Photography by Larry Chen
Last year left little opportunity for car-based get-togethers, but one that we were particularly wistful for was the air-cooled Porschepalooza we know as Luftgekühlt. This past Friday marked the return of “Luft” since the last event in 2019, with founders Patrick Long and Howie Idelson teaming up with Jeff Zwart once more to put on a show worthy of their reputations. What began in Los Angeles has since gone international, with Luft holding events in England and Germany in the past years, but for the seventh iteration the team was back in the United States in a city that’s central to the lore of American motorsports: Indianapolis.
The city’s Bottleworks District—a former Coca-Cola bottling plant—was very much in keeping with Luftgekühlt’s tradition of hosting events in locations that do justice to the cars in ways a big parking lot or convention center never will. The word “curated” is one of the most overused descriptors in the classic car world—we’re surely guilty of this too—and we probably have Luftgekühlt to thank for it in large part. The point being, Luft embodies the concept perfectly, and the show’s immediate and ever-growing influence has forced others to raise the bar, spawning many a wannabe in the process. Which, to be clear, is something that should be welcomed: imitation is flattery, and the more the merrier. This year Luna Bondesan was leading the organization of the entire event, and it showed in its incredible success.
With that said, it doesn’t matter how selective the display committee is or how Instagrammable the setting is if the cars themselves aren’t doing the heavy lifting, and it’s hard to think of another manufacturer whose history is as diverse as Porsche’s air-cooled past. In some places of the world—any given Cars and Coffee in Southern California, for example—classic and modified 911s are harder to avoid than come by, but outside of Porsche museums and Rennsport Reunion, they are rarely joined by Gmünd 356 SLs, 904s, 718 RSKs, 962s, and langheck 908s with Spa wins in their past. As you can see in our gallery, the 911 contingent itself was represented to the nth degree with everything from former Trans-Am competitors, modified street cars, early examples to the last of the breed 993s in road and race trim.
We hope you enjoy this look at the latest Luftgekühlt, and to see you at the next one, wherever and whenever it may be.
