After five events in Los Angeles and one in Great Britain, the world’s most rapidly-expanding Porsche show, Luftgekühlt, is finally coming home to Deutschland. For its inaugural event in Germany, Luft took over the small industrial district of Werksviertel Mitte in eastern Munich on Sept. 16, lining the streets and storefronts with all kinds of famous and obscure air-cooled Porsche models.
Luftgekühlt Munich was spearheaded by the pioneering Luft crew, with Porsche factory driver Patrick Long at the wheel and creative director Howie Edelson in the passenger seat making sure the first German event was up to the standards of the country from which Porsche originates. Just like at England’s event (as well as in Los Angeles), pro photographer and Pikes Peak champion Jeff Zwart was the one making sure every car was lined up as photogenically as possible.
“Thanks to Jeff Zwart’s directing skills, every sports car here has its own perfect spot,” explained Patrick Long in an interview with Porsche. “Being a [filmmaker] as well as an ardent Porsche-lover, Jeff has a special eye for arrangement which is just ideal for this event. All the sports cars dance to his tune for a few hours when they arrive. Once the guests realise who exactly it is who is leading them to the right parking space, they are even prouder when they actually get there.”
As always, Luftgekühlt attracted a slew of rare and famous Porsche models from all over the world. Steven McQueen’s Porsche 908 Spyder that he drove in the film Le Mans as well as an 850 horsepower 935 K3 and Le Mans-raced 911 GT2 could be seen mingling with all of the pristine and patina’d 356s, 914s, and 911s. Luft veterans will definitely recognize some iconic cars from past events. Do we spy an original Gmünd 356 or two?
Although Long and his team tried to evoke the humble spirit of the first Lüftgekuhlt gathering held in Venice, California, in 2014, Luft Munich ended up attracting air-cooled addicts from all over the world. Even some Porsche big wigs came to see what the fuss was about—Porsche Interior Designer Thorsten Klein and Tony Hatter, Manager of the Design Quality Style Department, were among them.
“We were actually quite nervous about coming to Germany. It’s a bit of a challenge bringing our American idea of a classic car gathering to the homeland of Porsche,” Edelson says. “But I think we’ve been successful. The number of visitors is already twice as high as it was at our last event in England. The people are happy.”
If a plane ticket to Munich still isn’t on your agenda for next year, don’t worry. Long says he’s learned a lot from Luft’s foray into Germany, and will apply what he calls the “German sense of order and punctuality” to the California events. For now though, all we can do is drool over the gallery below while we wait for what Long and has team have in store for us next year.
