Luftgekuhlt 2016: Porsches at Modernica- 04.10.16
If there was any question that air-cooled Porsches are having a moment, today’s Luftgekuhlt (german for air-cooled) proved it without a doubt. Pulling into Vernon (the city’s crest says “Exclusively Industrial”) amongst the quiet empty warehouses on a Sunday morning, the streets are filled with Porsche coupes… parked all around the Modernica warehouse for blocks, and driving around hunting for parking. It seemed like a lot of Porsches outside the event… as soon as you step INSIDE, there are literally hundreds of them - gorgeous shiny curves in a rainbow of colors. And for every car there are about a dozen people and probably a dog and a toddler too. The crowd was HUGE! And beyond gawking at all the cars, getting to know the vintage porsche community (cars and porsche specialists came from around the country - and beyond!)… Modernica gave everyone free reign to wander the workshops and warehouses!
When Shawn first told me about the event - as soon as i heard Porsche and Modernica and Deus Ex Machina, and every Porsche fanatic we knew were coming together… AND limited edition products specially for the event… i was in. In the Dabs Myla building at the Modernica factory, there was a pop up shop filled with Porsche parts, limited edition Porsche/Modernica Eames Chairs, Deus Ex Machina t-shirts, posters being screen printed live, stunning products from Discommon Goods and more… This Luftgekuhlt is the third and largest event yet. All three have been in LA - can’t wait to see where they decide to hold it in 2017!
Take a peek at the experience and details on the next page!
Blocks away looking for parking…
Walking up to the factory… Porsches that paid $25 could park inside, but there was quite a line to get cars in!
Waiting for tickets… you see the Dabs Myla house ahead!
The cars!!!
Here’s a look at some gorgeous examples from Emory Motorsports.
There were normal sized cars… and minis too!
Some had prime spots in the warehouse spaces.
A lot of folks made a day of it - camping out at the multiscreen video game racing setup. I have also never seen so many different Porsche t-shirts in my life!
Heading upstairs in the warehouse… i was as fascinated by the furniture parts, prototypes, samples and more.
… the views from the upstairs windows were breathtaking!
… then i’d turn and get mesmerized by the samples again.
Here’s a Porsche inspired cafe racer on the back of an adorable VW Bus.
Case study couch… palette style!
… how about some red?
Possibly the cutest machine there… a Porsche Diesel Tractor! Awesome predecessor to all the other cars on the lot.
The colors…
Heading into more Modernica factory spaces…
They had the usual chair making process on display, but this time they also had special edition chairs.
Heading into the Dabs Myla building - it was PACKED with people. The chairs were on display as well as a curated selection of products.
What started as a neat pile of limited edition Deus Ex Machina t-shirts looked more like a sample sale, as (mostly) men pulled and tossed $65 shirts about trying to find their size. In another corner, posters were being freshly screen printed. At another display - Porsche inspired sculptures.
The stand out of the products were definitely from Discommon Goods! In addition to their bottle opener and straight razor you’ve probably seen, they also released some special keychains at the event! Here are pics from their Instagram - since i could barely get close enough to see the case amongst the mayhem!
These are the Porsche 917L Keychains 3D printed in stainless steel.
We ran into our friend, Neil of Discommon Goods at the event - and he’s got some great new t-shirts coming soon too!
And the big car of the day #LuftAuto… built specially for this event… was auctioned off, raising $275,000! A huge win for Autumn Leaves Project, a charity dedicated to funding pancreatic cancer research.
“#LUFTAUTO is a natural extension of Luftgek�hlt co-founders Patrick Long and Howie Idelson’s vision: a custom-built, rally-inspired 911 featuring creative details from some of the foremost brands, builders and automotive artists in the industry today, including Rod Emory of Emory Motorsports, Joey Seely, owner of E-Motion Engineering, and Deus Ex Machina’s Carby Tuckwell. A dream list of suppliers is involved too, including Pelican Parts, KW Suspension, BRAIDusa, Recaro, WEVO, Pirelli, Tarett Engineering, Rothsport, ERP Suspension and Rennline.”
Here’s a video of it in action:
And on silly things on the way out… how could i not add eyes on this fire hydrant (already wearing a vest!) in snapchat?
