If you’re not a hardcore Porsche nerd like some of us, you might not know what Luftgekühlt means. Literally, it’s German for "air-cooled." But in this context, Luftgekühlt is the brainchild of two-time Le Mans winner Patrick Long and Southern California creative director Howie Idelson, who set out to share their passion for Porsche with the world.
True to its name, Luftgekühlt is an auto show dedicated entirely to Porsche—from the brand’s most beautiful production cars to its most successful racing machines. Long and Idelson wanted the event to be bigger, better, and more captivating than anything that had come before.
Rather than hosting it in the typical parking lots or golf courses favored by traditional auto shows, though, they made a point of choosing settings that were nearly as stunning as the cars on display.
Luftgekühlt events have popped up across the country in a variety of settings, from the Bottleworks District in Indianapolis (Luftgekühlt 7) to the Universal Studios Backlot in Los Angeles (Luftgekühlt 6). In 2024, the show even crossed the Atlantic to Copenhagen, where dozens of Porsches filled the grounds of a historic airport hangar.
Nearly a decade later, Luftgekühlt continues to thrive—bigger, better, and more ambitious than ever. With ten shows behind them as of last year, the organizers turned their sights to the East Coast for the first time. The eleventh installment took place in Durham, North Carolina, at the historic American Tobacco Campus just a few weeks back.
Construction on the American Tobacco Campus began in 1874, and the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. With more than a century of history and striking architecture acting as the background, hundreds of the most beautiful Porsches ever built pulled up to this year’s show.
For co-founder Patrick Long, bringing Luftgekühlt to this venue was the realization of years of planning.
"This year’s event is an incredible culmination of about six, seven years of work,” Long tells us. “I first had a call from [Porsche collector] Rory Ingram in about 2018, and he said, 'I’ve got this venue I want you to look at.' That was only three of four years into Luftgekühlt. The first time I showed up here, I totally got it, and I was very, very sure this would be a great spot for us—the first spot on the East Coast."
Ultimately, though, seeing Luftgekühlt through photos on social media only offers a glimpse of what the event is truly about. To experience it fully, you have to be there in person.
With that in mind, we headed to Durham for the eleventh installment to get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at how one of the coolest automotive events in the country comes together. Watch the video above to see it all unfold.
