Luftgekühlt 9 & Air-n-Water Cooled — Mare Island
Published on . Event was held at Mare Island on .
#911 #auto show #California #cars #classic cars #event #luft #luftgekuhlt #photo gallery #Porsche
My first Luftgekuhlt (stands for air cooled) and everyone’s first Air-n-Water event took place at Mare Island — the ex-Naval Shipyard and currently a mixed-use zone rich with old and stylish industrial workshops and warehouses.
356 & 911
Luft is a Los-Angeles born, well-organized event featuring all generations of air-cooled Porsche cars — from the early fifties till the late ninetieth. The secret sauce is a rotating, but always unique and picturesque location with a skillful artistic touch on car placement, lighting, and display setup. The chefs are film director and photographer Jeff Zwart and Porsche factory driver Patrick Long.
G-Body 911
Mare Island waterfront with plenty of historical, beautiful, gracefully decaying warehouses and a very wide boardwalk is an ideal location for a classic car show.
Dry ship docks, monstrous shipyard cranes, railroad tracks, and massive ships rising above the waterline create a unique and creativity-instigating atmosphere.
964 & 993
It is one of the most family and pet-friendly car festivals I ever attended — food options are plenty and affordable while coffee is expensive and decent. There was a single souvenir shop, just enough sponsor stands and the background music is upbeat and not too loud.
About five hundred cars are featured daily, most of which are private. I’m guessing that car owners stay for the day (which requires a separate ticket) and enjoy the event with everyone else. It makes up for a great and friendly cars-and-coffee atmosphere, where many folks know each other and absolutely everyone is happy to have car-related small talk.
991 & 997
The unique feature of the event is perfectly framed and unique car displays — when lighting, accents, car color, and backdrop line up in a way that the only thing left to do — is to push that shutter release button. And there you have it — an instagram worthy picture, guaranteed to challenge your friends’ timelines for a day or two.
By no means your artistic talents are limited by those setups — there are hundreds of cars and thousands of scenes to capture, while visitors and their pets are a part of the story. Arriving early certainly helps but crowds do more over the the vast territory of the event. Patience does pay off.
Specials
The second and just introduced Ait-n-Water day is more affordable and popular. Rightfully so! There is so much more variety in cars on display — front-engine 928, 924 & 944, mid-engine Boxsters and Caymans, Porsche SUVs, and modern 911s. Throw in a pinch of sports cars and, since air cooled are not banned on a second day, you don’t miss anything — for half the price.
Verticals
Luft’s attendance badge might have become a medal of honor for some of the air-cooled Porsche owners, but the low-key Air-n-Water event might eventually overgrow its noble ancestor.
