Curb and Canyon: A Porsche Podcast
Curb and Canyon: A Porsche Podcast
Driving Passion: A Journey into the World of Porsche with Mo' and Kerstin from Flat 6 High 5
Do you ever wonder what it truly means to be embedded in the world of automobiles? Meet Moritz and Kerstin from Flat 6 High 5, as they intertwine their love for Porsche vehicles into their relationship, creating a unique dynamic, shared experiences and a story that every car enthusiast would appreciate. We navigate through their vibrant journey, from Mo's inherited passion for mechanics to Kerstin's inculcated love for the thrill of Formula One races and Ducati motorcycles. We delve into the distinctive design of the Porsche 911 that exudes style and grace, and how Mo has infused his personal touch to make this iconic vehicle his own.
This episode also uncovers the symbiotic work dynamics between Mo and Kerstin, and how their shared passion for Porsche cars has led to a unique bond between them. You'll find out how they handpick members for their events, focusing on people with unique perspectives and shared passion, rather than the cars themselves. From their hilarious encounters with a race car driver at a gas station to tales of pushing their cars to the limit, they share the thrilling world of Porsche ownership in all its glory.
Lastly, sit back and virtually join them on their French Alps adventure, as they share tales of leading Porsche events and the family-like atmosphere they cultivate. We discuss the power that design elements exert in creating shared experiences, from customized apparel that evokes nostalgia to the importance of capturing the essence of the event. We wrap up with plans for their upcoming Porsche rally, reflecting on the ripples their passion has created in the world of car enthusiasts. Don't miss out on this fascinating journey filled with high octane tales and captivating insights into the Porsche world.
THANK YOU FOR FORTY EPISODES!
Good morning, james McGraw.
Speaker 2:Good afternoon, no evening Evening, wherever you are in Australia land with your whiskey, no doubt, and I'm sat here with my Minnesota brown drip coffee.
Speaker 1:You've got your Minnesota brown today.
Speaker 2:Yes, I've really got it up my game and I just terrible.
Speaker 1:I have to tell you my my pal Steve. I was talking to him the other day and he said do you know what I love? Every time James mentions Minnesota Brown, he sounds sad and broken, as you said.
Speaker 2:I do, I am, it's like one of the one of the, you know, stereotypes are only stereotypes because they're true. That's, that's what some people say. It's not true in every case, but, like America and their terrible coffee, the coffee over here is generally awful. I mean you just it's really hard to find a really good quality cup of coffee and so, having, you know, moved from London and having been, you know, traveling to Europe all the time, you can get great coffee Anywhere you look over here. It's just, I'm just sad.
Speaker 1:Still, you said, you said Pippi, so you've clearly had a big gulp.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I've had like three liters of Minnesota Brown this morning. It's been an early start and I've been flying coast to coast this week but I'm super excited about a guest this week and you know it's always fun when we introduce, you know, new personalities into the mix. But I've got a lot of you know sort of feelings for Europe. You know, I grew up in the UK. I consider myself a European, despite what happened with Brexit.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to get into that, but I have family that live in Germany and Austria and I've got friends in France and Belgium and you know Europe is a really special place for me and I spend a lot of time there. As a kid I've got God children in Germany. No, it's just, I'm so excited to talk to these guys and, and, if you know, if that's not enough, the fact that they're based there, dude, their content, they're, they're brand it, just it looks like, it's kind of like do you remember those like really cool kind of tourist magazines you'd get and you just sit there like leafing through the ocean and you'd be like, oh wow, that's what it's like to live in the Alps.
Speaker 2:Jesus, these guys just they've got something really special here. I'm really excited that we've got them on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's interesting what you say about your connection to Europe, because I am almost the polar opposite of that, in that, you know, my feet have barely touched the ground in Europe and every time that I've, every time I've been there, it's been on a work trip and I've just gone skating through these countries, and so, as you say, to see this highly produced, romantic, captivating content that they put out around genuine experiences is amazing. Anyway, we're talking about people and we've not even introduced them yet, so it's going to be one hell of an episode, guys. Welcome to Kerbin Canyon, james. I'm going to say I'm very excited about, I guess, this week.
Speaker 2:I am, yeah, me too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we've actually got two, which we don't usually have, but I think they embody something that is absolutely at the heart of the Porsche ownership experience and, moreover, it's something that I never expected when first getting back into the Porsche Porsche brand back in 2017. And it's a theme that I think runs through our podcast, and that is that idea of enjoying the Porsche ownership experience together and how these cars can become a catalyst for lasting friendships, like you and me, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And you know we're adding a bit of European flavour into the mix today. You know we're going to a different part of the world and I'm really excited these guys put out such a great vibe. You know that content is really high quality. I'm really excited about talking to them.
Speaker 1:Me too, me too, and I love that they're a couple. They've committed to sharing the ownership and driving experience with each other first and foremost, and then bringing their Porsche friends together with them to share that experience. Their event Sick Alps has been I mean, it's been dominating my Instagram feed over the past four weeks, but I've been a fan of their events and philosophies for a few years now. It's double trouble, james. I'm really pleased to welcome from Flat 6, high 5, moe and Kirsten Guys welcome.
Speaker 3:Hello, hello guys, hi.
Speaker 1:How are you both?
