Luftgekühlt 9 - Air | Water - Luftovers
Mare Island

Luftgekühlt 9 and Air | Water unfolded over April 29–30, 2023, at Mare Island, the historic naval base in Vallejo, just north of San Francisco. The location holds a particular significance for me, as my grandfather worked in this shipyard during World War II. The setting's brick, cranes, and dry docks framed a rare cross-section of Porsche history: more than 1,000 cars and 12,000 guests across the weekend. Saturday centered on the air-cooled 911 legacy—especially the G-model in its 60th year—while Sunday expanded into Air | Water, connecting eras and build styles in one narrative space. The curation was cinematic, turning an industrial shipyard into a gallery where patina, provenance, and personality shared the same passion.

These photos didn’t fit the themes of my other Luftgekühlt 9 and Air | Water galleries, but they were too good for the cutting-room floor—hence “Luftovers.” A favorite from Sunday is the color-blocked procession of water-cooled 911s inside Building 116, a bright ribbon threading through timber and steel. From Saturday’s load-in, a clean row of vintage air-cooled 911s along Building 112 lays out the long-hood lineage in profile. Anchoring the set is a Porsche 910—one of just 27 built for 1967—with a class win at the 1969 Spa 1000 km and 12th overall at the 1969 Nürburgring 1000 km. And there’s a fleeting cameo of Jeff Zwart rolling by on a bicycle—one of Luft’s co-founders whose eye shapes the show.

Luftgekühlt originated in 2014, when racer Patrick Long and creative director Howie Idelson hosted a small gathering of air-cooled Porsches in the parking lot at Deus Ex Machina in Venice, California. The name means "air-cooled", but the idea was bigger: curate cars like art, stage them in character-rich spaces, and invite a community to mingle stories with machinery. From that intimate start, the event scaled into a roving exhibition with hyper-considered placement, distinctive branding, and an inclusive spirit that welcomes purists and outliers alike. It is really something special, everyone across the spectrum coming together to celebrate a shared love for Porsche's heritage, old and new.