Photo and Story by Johann Kim
A Southern California lumberyard meets the world's most spectacular and rare vintage Porsches at the fifth installment of Patrick Long's and Howie Idelson's experiential air-cooled event.
Luftgekühlt 5 was held at Ganahl Lumber Company South Bay in Torrance, CA — a modest nod to Porsche's early history in Gmünd, Austria where early legends such as the Cisitalia GP Type 360 and the first aluminum-body 356s were born in a re-purposed sawmill located in the humble Southern-Austrian town.
Taking no exception from previous events of the now internationally-renowned event, the open industrial location was filled with a stunning line-up of iconic automobiles that one would struggle to see elsewhere.
Among the cars in attendance were one of four original 1967 911R prototypes, a 1968 Factory Works 908K piloted by Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpash at the 1968 1000kms of Spa-Francorchamps, several 934/5s and 935s with period racing history, and more than one Le Mans winner.
The curated collection of cars within the main warehouse only scratched the surface however — the facility exterior was open to other air-cooled enthusiasts to display their own personal automobiles, resulting in perhaps the largest Porsche-enthusiast showing in recent memory.
Since its inception in 2014, Luftgekühlt has cemented itself as one of Southern California's must-see automotive happenings and once again, proves to be pure bliss for enthusiast. Congrats Patrick and Howie, we’re excited to see where you take it from here.