Speaker 4:Today it's the last day of the week and, yeah, we are heading to do some work for the next Sick Alps tour, so for me, I'm very fine today.
Speaker 3:I'm fine too. We had some nice organizational things today, and we always look forward to our tour, so it's a good day.
Speaker 1:So for people who don't know about Flat 6 High 5 or Sick Alps, can you tell me the story? What is Flat 6 High 5?
Speaker 4:So Flat 6 High 5 was in the first time it was just an idea because, yeah, like I'm a creative guy working on my own creative agency and I'm always doing creative stuff for other people. And yeah, and after rebuilding our first Porsche we decided to do something, yeah, like creative community thing. And on our honeymoon I decided and told Kirsten, hey, I have to do an own project for us, so how can we name it? And after a couple of beers we decided to call it Flat 6 High 5. Like, it's the main thing when you own a car and it's not the usually seen on the streets you find another car the same way. You're starting to make a little high five to each other, like, yeah, finding on the street. So this was the day of the birth of our project. Flat 6 High 5 means Flat 6 is yeah everybody knows it's a boxer engine, yeah, and then the high five.
Speaker 4:So this was the first idea.
Speaker 2:I hope it was some German beer that you were drinking. Yeah, was it German beer, kirsten can tell me.
Speaker 3:Actually it wasn't beer, but okay.
Speaker 4:It was on our honeymoon. It was on our honeymoon on a little island.
Speaker 3:We have been at the Maladives and I think it was white wine but and maybe more had a beer.
Speaker 4:Yeah, maybe.
Speaker 1:But I was sunburned.
Speaker 4:I was sunburned.
Speaker 1:That is what I can say, definitely as a German. Yeah, I was sunburned, and where does that for both of you? Where does that automotive enthusiasm and passion come from? Do you both have your own story around that? Is it handed down from parents? If you could perhaps each respond to that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, maybe I can start because, yeah, I think for me it's kind of special because I was raised by my parents and my father always was a very, or is a big motorsport enthusiast and also a motorcycle enthusiast. So I was at the Formula One in the 90s with Michael Schumaker and my big Mickey Mouse head Wow, headphones were three years old in the first row, so I know the Ferrari sounds from, yeah, the very early beginnings Amazing.
Speaker 3:And then yeah, it was always we were at the superbike road car, we were at Formula One and actually it influenced me very deeply. And then I met Mo and he was not one of the football guys, he was one of the motor and petrol guys and I said, yes, this is my man.
Speaker 2:I love it, wait. So is there a German football team there, mo, that you follow?
Speaker 4:No.
Speaker 2:You're not allowed to say by a Munich.
Speaker 3:No, we both are. Actually, there's nothing which doesn't interest us more than football, so we are absolutely not into football, both of us.
Speaker 4:So if there would be a soccer club we should say we are fans of it's, typically it's your home base. So it's Frankfurt, in the middle of Germany and Frankfurt. The soccer club is called Eintracht Frankfurt.
Speaker 4:It's not the best one. Munich is the famous one, and Dortmund, but the Eintracht Frankfurt it's hard driven, I would say it's nearly the same, like this little group of Porsche, and, yes, we are driving with. It's something you know. Yeah, I don't know, it's the underdog, so to say, and that's what it is, yeah, so yeah, it needs Ron Reynolds to come and buy it.
Speaker 2:See, I have family in Frankfurt, in Dortmund, in Osnabrück, as far north as Auerich, up in the north part of Germany, and they're big Dortmund fans and they also share that. At the beginning of their game they share the opening song with my soccer team, which is Liverpool, and they sing You'll Never Walk Alone. So it's a big connection to me. It's a big connection.
Speaker 1:That's cool, mo. What about you?
Speaker 4:My story is nearly the same. It's not nearly the same. I would say I was infected by my grandfather. He was a mechanic and he was working for a company.
Speaker 4:The big story is I grew up in the eastern of Germany, so I'm a child of the 80s and I know the Cold War time like east and western Germany and in the eastern of Germany it wasn't that it was a big thing to have a car, so it wasn't hard for everybody. You were waiting for a Trabant or for a Wattburg more than 18 years. So when you was born your parents or your grandparents were to order a car for you. So when you're 18 you can drive a car. So that was very, very special and so it wasn't that amount of cars on the streets. So my grandfather he was like I told him mechanic and he was always picking me up when there was time or possibility and I drove with him or I was in the workshop and looked at him how he was working on the cars. So that was I would say that was the main impact for me to have a passion for mechanical things. And my father he owns a restaurant and it was something like I don't know how to write word in English extrovertiert.
Speaker 3:He was outgoing.
Speaker 4:He was a very special person that owns Mercedes-Benz in eastern Germany and that was very special, and so there was always something for special cars. And this was the main impact for me to feel something for those mechanical things in metal or something I don't know how I can tell that that's so cool.
Speaker 1:And, kirsten, you talk about going to the Formula One with your family, the Schumacher days, ferrari. How does that passion then morph into Porsche? Specifically, was it, was it always there, or what? How does it end up that the Porsche becomes part of the story?
Speaker 3:So it was actually. It definitely started with Ferrari because, next to my experiences on the weekends for races, I my first car was a Barbie Ferrari. So it was not the, the, the Barbie, the Barbie stuff always have that ugly. Pink cars, which are not, a brand and I told my father I need a Ferrari and he was looking in model cars in the size where Barbie could fit in and bought something anywhere I don't know, and actually it was not the perfect fit, but she could drive it.
