Inside Luftgekült, the World's Greatest Air-Cooled Porsche Show

Hosted by Patrick Long and Howie Idelson, the third-annual gathering known as 'Luftgekühlt' (German for "air-cooled") took place in the industrial yard adjacent to the Modernica furniture studio in Vernon, CA.

As the cult interest in classic Porsche 911s and 356s has exploded into the mainstream, so too has the event, with hundreds of display vehicles and thousands of fans. If you stood still and listened quietly, you could hear the air-cooled 911 price bubble inflating just a little bit more.

Participants lined up well ahead of the 9AM start time, and the streets surrounding Modernica became an idling, rumbling car show of gridlocked Porsches.

From the early long-hood to the last air-cooled 993, every chapter of the 911's first 35 years is celebrated.

Saturday showers gave way to a sunny Sunday morning, and allowed time to reflect on the Porsche 914.

The casually-parked Porsche 906 launched a million smartphone cameras.

The industrial setting of Modernica provided a stunning backdrop to the timeless German machinery parked amongst it. A shopping center Cars 'n Coffee this was not.

One of Magnus Walker's early Turbos made an entrance.

From RWB to Singer to R-Gruppe to Rod Emery's Outlaws, so many different tuning philosophies were on display.

A 356 prepares for its closeup.

Around every corner of the premises were clean Porsche 911s.

The pure geometry of the 911 shape—circles, straight lines and unbroken curves—leads me to often take straight on, perpendicular angle photos.

It's hard to believe a mere 20 years separates the wooden steering wheels of the '50s from the widebody, turbocharged monsters of the 1970s.

One could argue that the real "outlaws" here were the water-cooled cars that snuck in to this air-cooled lovefest, such as this Canepa-tweaked Porsche 959.

These Guards Red 964s looked like they had just rolled off the assembly line together.

These cars are parked in the common "changing seasons" formation.

This 1985 Carrera rally car was built specially for Luftgekült, sorted by Jeff Zwart, and auctioned for nearly $300,000, with the proceeds going to charity.

A six-eyed 911 looks on. I don't know how a future fourth Luftgekült could top this one, but I plan to return to find out.