. The good news is that I have only bought gas twice in 2022 for them, less than two tank fulls in my Cayman, and none in my Carrera. The bad news is that I do not miss driving them.

I am worried about me. I think there is something wrong. Let me restate that: Since the onset of Covid, there is more wrong with me than ever before. Over the past two+ years, I have become a hermit. Well, more of a hermit, anyway. Some would say I have developed a serious case of hermititis. I would have to agree with them. The curiouis thing is that I am quite comfortable with my affliction. It does not bother me in the least.

Which leaves me with a question posed lyrically by the Clash: “Should I stay or should I go?”

In my ongoing quest to prove to myself that I am not an agorophiac, I ventured out again for a drive in my 89 Targa this morning. I headed up PCH towards Malibu, as I like to drive by the ocean. Along the way, I randomly started thinking about daylight savings time, as tonight we fall back to regular time.

This was a really bad idea. Thinking about it, I realized for the first time that daylight savings time is a misnomer. We do not save daylight when we move our clocks forward. We actually spend more time in daylight, which left me wondering why it was not called daylight spending time. I pondered this as I drove, eventually forsaking this line of thought as it was somewhat fruitless, and I was getting hungry.

Still heading north, I decided to stop at the McDonald’s just south of the Malibu pier to get some takeout. Shockingly, I really like the coffee at McDonald’s, which given my disdain for the coffee at most restaurants is kind of odd. I am also somewhat uncomfortable going into fast food places during Covid, but I do like the coffee, so I pulled into the parking lot.

As I did, I noticed a person who has been experiencing homelessness for a long time leaning against the outside wall right next to the door. As I was parking and debating whether I could weather the germ storm I would encounter while walking by him, I noticed another person experiencing a similar amount of homelessness going in the door to McDonald’s. I am embarrassed to say that despite my feelings of pity for both of them, there was no way I was going to go into McDonald’s, despite of the quality of the coffee inside, leaving me with the issue of where to get some food.

Continuing north, I decided to pull into the parking lot of Ollo, a restaurant just south of Pepperdine. I have not been to Ollo since Covid began. I used to eat there about four times per year with my Porsche Club cronies. We would hang out in the parking lot, ogling all the other cars and then go in to eat. As there were usually about 40 of us, we took up most of the restaurant and made quite a bit of noise.

I pulled into the lot, noting with a pang of sadness the lack of familiar cars and faces. I did relish the ease of finding a parking space, though. As I sat in my car, I threw my agorophobiac tendencies to the ocean breeze and decided to actually eat at Ollo, not just get takeout. To put this in perspective, I have not actually eaten at a restaurant in over seven months.

With no small amount of trepidation, I walked in and asked for a table for one. It was empty inside, which was no surprise, and the patio, where I was going to be sitting, was not too crowded.

So I stayed and ate, a little bit lonely and all the while noting the stillness of the place and pondering why we call it daylight savings time.

I really did not like this picture when I took it in May, 2019, mainly because it was too busy, too chaotic, with no central focus. I took it at Luftgekühlt 6, the premier air-cooled Porsche show in the world, which was held on the backlot of Universal Studios.

I like looking at it much more now because it speaks volumes about what we have given up. It is an uplifting view of the past, of a carefree time that I hope we see again soon.

My friend, Mark, and I took my Guards Red 89 Carrera to the event, It looked great, as it was freshly coiffed for a very public appearance.

We arrived early in the morning, along with all the other air-cooled Porsches that were going to park on the backlot.

Mark is connected with a Capital C so we were able to go to the Petersen pre-event festivities, hang out with Patrick Long, the creator of the event and world-class Porsche race car driver and unbelievably nice guy, and eat backstage with the Luft crew.

All in all it was a fantastic day. Mark and I had a great time. The backlot will never look that good again, as there were air-cooled Porsches in every nook and cranny and entire backlot streets were jammed with parked Porsches.

As we were getting ready to leave, I took one last picture of my Carrera. I thought it was a unique opportunity to capture the essence of the day, without other parked Porsches or people milling around to muck up my shot, and I doubted I would ever get a similar chance. When I looked at it when I got home, I was disappointed with it. It just did not work, and I felt it was sort of meh.

The picture just did not convey how I felt about that day. The lighting is off. My car looks dull, as its gleam is gone because it had rained a bit. After seeing so many cars and so many people crowding in a small space, my car looks lonely, sitting by itself in front of a drab New York-esque building on the backlot.