Speaker 3:so it was always, it was the F40 by the way so good.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a good choice, dad.
Speaker 3:It was. It was a good start and then, yeah, it transformed. My first car wasn't the Porsche or a Ferrari, for sure, but I was asked what, what do I want? So it was like a little small car and a kind of budget. And then you have the VW Polo, you have the Opel Corsa, you have the. Ford Fiesta and you have to fear Punto, and I said I want to have the Fiat, but the sporting version.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 3:So Italian lifestyle always was, yeah, a part, and my father is a big fan of Ducati, so it's actually very Italian influenced. And then it was yeah, I had my, my, my fear. Then I had a mini. I had always iconic cars, I would say, and then, we were together. I was together with Mohs since a couple of years and he came up with the idea I would like to buy myself a Porsche. I always want to have a Porsche and I said yes.
Speaker 3:And then it was like okay, so, because I always wanted to have this sports car feeling and it was clear that Porsche is also one of the most iconic cars ever and actually the list is very long with cars we like. We also like a lot of other brands and other iconic cars, but the Porsche is, yeah, the 911 is actually the best thing in the best overall to start a selection and, yeah, a nice.
Speaker 4:It fits perfectly to our mind of what we think a sports car should be like.
Speaker 3:Definitely, the design is so nice. And then I said, yes, for sure, porsche would be great. And then he and we started searching together until the day we found it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and is that the, I think, the short wheelbase that that we still see in your videos? Now? Is that that car?
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. So this was kind of yeah, kind of luck to you to find this car, because it was the time before in Germany the prices exploded and it was just before. It was an investment case for so many people and, yeah, I found it. Yeah, I found it in 2020, 2029.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, I wasn't on my 30.
Speaker 1:Yeah it was all right.
Speaker 4:And it was really. It was a lucky thing because somebody from Darmstadt, nearly to Frankfurt, bought a complete collection from from the US and this was for the first time. He decided to use that car for his daughter, but she wasn't in love with the short wheelbase so he said, okay, I sell it, I resell it and it actually, if I can, if I can jump in.
Speaker 3:Actually, I think he wanted to give it to his daughter because it was a 912 with a four cylinder and it was turkeys. It was like yeah, and maybe he thought this is the perfect ladies car, I don't know.
Speaker 4:I Think he had some, some images on his mind. He transferred to his daughter, yeah, but that was like, like I said, it was a 912 and it was. Yeah, it was not my first choice because I didn't knew anything about what is the short wheelbase, what is the long wheelbase? I just saw the price and I saw the car and I had a Idea on my mind Okay, I can put some euros on that.
Speaker 3:With for the mechanic and for the paint, we have the first list of calculations. So, the investment price and then some small works to do to get it in another color and a little bit other rims.
Speaker 4:And so to make a job, I've had Tense tense the high, and the time was Six years instead of three months.
Speaker 1:We've all been. I can tell you.
Speaker 3:We had funny, we had funny situations. So on that list was a calculation for little body works and color, like four to five thousand euro.
Speaker 1:Yeah it was a little at least and actually.
Speaker 3:I was After years. It was there were so many things and steps and it was unscrewed in many Different parts and in different workshops. So, but after years we got the paint done and I was in at home when the postman came and brought the invoice. And actually I. I opened the invoice and it was 19k instead of five.
Speaker 4:The work wasn't done. It so that that was the first time in the age of mid of 30s I had a heart attack. So yeah, but you know, for me, yeah, this is, but to answer you, yeah, it is the gray one, it is our short base and it's Built one of the first year, so it's in 1965 one, and it's it's the pure magic of driving a Porsche in my mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this, this is this is so, so typically yeah, this is the answer so to say yeah, yeah, mo, you said at the early stages that you're a creative, that you're an agency land and design land. Can you talk about the, the aesthetic of the 9-11 and and how that perhaps influences your, your passion for it? Yeah, the look, the design.
Speaker 4:Yeah, okay. So For me, when I, when I bought the car and I decided to rebuild it, it was definitely for me it was like a, like a white paper it was. It was the. Every, every needed detail was was done, like the, the Design of the car itself. So I really like the I it's a bit of feminine, it's not, it's not a masculine car. So I like the scale of, or the proportion of, length and height and the width of the car and I like those roundings From from front, like that, the torpedoes where the headlights in, and I like, I like this, this small, skinny ass. I'm always talk telling to other people and so this is what I really like. And then I said, okay, I, but I have to do it my own way. So it wasn't.
Speaker 4:For me, a 9-11 is Solace if it's just rebuild like a, like a new produced car. I really like the 9-11 if there's a bit of patina on the car. So that was my idea of the car itself. So to to Build something With a soul, that was my goal and that was that is that's so easy with a 9-11, because Do it just a little bit lower, do some some paint jobs like I don't know, I don't like chrome, I just powder coated everything in black so you can individualize everything very fast. And but the 9-11 is always there. It's no, it's not another car, it's just another, it's just another look. And this is what what the 9-11 makes so special for me, because you can see it hundreds of meters away. You, you realize it's a 9-11. Yeah, just yeah, the silhouette of the car is so beautiful fly line which is since day one.
