Porsche’s Most Exclusive Owner’s Club: An Inside Look
The air-cooled paradise that is Freunde Luftgekühlter Boxermotoren is open to current and former Porsche employees only.Â
Simply owning a Porsche automatically puts you in a select group, and a very special one at that. But there’s a lot of value in meeting up with other, like-minded enthusiasts. Just take the Rennlist forums, for example. But among the many prestigious Porsche owner’s clubs across the globe, none are as exclusive as the Freunde Luftgekühlter Boxermotoren (FLB). Mainly because only current and former Porsche employees can join.
The club’s difficult to pronounce name (unless you’re German) fittingly translates to “friends of the air-cooled boxer motor.” And for the last seven years, its members have paid proper homage by bringing their small army of air-cooled Porsches together. Their most recent meeting took place at Weissach, where roughly 80 cars and their owners showed up for “a day of mutual air-cooled adoration, spirited driving and later, beer.”
Of course, this wasn’t your average, boring car show. A host of drool-worthy machinery lined up, six at a time, for some hot laps on the test track. For many, it was the very first time they had a chance to drive on the legendary closed circuit. After that bit of fun, the entire group headed toward the Black Forest. And, of course, enjoyed some of the finest driving roads in southern Germany along the way.
In just seven years, the FLB has grown from a handful of Porsche faithful to over 600 members. The club even owns a large warehouse space in Weissach, complete with a workshop where members can wrench on their cars. When possible, Porsche even supplies old tooling to help their cause. It’s also there that they meet up in a club room, occasionally visited by folks including Magnus Walker and Herbert Linge.
All because of one singular passion, and yet with zero fanfare. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to tidy up our resumes!