Now that we are seven months into Covid-19, my perception of the picture has changed. Now I like it for what it conveys about life for the past seven months. The loneliness of it. The isolation of it. The drabness of it.

Meh sort of works for me now.

I spent some time this afternoon joyriding. Thanks to Covid-19 I didn’t even have to head out to the twisties on the backroads to have fun. Instead, I just cruised out Olympic to the 405 North.

It has been weeks since I had my 89 911 G-Body Targa on the road. I have been letting it idle for about 10 – 15 minutes each week just to keep it breathing. But today I just had to get out and drive. Nothing fancy. Nothing serious. Nothing far. Just took it out to drive.

With gas cheap, even in CA it is in the low $3 per gallon range, this was a great way to stay socially distant. Just me, the wind, and the howl of my naturally aspirated, air-cooled flat six. Even though I did not go far, once the oil warmed up, I made sure I revved the hell out of it, coming close to redlining it a couple of times.

I love the feel of driving that car. Manual steering. Manual brakes. Manual transmission. Complete driver engagement, requiring more than enough focus to forget about Covid-19 for awhile.

With few cars on the road, it doesn’t get a whole lot better. I have a feeling I will be doing this again real soon.

Apparently the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend is a great day for a car show. Who knew. Patrick Long. That’s who.

Luftgekühlt 6, the sixth installment of the uber successful air-cooled Porsche show franchise, was held on the back lot at Universal Studios on the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend. It was not only great. It was a smash. Frankly, I thought Luft 5, which was held at Ganahl Lumber in Torrance, was an amazing event. I thought it would be tough to beat. I was wrong. Not a little wrong, but totally and completely wrong. Luft 6 was simply spectacular.

Leading up to the event, I was a little iffy about the whole thing. I just wasn’t feeling it. I have been to Lufts 1,4, and 5, and I have loved them all. But for some reason I was a little nonplussed about Luft 6. Maybe it was because I have been working too hard and traveling too much. Maybe it was because I have seen so many of the cars so many times. Maybe it was because I was not sure my 89 G-Body Carrera would be parked in the back lot. Whatever the reason, by the time we entered Gate 4 to get into the back lot, that old Luft feeling was back. Back in a big way.

A couple of weeks before the event, I got in touch with Marc, my high school friend and fellow Porsche enthusiast, who lives in Las Vegas, and asked him if he was going to Luft. He said, “Yes.” I asked him if I could tag along. He once again said, “Yes.” Marc is pretty well connected in the motor sports world, so I knew we would have full access to to all aspects of the event. That pumped me up a tad, but I still was not really feeling it.

Friday night Marc and I went to the pre-Luft event at the Petersen Automotive Museum and hung out with all the car folks. We were treated to a vault tour, which was led by Pete Stout of 000 fame. Pete is a self-proclaimed “Porsche Nerd.” He knows a lot about the history of the marque, ranging from street to track. We had a great time, but I was still not feeling it the way I had in the past.

On Saturday, I drove my Guards Red 1989 Carrera Targa to pick Marc up at the hotel, and then we drove to Gate 4, which is all the way around to the back side of the studio.

On the way, a couple of other air-cooled Porsches caught up with us. The waving started and the smiles were contagious. We took Barham down the hill and pulled into the left turn lane for Gate 4. While there, we were treated to the view of a line of air-cooled Porsches heading north on Barham that were lined up waiting to turn right into the lot. We made the left and got in line for entry. At that point, I was back. I was ready to have a great time.

We went thru the gate, were staged to be led to our designated spaces, and proceeded to drive thru the lot. As we passed each stop sign, my excitement grew. At the last stop sign, we were greeted by Pat Long, completely at ease, directing traffic, playing his role of host and master of ceremonies.

We parked, and just started taking it all in. From the outset, we new this Luft was going to be special. The area was huge, with enough different nooks and crannies that were visually disconnected to make it feel like many smaller shows instead of one large one. It also helped disperse the crowd, which was huge, as the event was sold out.

The cars were amazing. It did not matter that I had seen many of them before. I had never seen them is this environment. It made them feel fresh.

The cars showed off the air-cooled culture, ranging from 356s to race cars, from stock to outlaw, from road to off-road. There was something new around every corner.

Some were out on the main streets. Others were lurking on the side streets. All were pretty amazing.

We spent all day at the show, hanging out with some of the crew for lunch and then friends throughout the day. By the time we left, it had rained a bit, and most people had left, which gave me a chance to take a shot of my Carrera sitting all by itself on the backstreets of New York. How kült was that?