Speaker 3:This is amazing that they kept it that it is that they Proved it and they Secured it for so many years. This is unbelievable. Yeah so the car is nearly double the size now, but if you look from the side it has kind of same, the same fly line still, and this is, from design perspective, never seen.
Speaker 4:Yeah no, there are so many other cars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm unmistakable, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Absolutely from hundreds of meters away.
Speaker 4:You know, even even if it's if it's, I don't know if they're a child Standing or children standing on side of the street and you're passing by and they're too young to realize it's a Porsche, they they even realize it's something friendly.
Speaker 2:You know it's not like a, like a genie or like a, like a Ferrari.
Speaker 4:It's it's making fear, or making them some somehow Angry, or it's it's there, it's smiling, the car is smiling every time. You're in front of it and I think this is what is what, what, what in From the point of view from a designer, that's the most important thing, because it isn't just the design itself, it's the feeling that's transported with the car when you're seeing it the first time or the second or the third time. So this is, my mind, the most important thing. On the design itself, I love that.
Speaker 1:I love that I saw watching one of the sick Alps recap videos. I've watched it a few times now and in fact I think we may have featured it as video of the week once on the pod. One of the things that struck me in that recap video was and it's quite different from any of the other types of videos you would see if these rallies or tours Was the two of you standing by the side of the road on a mountain talking, you know, with so much passion and enthusiasm about this event and bringing everybody together. And then you know reaching out to you and having the conversation where Mo, you said to me that you know the two of you have made this decision to do, to do this together and for flat six, high five, to be something that that that is the two of you, if you like. Does that take work, to do it as a couple, or is it just an extension of what you were already doing?
Speaker 3:You mean, is it more work to do it as a couple than alone?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, I mean, I imagine you both help each other out Actually it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's an interesting question. So I think you want to hear yes, but it's a no because we share the work, so every one of us has other competences. So Mo is really deep into the design and creating everything and doing the key visual for the tours and I would say that the visual perspective and also the planning perspective when it comes to the road planning, and I help a little bit with the road planning, but I'm more into.
Speaker 3:I always say I'm like the F and B manager. I do like the hotels and the communication with them and the restaurants and to time everything perfectly and yeah, something like that. So that's why we have a perfect share of work and at the end it's because both is a passion from our jobs we normally do, but in a positive and private way. So it makes a lot of fun to do what you normally do in a private and cool area. I would say.
Speaker 4:Yeah yeah, yeah, I think what's the best to do it as a couple is you for sure, it's the different ways of perspective you have on we don't call it project, but just for everybody to understand, on the sick ups project, but it's, I don't know, it's the level for everybody to get in touch with us is, I would say it's a bit lower because we have some, some guests with us or friends.
Speaker 4:Now they are friends, they, they, they are asking is it possible to bring my wife with you, with me, to drive with you? And then I'm always telling, for sure, because my wife is also driving with me. Do it as a couple, because you can all these things, you all these things you see and you, you are, what is emotional, catching you on the tour. You can split those feelings and you can talk about with somebody that is really, that really understands you. So this is the same what, what happens with us. We are talking about that on a really really personal way. It's another way, like when you're doing this thing with with friend, with a friend, or with the with the partner, with the business partner, or something like this. So I would say it's private, private and it double impacts everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, so we do the planning on a Sunday morning, together with a pajama and a coffee here.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so like it's really, it's really private and then we talk also after such tours. We we gather a lot out of it. So we got so much love from, from our friends who come with us, that we were always like being out number nine and be like, oh my God, how cool was it again.
Speaker 4:And yeah, so, cool A lot.
Speaker 2:So so cool yeah.
Speaker 4:So that's also an impact for the partnership itself. I would say it's not, it's not the interest of it, but it is.
Speaker 1:And it must, I think. I think the great thing about it is that, as you say, you have these, these, then, shared experiences and memories together and you know, any great relationship is about creating those memories together. And yes, we do things away from our partner but to share those times and those laughs and you know to be the week after a tour or a rally, when you both, you know you're coming down a little bit and it's a you've been on this massive high again, you're experiencing that together and you can kind of help each other through it almost.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's. It's really the best thing to together the feelings out of it and what, what we always did, or actually how it came. How came sick ups? It was not a business case or plan, or it was not a planned extension or a project out of flat six high five it was just our private, normal first tool we did with our posh and after it was built and we we captured it a little bit at flat six, high five at the Instagram channel.
Speaker 3:That was the beginning of Instagram and it was actually also very early in the Instagram beginnings. Yes, yeah then we had our little Port side, our little case with our spec and our bread and our little knife, and we made our stop and we add our little, our little snack, and everyone was writing all it looks so nice and are you going again next year, can we maybe join? And it actually it came like this and then, then everyone was like I want to join, and we said, okay, as a friend, you can join.
Speaker 3:Yeah let's do it together, we organize everything, we share the costs and let's go, yeah, and that's actually the same way. We still do it.
