Luftgekühlt 5: Air-Cooled Porsches & Southern California Car Culture
Patrick Long and Howie Idelson’s fifth annual gathering draws hundreds of Porsches, like Jerry Seinfeld’s 1949 356/2 coupe, and famous fans.
In just five short years, Luftgekühlt co-founders Patrick Long and Howie Idelson have turned what started as a small meeting of air-cooled Porsche enthusiasts into the not-to-be-missed automotive cultural event of the year.
With the help of a perfect Southern California Sunday afternoon, the sold-out show on April 22 stretched across Ganahl Lumber Company’s Torrance location to host a wide variety of rare, historic, and much-loved cars made by Porsche.
If you’re wondering why a functioning lumber mill was the venue of choice for Luftgekühlt 5, it’s a throw-back to Porsche’s early days when it operated secretly out of a converted sawmill in Gmünd, Austria, during the end of World War II.
The industrial setting was perfect, though, evoking the hand-craftsmanship and history of the German automaker. It made the perfect backdrop for Jerry Seinfeld‘s 1949 356/2 coupe as it greeted guests on its wooden pedestal. And just on the other side of the wall was a 1968 Porsche 908 Works “Short-Tail” Coupe — set to be auctioned off during Monterey Car Week in August — quietly waiting to be discovered inside the mill’s warehouse.
Other gems that were casually on display included a 917/10 race car, 804 Formula 1 race car, a street-legal Schuppan Porsche 962CR (one of six in the world), Ruf BTR, and a 904 Carrera GTS, to name a few.
