As an expansion of the Porsche-focused Luftgekühlt, the Air|Water spinoff event continues to grow. This year, auction house Broad Arrow is in on the action with a Porsche-exclusive auction that certainly won’t disappoint.
Porsche being Porsche, and Porsche owners being Porsche owners, you can also bet that Paint to Sample will be a highlight. Take for example this well-maintained and low milage factory special featuring paint-to-sample Light Yellow paint with color-matched Fuchs wheels. It’s also got Mahogany partial leather interior with matching top that make it truly unique, even amongst a run of just 825 speedsters built only in 1989.
As the space for tailored vehicles continues to grow, we’re always happy to see celebrations of and gatherings for special factory built cars. Of course the Porsche community is a leader in this, and we have news today of some majorly influential parties in that space creating a tailored party of their own.
Who are those players?
Will Lee (a.k.a. @PTSRS on Instagram) has been cataloguing Paint to Sample and Sonderwunsch specification cars for years, and collaborated in the past on events like 000 Magazine’s Rare Shades event during Monterey Car Week, or holds his own cars and coffee gatherings in New York’s trendy meatpacking district. Even for those who haven’t attended one of these gatherings though, @PTSRS’ wake of meticulous coverage of special Porsche cars is hard to miss.
Then there’s Air | Water. Initially a second day to the long-running Luftgekühlt car show series, Air|Water was set up as a way to inject some wasser into that magical yet luft-only formula. Luft’s events, managed by Jeff Zwart and Patrick Long, have set the bar for events of this nature, highly curated and often in amazing backdrops. With Air | Water, now owners of newer Porsche models can also get in on the fun.
These two are now coming together in order to celebrate the specials with Colors of Air|Water, a show within a show. Here’s what Will shared on Facebook (embedded above).
“I am very thrilled to announce that I will be partnering with Jeff @zwart to curate “Colors of Air|Water”, a brand new exhibit at @air__water taking place on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 in Orange County, California. This is truly a dream come true.
“Colors of Air|Water will celebrate a wide spectrum of legendary Porsche colors that have graced both classic air-cooled and modern water-cooled generations of Porsches. Colors that have graced *both*, not either old or new, is the key here.
“Through carefully curated pairings of the same colors on air- and water-cooled Porsches, Colors of Air|Water is a literal interpretation of the namesake goal of Air|Water to celebrate both old and new eras of Porsche.
“For example, visitors will be able to see and experience the historic Porsche color Tangerine (also called Blood Orange) on both an air-cooled Porsche from the ‘60s and a modern water-cooled Porsche from nearly 60 years later—the latter made possible by the Paint to Sample (PTS) Plus program.
“With such pairings, visitors will see first-hand how the “same” color can appear either similar or remarkably different between classic and modern applications due to differences in shape and substance over time.
“And we are not done yet. Colors of Air|Water will feature a second curation elsewhere. This second exhibit celebrates my favorite modern Porsche GT cars in Paint to Sample colors. Think the number 4.0 and letters R, S, and T—in the true, original spirit of @ptsrs.
“In collaboration with @bramoapp, we also want to tell the stories behind each and every car at Colors of Air|Water. There is more than meets the eye with every car. Stay tuned for this soon.
“Air|Water will take place at the Orange County Fair Grounds in Costa Mesa, California on Saturday, April 26th, 2025 from 9am to 3pm. Colors of Air|Water will be curated at the Plaza Pacifica Lobby by the Pacific Amphitheater within the Fair Grounds. Tickets for @air__water are now live at www.air-water.com.
“Grateful to @plmotorsport, @zwart, and the @air__water team for this dream opportunity. I hope to see many of you there.