Speaker 4:Right, yeah, it's not business case, it's. It's really. It's for us, because cursing is also doing a very professional job in the marketing for a big brand and To have an own company. For me it's it's also the same. So our our time or our free time like our holidays. It's very rare and we really decided when we do something like this and we ask people To join us or we just we just posted on Instagram and everybody is writing every day how can I join? And then we select some people because we do this as our holiday, but for us, the main thing is to find people in a, in a, in a nearly the same mindset, but also in another way, like we find people from Belgium, france, italy. Last time, five guys from the US were with us. So this is this is what what it makes us special and this is really like like battery charging thing and this is how it came up. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, battery charging is what what I meant before. So doing something you do normally from Monday to Friday as your professional job. And then transform it into completely something completely different, and in other cases people have complete different hobbies. They do like sailing on the weekend and, yes, our mechanic during the week, or something like that, and we do kind of the same during the week. We can transform it into another way and that gives us so much, so much positivity. This is unbelievable, really, totally, totally good so good.
Speaker 1:It's funny, isn't it? Because and James, you and I are a bit the same in that we both organize these rallies and Understand the level of planning that's required to make them happen. And it is right. It's a lot of work behind the scenes, and yet the way you two describe it, I can very much relate to it's. And, james, I don't know about you, but I. It doesn't feel like work, if that makes sense. There's a lot of planning that goes into it, but it's a passion.
Speaker 4:Yeah it is. It is 100% passion. For sure, we do have some moments where we were we talking about things like Budget or things like times when we can do that, and we are, yeah, bumping together when we're talking about different things, like the restaurants. Like today we are planning.
Speaker 2:I was about to say sometimes with Google Maps, it just drives me absolutely crazy and it doesn't like yeah give it all up, just not enough.
Speaker 4:But apart from that I completely agree and this is this is the main thing, because we are doing it In our normal life. I would say it's our professional thing, like when cursing is planning events for their customers. She's always looking like for a Michelin star restaurant or something like this, and for sure it's our life, like, like we love it when we go to a restaurant and it's possible to have a Michelin star restaurant, we would like to you to go there for dinner or for the lunch and that's why the level of what, what's possible, possible To do, it's always the top level, like today. Christine asked at the famous binary, for maybe we can have a lunch for the Italian tour over there, and I said Maybe we go to like a, like a hot dog, fast food, whatever.
Speaker 4:I don't know. In South Tyre it's also good, but it's another way. So this is how the daily work influences our personal project and the personal projects otherwise, the other way around, influences our professional work.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, you talked about the types of people you want to attend the rally and all these tours and that the people reach out to you. Can you really be honest with me, is it? You can only come on this thing, on these, on these tours, if you've got a beautiful back date made by Rick at Rico Customs. Friend of the show. Yeah, you have to have like the coolest air cooled 9-11 ever, because every bit of footage I see every photo I see the cars are just spectacular, so so good.
Speaker 3:But it's not about the cars. We are, we are looking for the people. We are looking for the right people and if they have the cheapest 924, they can come. Yeah but if they are cool, if they have a cool mindset, if they have, yeah, a same mindset than we, they are welcome. We don't want to have that.
Speaker 3:I love that sounds weird, but we don't want to select about the cars, because then you got all the the collectors with the millions of dollars on the, on the on the bank account. This is not this is not.
Speaker 3:we want, we not like about the cars. We're definitely looking for the right people and we're discussing a lot who we're going to Invite to come with us, because the list is long and sometimes on a Sunday morning, here we sit in front of Linked in and Instagram and we're looking where, what kind of events they attended, what they're doing in their private life. Could they be cool even if they work in finance? Or are they very Investment driven and only talking about their watches and their cars?
Speaker 3:so we are really looking for people with a good story and with a good approach and art.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I would say, as I said for the first time when we started to rebuild our car, there it's it's a really what what I found? It's a really creative scene. Yeah but also all over the world. So you have content creators, you have Marketing guys, you have designers, photographers and everything.
Speaker 4:Architects are actually working in creative jobs, yeah and they most, most of them have automatically A car. That's not Standard car. Like like last year we had somebody with us driving a race car from the US In the French Alps, so it was for us. It was like are you really sure you want to drive it? Yeah, it was, and it was so good. But he also owns new cars like I don't know, mclaren's and everything like this but, he was for.
Speaker 4:Yeah, he saw what we do and he understands what. What's what's important for us. So he decided no, I want to risk that car. And he failed. He was at the gas station, he used diesel and not. Oh, no he didn't know, but this is. This is one of the stories you know in France. It was really funny so.
Speaker 4:That's just a side story. But when you, when you see those people, that they're so different Mindset and yeah, but somehow there's one point everybody's matching and they want that. They just want to to feel Real passion. And it's not the marketing thing, passion thing, it is what. What you can't explain, it is what happens when you're talking about each with each other and your skin is getting goosebumps because somebody tells you about his car or A race track or whatever.
Speaker 4:And this, this moment, this is what we try to find and most of them, it's just because people are, they want to talk, they want to share the passion and they don't want to put themselves in the middle of the group. They want to be Part of the group. So this is, this is the main thing and that's why Kirsten said it's not about the cars and this is what everybody says, that that is with us. It's really not about the cars. It's a nice scenery also and it's really we love to create content and, as you said, the last four weeks they it was really hard not seeing us, but this is, this is in our words. Right now, it's the only thing you can do Getting in touch with people wish in the visual way, because to talk together it's yeah, you have to to contact somehow for the first time, would you know?
