As an all-encompassing Porsche event that has garnered a passionate Southern Californian following, Air|Water driven by Mobil 1 has exploration & inclusivity across the marque’s broad spectrum of communities at its heart. Established by racing driver and Luftgekühlt co-founder Patrick Long, along with Luft’s creative director Jeff Zwart who is also a frequent Pikes Peak competitor, this rapidly expanding Porsche festival’s third showing attracted thousands of North American and even international enthusiasts to experience Air|Water’s uniquely broad celebration of Porsche culture once again.
Contrasted with Luft’ that exclusively centers on air-cooled Porsches, Air|Water aims to be a broader canvas for Porsche owners and fans alike to immerse themselves in the marque’s wider world. With a fixed location designed to be conducive for annual gatherings, Air|Water now looks set to call Orange County’s Costa Mesa its home for the foreseeable future.
Air|Water 2025’s range of cars on display was as deeply layered and substantial as the show’s previous two editions, with over a 1,000 cars shown at the OC Fair & Event Center. These comprised both owner-driven examples arriving on the day itself, and specially curated ‘hero cars’ enhanced with lighting and story-telling designed to optimize visitor engagement with each exhibit.
Alain Prost’s McLaren MP4/2B with which he won the 1985 Formula 1 championship was undoubtedly one of this event’s main highlights, powered by a turbocharged Porsche V6 engine designed by renowned engine builder Hans Mezger and produced in Weissach on behalf of Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG).
An ultra-rare 1984 & 1985 Middle East Rally Championship winning Rothmans-Porsche 911 SC/RS was another of the star cars here, joined by one of only six Group C-derived Schuppan 962 CR road cars ever produced by Porsche’s former works driver Vern Schuppan. Along with them was none other than the famously iconic Flying Lizard Motorsports-liveried 997 911 GT3 RSR that Long himself drove in 2012’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Other distinctly themed displays included a focus on mid-engined Porsches of various vintages, plus a deep dive into the transaxle water-cooled 944. Rod Emory’s celebrated ‘outlaw’ 356 builds had a dedicated area of their own, as did Porsche’s series of tractors which have now become highly collectible vehicles in their own right. An ‘Actions Sports Arena’ dirt oval made a suitably adventurous backdrop for all manner of off-roading oriented Porches, from rally cars and overlanders to an intrepid new breed of 911 campers.
Long explained, “More than 50 per cent of our focus is around the non-Porsche owner who is curious about the brand and who wants to learn about the past and present. And people who want to get into one of these cars and understand why they’re different and why there’s so much enthusiasm out there. So we partnered with Porsche Cars North America and they produced an event within an event, which is something that has been an ambition of ours for a long time.”
One of these new dynamic crowd pullers for 2025’s Air|Water was the ‘Carrera Carnival’ Porsche thrill ride, Porsche Cars North America’s experience that enabled visitors to ride around a specially-designed handling circuit in some of the brand’s newest sports cars, with a professional Porsche driver at the wheel to show them what it could do.
“A big ambition of Air|Water was always that it wasn’t just adding water-cooled cars to the Luftgekühlt formula. There was something missing in North America, around the idea of an all-inclusive event where fans, brands, collectors and restoration and aftermarket specialists could come together once a year – a destination where they could network socially and professionally,” Long added.
Broad Arrow’s second Porsche-specific auction turned out to be another of Air|Water’s main attractions, featuring an extensive range of uncommon collector’s cars this time around, from rare air-cooled street and competition 911s to even production examples of the highly sought after Carrera GT and 918 Spyder supercars. Long remarked of the auction, “There was a stacked line-up for the second year in a row. It’s where the party within the party exists – standing room only and always an amazing energy.”
From an overall perspective, Air|Water’s sheer scale, its uniquely distinctive array of attractions, and the impressive number of cars and visitors it always attracts are testaments to the perceptiveness of Long’s vision, as well as the persistent interest in past, present and future Porsches that only seems to gain intensity with each passing year. Those in Europe who have yarned to attend will be delighted to know that the first international Air|Water rendition will be held in Poland, at Warsaw’s Nocny Market on the 13th to 14th of June. Several of the Porsche Museum’s own exhibits themselves will even be showcased, right alongside an eclectically diverse line-up of ‘hero’ and owners’ cars alike.
Long concluded, “This is the next chapter in the Luftgekühlt story. It’s a whole different ball of wax, but it’s something I am as passionate about as I am about Luft, so we’re super-excited to see that come to fruition.”
