Luftgekuhlt 2

April 27, 2015 Tim Havermans Classic Car Show, Los Angeles, Patrick Long

I guess it’s rarely seen that a factory race driver shows the same empathy and passion for his employer as the Porsche factory driver Patrick Long. Not only is he defending the Porsche colors by any means in every race he’s competing as a factory team member, Patrick jumps behind the weel of the vintage Porsches too in events like the Daytona Historics.

But that’s not all, last february Luftgekuhlt II (German for air-cooled) took place at the Bandito Brothers Studio. The event is the brain-child of Patrick Long and Howie Idelson, a California based designer, a good friend of Patrick with a strong interest in vintage cars in general and Porsche more particular. They gathered about 100 Porsches of all ages and kinds on the premises. From a Porsche 356 Continental over Porsches 911 in any color you can imagine to the Porsche 904 , Porsche 906 Carrera 6 and even a Porsche 935K3. Next to that some Porsche personalities showed up too. The always present Magnus Walker, the dread-locked rocker with a passion for Porsche one can hardly imagine. Jeff Zwart, former Pikes Hill Champion and ofcourse another mutual friend of Patrick and Howie : the actor Patrick Dempsey who seems to become more and more a profesionnal race driver with showups in events like the Le Mans 24hours and other races, often teamed up by Patrick.

There wasn’t much fuzz about the event before it actually went on. Maybe that’s a pity as I’m sure quite a lot more people would have showed up with Porsches at the Bandito Brothers Studio in Culver City. On the other hand, true passionates knew about it, and told it to their friends. Those that visited the event all said the same thing : awesome with an enormous demand for a next event. I guess anyone is convinced there will be a Luftgekuhlt 3, the question is : where and when. Probably the date isn’t that much of a question, but both Patrick Long and Howie Idelson are even thinking of doing the event outside the USA. Whenever we find out where and when, we sure will let you know, so far we are as curious as you and looking forward to next year, to Luftgekuhlt 3 where the same Porsche spirit and culture will definitely live strong again.