Speaker 1:it's funny with the content that I've seen so far and yes, I made the joke about the beautiful cars but one of the things that comes through even in that content, that that we've been seeing through social media, it is clearly about the people and clearly about those shared experiences. And, kirsten, you know you are quoted in alpha. Sport is saying the more beaming faces, the better for everyone, and you can. You can see that within, within the content. That's already dropping water. What an amazing experience.
Speaker 1:It obviously is, because you've got the right group of like minded people. How do you it's interesting that you mentioned somebody put in the wrong type of fuel in a classic race car. One of the things I think is always interesting about these, these trips again, if you've got the right group of people is that you know, regardless of what challenges come to the surface, because from time to time you know we push our cars hard and and Something can go wrong or a road might be closed or there's something you didn't anticipate how do you deal with those challenges when, when they come up?
Speaker 3:I would say I'm most driving and I'm doing the challenges on the. So actually it happened many times that something was closed and I was researching with two or three cell phones at the same time for another way, and so on. So this is why I always sit next to him and have everything really in place to do every troubleshooting which is needed.
Speaker 3:And actually last year and we were a little bit late and it looked like that we're not doing our lunch spot and I had to find a new lunch spot during the drive with 26 people, which is not very easy to get in a restaurant with 26 people in the middle of the French apps, for actually no one is speaking English.
Speaker 4:Oh, and no one wants to speak English and even not German.
Speaker 3:So even if they might, could. But that also drove me to speak French after like 15 years, and really I normally I cannot speak French, but I did it and more was looking at me.
Speaker 4:That was a side. That was a side I didn't marry so it was a troubleshooting situation.
Speaker 2:Any opportunity I can use my terrible high school French or German.
Speaker 3:I will use it next time I'll be there for you guys.
Speaker 4:It was exactly like that but if we would drive to Liverpool it would be also very, very complicating. So, but no, it's like, like it's teamwork for sure it's really teamwork. So what Kirsten told was last year's French Alps, the level two section and this year the level one section. We had some guys with us, one from Frankfurt, one from Berlin that they came in trouble with their cars, one with the injection, so that wasn't, we can fix Meanwhile that what I am on the on the road and the other one was there was a problem with the, with the real axle from the 920 to 924, but also race car, and so we decided okay, kirsten, you know the way, just jump on another Seat from from from another car and bring them home to the hotel, and I will stay here till the the the hook car will hook on the toy car will arrive.
Speaker 4:So we decided it was nine in the evening and it was close to the Italian border, so we had the problem we are too far away from from the Austrian cities and too close to Italian, but the problem wasn't in Italy, italy, so we had to wait for for the guys from Austria. Yeah, we waited, we wait there till 2am next morning and we slept at the at the gas station and, yeah, then they came and they fixed it and, okay, we had a single drive back to, to book or to tell, to say I'm see where I've been to sell them, see, wash is based and you've been there.
Speaker 2:I've been there as a kid. Yes, I've been there several times. What a small world.
Speaker 3:If we are in Austria and we do our level one tour, salem see or the village next to salem see is our home base there.
Speaker 4:It's a perfect. It's a perfect base camp. So you have to go to front of you, you can drive it for the first of level one. We drive it four times and everybody is like it's, he's not driving this the street once, and then you have to rethink about what, what he's done, what he has done or she has done, so they drive it for the backwards and then it's like driving a racetrack. You know, I know that corner, I know I can do it like this and and to know it's also, it's also the the street where the Porsche's drove their cars the first time, like the three.
Speaker 1:Six, six six.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so this was. This is very. It influences you when you're driving those cars and on those streets. So yeah, but yeah, troubleshooting so coming.
Speaker 3:yeah, coming back to the traffic thing, sorry, sorry, there's so many stories I can tell you, so but it I think a podcast more than five hours would be interesting for anyone he wanted to say is that during he was waiting with a guy with a broken car, I was driving back to group and then in the next morning we always do a early bird tour at five am, so to the sunrise on the summit, and then I was leading the group with another, I was jumping on another car and I said, guys, we have to go in this direction and bought the tickets and we got up the hill and more was sleeping two hours longer than we, because it was.
Speaker 3:Ahead. So we always share competences and everyone always asks me why I'm not driving. It's not that I'm not driving the car, but I'm more into that organizational things.
Speaker 1:So I love it too.
Speaker 3:Sit on the on the time seat and to organize everything while driving.
Speaker 4:I love it to be honest, I'm a bad car driver.
Speaker 2:You know, I gotta say this is this is so difficult to listen to in many respects because, having having grew up in the UK and I very much consider myself a European I spent so much time in France and Italy and Germany and Austria and you know zealomzee, shlattming, all these different places in the Alps that I've been to as a child and I wasn't driving a car, I was on a bus with a bunch of school kids and now now I live in the Midwest of the United States and it's flat and there are cornfields and there are straight roads and I'm driving a Porsche.
Speaker 3:It's so bad.
Speaker 2:Oh God go. Why. Why don't I make these life choices?
Speaker 4:Something is the sounds wrong.
Speaker 1:You know it goes back to what you're saying and again we can very much relate to this that it all comes back to the people you choose to do it with, because you know inevitably these challenges and the troubleshooting is required on these events. So part of having a great group with you is knowing that when the inevitable challenge comes up, that everybody's up for that challenge and everybody's gonna Cop it on the chin and, you know, kind of shrug their shoulders and say, all right, well, let's, let's just solve it and keep going, not be frustrated by it, or yeah you know saying well, hang on, I've paid for this, why do I have to wait?
