The Gateway

Let’s start off by saying that I attended this event of my own free will and they did let me leave on my own, but it is too late. The Kult’s information has been implanted. I am not surprised per say, I was open to it and my family planted the seed at an impressionable age. My father joined the Kult, but only briefly, owning a 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera in Prussian Blue with full blue interior. What chance did I have, I mean I was five, and it was a sports car. It made amazing sounds, it went light speed(as far as I knew), and it had kid-sized bucket rear seats. This was all the Kult needed to get me. Well, that and an event with copious amounts of gorgeous air-cooled goodness on display.


This event was called Luftgekuhlt, the German word for air cooled. In it’s third year of recruitments, I mean “car gatherings”, it was hosted outside Los Angeles at Modernica. The recruitment camp or “venue” was a modern furniture manufacturing facility, composed of several industrial warehouses and buildings. This was the perfect place to showcase the Kult, as the varying textures and building types made for amazeballs Instagram pics, bro. I hope all you vaping kids get the lingo. I mean just look at these backdrops:


So, let’s start from the beginning, the line of Kult members to get into the show wound around two different blocks. I will tell you one thing, Kult members are not just prompt, they all seemed to get there early. Just look at the lines, I mean don’t look too long, that is how they get you, after all.



I was welcomed into the event by Porsche Factory Race Car Driver Patrick Long. He is one of the brain children behind Luftgekuhlt and a very nice guy to talk with, when he isn’t trying to direct 2000 Kult members into the venue. I walked into to the promised land and the eye candy did not disappoint. I mean, they are in candy colors as you can see:



And they just kept rolling in, burble after burble, my lust for the Kult was growing larger. Like the beating of the ceremonial drum, the sound of air cooled flat fours and sixes reverberated off the buildings. It was ever so glorious! The line of gleaming metal rolled through the gates and I started to stroll around to take in the wonder.



Hand crafted metal, vintage race cars, stunning drop tops, oh my! If this was just a “car show” it would be impressive at this point, but no, today I was going to get immersed. At the gates, the grandmasters started to roll in with grace. First in was Rob Dickinson, of Singer Vehicle Design, a rock & roll lead-singer turned air cooled visionary. He brought two of his half a million dollar carbon fiber 911 dream machines and of course, the genesis, his personal inspiration 911R.


Genesis


Next to the party, was a man who can be spotted from a great distance and who’s image is as personalized as his cars, the great dreaded (hair, not feared) Magnus Walker. Driving a fender flexing turbo car, it had me wondering if he has ever gotten his hair entangled in the steering wheel while correcting for the mid corner boost.

Magnus on the left



More air cooled grandmasters arrived in a fury, Rod Emory, the name behind the term “Outlaw Porsche” and a gathering of his rolling sculptures filed through the gates. Next, was Joey Seely of E-Motion Engineering, the engineer and setup man for Jeff Zwarts 2015 Pike’s Peak winning GT3 Turbo, also the man behind the #LuftAuto build. Joey and Rod worked together on a very special project for this event. The rally 911 designed to tackle a WRC event or just a fun trip to the store. Seriously, I have a hard time describing just how rad this car looks. If Mad Max had one of these in Fury Road nobody would have been able to capture him in the first place.


SEE! I mean come ON! Not only was this stunning car on display, but the Kult was auctioning it off. This was to help a charity, The Autum Leaves Project. Sorry, I was distracted by all the cars and celebrities. Did I mention the celebrities? You know my new best friends....Lane & Art of Driving While Awesome (they have a wonderful podcast, btw), Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire, Jerry Seinfeld, Patrick “Mcdreamy” Dempsey, and Spike Feresten.


This is Spike in his 1968 Porsche 911L Factory Race Car, that has license plates and can be driven on the road. This is the true #becauseracecar kids. I did not get pics of Seinfeld or Dempsey because well I didn’t want to be “that” guy. I mean we are now “friends” now. I did get a photo of the gauges in the car, Jerry drove. Any guesses from this pic?


So you are probably saying, what is the big deal here? I mean, some tarted up beetles, a few mechanics, and b list celebs, all in some dirty parking lot gathered around warehouses. Well then, of course there are the people. You know the regular Kult members. What a wonderful bunch of people! Everyone I talked to was down to earth, super nice, and they were happy to give me many, many, reasons to join the Kult. The group was as diverse as the cars they drove, from showroom stock to hotrods (or outlaws as the Kult calls them) to full blown race cars.



Some guy even brought his Vanomino or Transporter as they called it:


Even a Junior Kult member came out:


So recruitment was coming to an end and the Kult members started to file out the gates. The air cooled machines roared to life and sung their farewell song. I was in, I was in deep. I had new friends, new clothes (I had to buy an event shirt), I met celebrities or well, I was close to celebrities....I was at the same event as celebrities..... I had a new found love for all things aircooled or Luftgekuhlt as they call it. Now I must have one, I mean, I took a blood oath.....

____________________________________________

My name is Patrick Stevenson, I am a freelance Automotive Journalist who formerly used to write, shoot, and edit for Auto Eclectic Magazine. I have since started Motor Affair to play and share my love for art, cars and the love of driving. Please check out my art and such on Instagram which is available for purchase on canvas prints.


Bonus Images








Thank you for reading