Transcending the Boundaries of Function and Art at Luftgekuhlt Atlanta

BRASELTON, GEORGIA, November 11, 2021. In celebration of the start of Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans Race, Luftgekuhlt assembled an art installation highlighting the mechanical beauty of classic Porsche automobiles.

Luftgekuhlt is the German word for “air-cooled” designating the earliest Porsche models produced from 1948 to 1998, considered by collectors and car cognoscenti to be the purest distillation of the marque. The Luftgekuhlt team has gained commercial success in both the automotive community and design world through emphasizing the innate beauty and artistry of Porsche’s functional forms by marrying the greatest examples of Porsche sports cars with rich, theatrical locations. The governing idea behind each Luftgekuhlt event is to stylistically place each car to interact in an artistic juxtaposition between aesthetic surroundings and car, creating the perfect photographic image, while paying homage to Porsche’s storied history.

The Luftgekuhlt team assembled at the Braselton Brewery, about an hour north of Oxford’s campus, to stage such an event forming a distinct marriage of minimalist and functionalist design with unique locally owned Porsche models complemented by the intrinsic beauty of the industrial environs at the Brewery. This event served as a kick-off party for the main exhibition at Road Atlanta Raceway over the weekend, and provided an intimate opportunity for members of the local Porsche enthusiast and owner community to interact and enjoy the aesthetic pleasure of Porsche as art.

On Saturday, perched upon the undulating terrain of the Road Atlanta Raceway was Luftgekuhlt’s main event, a beautiful exhibit conceptualized as an ode to the highly lauded and storied racing cars of ANDIAL. ANDIAL was an independent Porsche performance tuning company founded in California by three German engineers, the late Arnold Wagner, Alwin Springer, and Dieter Inzenhofer. ANDIAL specialized in preparing Porsche models for racing competition creating engineering masterpieces of immense speed, endurance, handling, and functionally beautiful aesthetics. Three notable examples of ANDIAL’s work were carefully arranged across the exhibit, framed in raised, delicate wooden structures. In the early morning sunlight, the ANDIAL racers conveyed a sense of beautiful purpose and visual speed in a static setting. Surrounding the cars were the dramatically contrasting colors of the German flag, rich blacks, reds, and golds, as well as a projected display showing historic footage of the ANDIAL racing cars in action.

Luftgekuhlt continues to show the innate connections between the worlds of art and design and automobiles. Luftgekuhlt exhibits demonstrate all of the aspects on which the automotive community is built upon, a love for design and mechanical beauty, preservation of history, and a forum through which car enthusiasts globally can connect over a shared passion and love for the world's greatest sports cars.

Dramatic lighting perfectly complimenting the curves of several 60s-90s air-cooled Porsche 911s at Luftgekühlt Atlanta.

Atlanta local and Porsche classic manager Ray Shaffer’s 964 Turbo with a very special history with the Brumos racing team out of Jacksonville, Florida.

Ray Shaffer’s 964 Turbo signed by one of the greatest racing drivers, Hurley Haywood who was a member of the Brumos team.

An example of Luftgekuhlt’s characteristic careful staging of each car. A beautiful Porsche 912 complemented by the rustic surroundings of the Braselton Brewing Company.

An exceptionally rare and beautiful Porsche 930 Turbo in aubergine.

Another example of dramatic staging with a Porsche 911 E, and to the left a glimpse of the lively gathering of Porsche enthusiasts

As night fell, Porsche enthusiasts braved the cold to enjoy the dreamlike spectacle.

Standing to the right, Luftgekuhlt co-founder, visionary, and racing driver Patrick Long contemplates Ray Shaffer’s Brumos 964 Turbo. Also, a glimpse at the defining characteristic of an air-cooled Porsche, the mighty fan-cooled flat-six engine which contributes both a unique and iconic sound and smell to each car.

Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, November 13, 2021, Race Day

The beautiful display of highly rare ANDIAL racing Porsches. Front and to the right a 1975 911 RSR. To the left, perhaps the most famous of the ANDIAL cars, the 935-L. Towards the back, the iconic Lowenbrau Special 962.

A closer look at the 1975 RSR, amazingly not too removed from a contemporaneous road-going 911.

The 1983 24 Hours of Daytona race-winning 935-L, a heavily modified variant of the 935 by ANDIAL.

The Lowenbrau Special Porsche 962 is the most successful 962 securing back-to-back wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona Race.

A surprise appearance from the Brumos 964 Turbo raced by Hurley Haywood to a championship in the 1991 season of IMSA Supercar Racing. This car is closely related to Ray Shaffer’s 964 Turbo seen at the pre-event exhibition in Braselton. The two cars share a very significant Brumos racing history.

Luftgekuhlt provided spectators a view of the installation from above giving a wonderful view of all the cars and the setup for the event.