Speaker 1:you know that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, it's really like a family approach. So we had situations not in that night, because it was nine in the evening and everyone was really tired. So they we said we go home with a group. But normally it also happened that the whole group was waiting two hours for one and talking to each other and really had the best time and I was always like my God, I think they want to go and they want to drive, and everyone's like no, I want to wait, here we were a group.
Speaker 1:Yeah, going without her great.
Speaker 3:So this is really cool.
Speaker 1:Mo I. Something I noticed from the very early videos I'd seen was the quality of the designed merchandise, the, the logos, the printed maps, all of this sort of extra design work that goes into making these events feel, I guess, just that little bit more special. And Can you talk about why you think that's important?
Speaker 4:Yeah, thank you for the compliment, because I think it's exactly when you realize this, only on Instagram. So it's just a topic what you can have on emotions with design. So for me it's very necessary to do On my daily job or on our private things, high professional designs, like Unseen designs when you do logos for our namings, like sick Alps okay. Why sick Alps? Okay, because it's sick to drive up like we do and it's the amount of kilometer, kilometers that you drive and that's why it's called sick. And everybody said okay, yeah, no, that that's a story. So and the designs there, as you see, now I'm sitting in my office at home and can see all the posters I did, I think, our word so, so colorful. And that's what I want to transport with our designs make them unique, but colorful and understandable. So when people see it, they have like the design of 911. They have to be back in the, in the feeling they had when they joined us.
Speaker 4:On an event, if it's a gathering in an urban Situation, in the city, or if it's in the Alps or I don't know, a pre event for another event, it's always important to have a poster and a sticker, because if you don't have that the whole event Didn't happen. You know, yeah, it's, it's like cultural thing really Hanging or hanging right on the car. So for me it's a tie. Yeah, colors and typography and unique designs is very, very needed so everybody can grab those things or it. Sometimes the English word is missing, but the design and the, the experience you have with us, it's, it's connected, it's yes, and when you grab one of those things, or you see it in your garage or you see it on Instagram, you're like a flashback. You're back in the situation and that's why why design is so, so necessary. It's.
Speaker 1:I totally agree. I, you know, every time I put on a T shirt from one of our rallies or my hoodie from Tasmania trip last year, every time I put on one of those items of clothing, it it does actually transports me in just a little way back to that particular event and it reminds you of what happened on that event, who was there, the things that, what the weather was like, what the roads were like, what jokes were told at the pub one night. You know and you just it's a funny little bit of connective tissue between you and the event that happened in the past.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and it makes you to some, yeah, it connects you to a group that it's special because there are so many people asking us can we buy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no one else has it.
Speaker 4:No one else has it and I say sorry for that, but I can't say that you have to be part of the sick abs tour of the event so you can have it, and then you buy it for yourself, or you would get one for yourself and like a poster or the T shirt and everybody understands it. No, there's nobody saying no, but I give you double the price or tense the price, because I would say I would say no, because this is what it makes so special and it connects you to a part of or to a group of people sharing the same thing, the same moment or the same passion or the same Knowledge about something I don't know. And, yeah, design is the only thing. That's that's, or creativity it's. Yet it's not only about design, it's also about the videos and the pictures and everything. The creativity is the only thing that makes something really different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely you. It's funny. I love this quote that I read, which is we're grateful for everyone who feels the joy within themselves and shares the passion for these types of vehicles is no longer just a hobby for us to become Part of our shared automotive DNA and at the end of the sick helps to you feel like a junkie going cold turkey. Can you tell me about how you feel the day in the days after one of these tours and how do you, how do you help each other get through that?
Speaker 3:This is so hard, actually, because we got so much love from the participants, from the friends who joined us, so it's really like I always refer to it was not the first tour, but the second or the third I guess. So we were driving 11 tours right now. So I was in the beginning and there was A man who's now a friend of us, but they are at that time. We only knew him for three days yeah and he was really.
Speaker 3:He was hugging me like a family member and he had tears in the eyes telling us that this was the nicest trip he ever had. And he had hundreds of thousands of business trips, vacations and also, I would say, paid Porsche experiences for seven thousand euro, I don't know and he said this was so nice and he was crying and I was crying too and I said, okay, this is the thing I'm taking out of that and this emotion I always get. That it's something, it's a kind of feedback you never get anywhere else.
Speaker 1:That's so true, isn't it?
Speaker 3:so it's so emotional and so cool, so it really it takes some days and it's very bad because mostly if we go back from vacation we have to run to business trips and whatever flying anywhere else yeah and we go, we separate for two days or so and then we come back together like, oh my god, what happened last week?
Speaker 4:This is crazy the thing is you can't describe it, so it's, it's, it's a feeling and that's that. That's so, so difficult to describe it for yourself, because you think is it, is it true world? Is it? Is it really Happened? Yeah, does it really happen? And but it's, it's luck and it's love and it's friendship and it's it's, it's it's those meter things you don't usually feel when you're just living in the world you know, so it's something you just have with friends, good friends, yeah but the thing on this is they ain't friends at the moment.
Speaker 4:They drive the first time with us, so, like I don't know if you know a brockene, if he's the one on instagram, the nine, nine six.
