Luftgekühlt 9 — The 356s
Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Luftgekühlt 9, staged on April 29, 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.

This photo gallery pays homage to all the 356s on display, from the classic originals to outlaws and Emory Motorsports, the original outlaw. I lingered on details—beehive taillights, shine-down plates, corduroy buckets, louvered decks—each variation showing how the 356 shaped Porsche's soul. Pre-A purity sat beside late C refinement, Speedsters next to weathered coupes wearing honest miles. Emory's stance and craft reframed tradition without erasing lineage. In Mare Island's brick and steel, these read like first drafts of the 911: lightweight, purposeful, human-scaled.

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 air-cooled heritage.