Photography by SSSZ Photo
The Kottenrun—an informal get-together between friends to cruise from Spa and the Ardennes to the Eifel Mountains in Germany by way of Luxembourg—is far from being the largest Porsche Treffen in the world, in Europe, or in Germany.
You won’t arrive at the rendezvous location to be met by a parking lot full of factory-perfect early 901s, you won’t find that race tracks have been rented out for hot laps, and you won’t see the presence of any big-name sponsors providing gourmet meals and goodie bags. That said, you’d be hard-pressed to find a happier group of people at any of those events—the Kottenrun was one of the most enjoyable Porsche experiences we’ve had.
Devoid of all pretense, the idea of the day-long country-crossing trip came from the hill-filled region next to the Eifel Mountains called the Bergisches Land. The undulations of the landscape are filled with lakes and ponds and rivers, the banks of which are typically occupied by a number of small cottages; sprinting between these quaint places became the basis for the first Kottenrun, and on Father’s Day this year we joined in for the second edition to follow the pack of Porsches. It was bliss. Perfect weather, a great mix of people, and an attitude toward driving we support in full: adding some kilometers to the odometer isn’t a crime, especially if they come by way of drives like this one.
We’d stop along the way in little towns and hamlets that either looked scenic or could fulfill the needs of our petrol tanks, and while chasing a modified 911 at full compression through a snarl of asphalt in the unpopulated forest is a certifiably good time, it was the human element as usual that added that extra bit. Stopping at a station or just a pull-off from one of the more trafficked sectors of the drive, the 20-odd participants would hoist themselves out of sports seats and immediately into conversation. They come from different times and backgrounds, but they all share the same brand of Porsche passion: lightweight, fast, and best enjoyed when taking advantage of the fact. They aren’t afraid to modify their cars’ appearance or mechanical guts either, as you can clearly see.
The point is to enjoy the cars for what they are, but what they are to these guys is something less tangible than the object itself. Perhaps it’s a bit cliche to say it, but they are all about the soul of the 911, that fundamental aspect of the ownership experience that doesn’t go away even if a few of the OEM parts do. And after a day spent in the manifestation of this approach, it’s hard to advocate for any other.