Speaker 4:And yeah, right. And then he's doing road trips in the US and I would say in my mind he was the first Putting a tent on a Porsche, yeah, and he was seen with that and everybody saying hello, this must be amazing and the experience would be this great. And he told me when he was with us on level A, level one in Austria, he said that was the best road trip I've ever driven.
Speaker 4:The only thing is I missed my own car. So this was really a situation and what I said okay, this is this is such a big word for somebody doing this professional and he felt it. But he felt it like a, like a private person and this is so. Yeah, I don't know, it's always repeating those things, but this is this is the point of why we are doing this. It's really. Yeah, somebody said in twenty twenty he was with us. He said it's luck in, but in a way he meant it's love.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, this is yeah, and it's so hard the first weeks it's going down, down, down, like okay, two weeks ago just seeing one video a week or pictures of something, or a new angle of when you're looking on pictures. But now we are in the situation it's going up again because they're the next two tours in front of us in twenty one week, twenty one days. We start going France again and then after that going to Italy, to South Tyrol, with the group from twenty twenty and yeah. So it's like up and down and up and down, and up and down, yeah yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's brilliant.
Speaker 1:I think there's. It's funny when you get back from these trips because, on on the surface, to say, well, what did you do for however many days? Well, we just drove a lot of twisty roads and hung out. It doesn't to the average person, that doesn't sound like a, an almost spiritual experience. And yet you come back to these trips feeling like you've just shared something so incredibly special, right?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, I think everyone is really driven by the feeling for weeks. So they're writing so often that we have to watch the pictures every day to get back to that feeling and yeah, yeah, yeah they send us pictures of screenshots of the wallpapers on their computers at work and everything is with the pictures of the tour and, and actually so many people are always telling that it's like the best experience ever and no guys come on. And actually it's.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's, it's amazing and it's, it's magical, yeah well, I just I think that's brilliant, I just love it. I have to say that Through this whole, this whole conversation, I've got sore cheeks because I've just been smiling listening to you both.
Speaker 1:Right you know, it's just been incredible, kirsten Moe I got. I want to thank you for coming on the podcast and I just want to acknowledge you both for the way you're building this true community around these incredible cars. And you know, I think the strength of this brand is found in the groups of people who gravitate towards one another For a shared experience, and it only happens when people create that opportunity, which is exactly what you guys are doing, and that takes a lot of passion and a lot of work. So please keep doing what you're doing and we will continue to watch from afar with admiration and wonder. And thank you both for being on the podcast with us, with us today.
Speaker 4:Thank you very much for inviting us. Yeah, thank you very much for inviting us.
Speaker 1:All right, should we roll into an outro?
Speaker 2:wonder, bar wonder, bar, wonder, wonder. Oh, so good, so good. I love that. What an absolutely great chat. I think this podcast wasn't long enough. I mean, it's probably the longest one we've ever done. Maybe I'm not sure. Yet we haven't done the edit, but I could have chat with those guys for hours it's funny, isn't it?
Speaker 1:because I always think you know when you wouldn't. When we're setting up these interviews and writing the questions, I think, gosh, I've got enough content here. Is this gonna fill the time? And I could have exactly the same as you. I could have listened to them for so long and I wasn't kidding at the end. I've been smiling this whole time. Yeah, what? Just just a lovely, lovely couple and I just I love their whole philosophy. I just yeah, that was such a great conversation yeah, really cool, really cool.
Speaker 2:So the question, the question now, andy, is how the hell do we get over there? Are we gonna try and meet up in Germany, or are you just gonna, you know, step up and come to Rensport reunion?
Speaker 1:I know everyone's going to Rensport reunion. Do it, do it. I need to work something out. I need to work.
Speaker 2:There's nothing like a healthy bit of peer pressure. But what have you got in store with the, with the Aussies this week with your driving?
Speaker 1:Do you know what numbers driving I am? Yeah, do you know what? We all just decided not to drive this weekend. I managed a sneaky little drive during the week, on Wednesday. Have you ever done that? A Wednesday drive? It was the best dude, the absolute best.
Speaker 2:You're close to your trip right like next week yeah, so I've been on the road this week but flying to Philadelphia and a few other places, yeah, my tail of the dragon trip. I leave Wednesday and the host this this really nice Airbnb cabin that we rented in the Smoky Mountains. They've offered us an extra night because they've just got to spend nice and place. We're gonna stay for an extra night. I'm just like I don't want to go so bad. I want to go so bad.
Speaker 1:Is it? Is it the place with the, with the four wheel drive trails?
Speaker 2:Do you have no idea how much shit everyone's been giving me for that? Still a lot of the same guys coming back and they're like, yeah, do we need to put on a you know like mud tires, or can I bring the Cayenne, or should I bring my 911. No, this one has. This one actually has a road that leads up to it, a paved road. There's bound to be some surprising stuff.
Speaker 1:I was gonna suggest maybe get in touch with Kirsten and see if she can help you with the planning. I want her to help me with my rally planning to shake, to shake, yeah.
Speaker 1:Alright, my man. Hey guys, thank you ever so much for listening. As always, it's been so good to have your company and thank you so much for all the DMs and all the feedback we've been getting on social media and via email and career pigeon it just it really keeps us going and we've just been loving it. So thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2:Alright, what are we saying, germany, what are we saying?
