When Luftgekühlt announced an event would be held in North Carolina, it seemed like the entire East Coast finally got its moment to shine.
Having attended some of the West Coast shows, such as Air | Water 2024 and Luft 10, I was especially happy that the 11th event would be held right in my backyard. I regularly shoot sales listings for a Porsche specialist shop in Cornelius, NC called Sonderwerks, and naturally, I knew they’d want to attend with at least a few cars. That included shop manager Rob Adams’s personal 1977 Porsche 911 3.0L build.
Rob had been working on this car well before the Luft announcement, and while it wasn’t finished at the time, it was too close not to try and get it over the line for the event. So what did Rob do? He called a few of the boys, ordered some pizza and beers, and everyone got to work. Well, everyone except me. My excuse was shooting this article. I mean, someone’s got to do it!
This was the state of the Porsche exactly one weekend before Luft…
The event was being held at the American Tobacco Campus, which is about two and a half hours’ drive from Sonderwerks. Rob’s goal was to drive the car there.
I wasn’t able to stick around for the final week of the build, but I promised to catch up with the team at the event — if they made it…
And sure enough, Rob did make it – with his passenger princess, Ballsy, along for the ride.
Whenever I look at this car, I feel like a synthwave playlist starts playing in my head. “Groovy” would be my single-word description if I had to give one.
If anything, this story is a testament to what can be achieved if you set your mind to it (and have enough friends you can coerce into doing the same). Big ups to Rob and the whole gang for getting the 911 finished in time. It was a pleasure to see the car make its Luftgekühlt debut.
1977 Porsche 911 Coupe
Engine: Rebuilt large port 3.0L, 9.8:1 compression, Euro-spec pistons, Daughtery Racing 964 camshafts, ARP head studs, Carrera tensioner upgrade, high-volume 993 oil pump, LN Engineering sump plate, backdated SSI heat exchangers, M&K stainless steel performance muffler, CSF engine oil cooler
Suspension, Brakes & Wheels: Bilstein B6 Sport shocks, ER monoball trailing arm bushings, ER PolyBronze spring plate bushings, ER 21mm front and 26mm rear torsion bars, Turbo tie rod upgrade, drilled rotors, braided stainless steel brake lines, genuine 930 Turbo Fuchs wheels
Exterior: Stripped to bare metal, ducktail spoiler, full Porsche 009 Magenta/Karminrot respray (PPG basecoat and five layers of clear), new seals, molding trims, and weatherstripping, STEK PPF
Interior: Paint-matched 4-point roll bar, Recaro Pole Position seats, new dash top, new headliner, all wrapped trim redone in black smooth-grain leather, Asphalt Killerz short shifter, new shifter and ebrake boots, new carpet, Rennline black toe boards, rewebbed black seat belts
