Luftgekühlt 10 — Emory Motorsports
Universal Studios Backlot

Luftgekühlt 10 unfolded on Saturday, October 5, 2024, across the Universal Studios backlot—city blocks and alleyways turned into a rolling set for air-cooled Porsche history. I worked the staged streets like scenes: aged brick, painted storefronts, fire escapes, and a curation that used sightlines for reveals and color for contrast—with the 50th anniversary of the 911 Turbo in the air, long-hoods, RSRs, and wide-arched 930s shared frames that felt purpose-built for the camera. It was Hollywood-scale storytelling with air-cooled heartbeat—an industrial lot transformed into a living archive for a single, very Porsche day.

Emory’s corner carried a different cadence—more workshop than showroom—and the backlot’s city blocks made a natural stage. The cars wear intent: clean stance, purposeful ride heights, and those functional touches Emory is known for—louvers where the air wants to go, tidy lighting, hardware choices that privilege feel over gloss. I like how the builds read at street distance and at arm’s length; the lines stay simple, but the craft rises as you move in. There’s a family thread you can sense even here—Rod’s modern outlaws tracing back to Gary’s resourceful parts-hunting and the Valley Custom metalworking ethic that started generations earlier. In this light, surrounded by façades made for movies, the authenticity pops: these are driver-first 356s, refined without losing their handshake. The photos lean into that tension—heritage and improvisation—set against brick, signage, and alleys that make every angle feel like a scene.

Luftgekühlt began in 2014 with Patrick Long and Howie Idelson curating air-cooled Porsches like gallery pieces in character-rich spaces. Ten editions later, the premise holds—story first, staging as a tool, community at the center—now scaled to venues like the Universal backlot. The 2024 chapter added a timely layer: 50 years of the 911 Turbo, threaded through streets built for cinema and cars built for speed. That blend—design, motorsport, and place—explains Luft’s pull. It’s less a static show than a narrative you can walk, where Porsche’s air-cooled era keeps finding new ways to speak in the present.