Willy Meets Desert
One dry lake, one Porsche champion, and a whole lot of Hoonigan…
Kelly-Moss Road and Race is no stranger to the Porsche brand. With over 30 years supporting all levels of Porsche racing they’ve amassed hundreds of GT3 Cup Championships and season titles. When you add their racing heritage to the in-house custom build program, you can imagine the results are the perfect mix of function and form. Willy, the 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Safari, is a result of that program.
Kelly-Moss is located in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. I was no stranger to the shop; often stopping by to photograph builds and even lend a hand or two when I could on the tech side of things. When Kelly-Moss was accepted to show Willy in Luftgekühlt 6, it was an honor that they asked me to tag along and document the weekend. For those that don’t know, Luftgekühlt is a curated car show featuring air-cooled Porsches and takes place at some of the best locations in the country - for Luft 6 it meant the Universal Studios Backlot. While the show is something to look forward to, I was most excited for what was going to take place after.
But first, a little backstory. The Kelly-Moss team met the Hoonigan crew at SEMA a few years back which ended in Larry Chen (photographer) and Will Roegge (videographer) flying to Wisconsin and drifting another KMR built Safari Porsche across a frozen lake. At the same time, Will owned a 911 he was looking to sell. Andy Kilcoyne, Director of Operations for Kelly-Moss, bought it shortly after and turned it into the Safari car featured here (hence Willy, as in Will Roegge’s old car). Fast forward a year later and the Kelly-Moss team was again reuniting with the Hoonigan crew, this time in the desert after Luft 6.
The day arrived and as everyone made their way a couple hours outside of Los Angeles, I came to realize how epic the shoot was going to be. As I was there on behalf of Kelly-Moss, I was tasked with taking behind-the-scenes photos of the video shoot and providing any extra assistance the Hoonigan crew might need. Larry, being the awesome guy he is, gave me permission to snag any action shots alongside him if I wanted as well, so I did.
To make the day even more epic, 8-time Pikes Peak champion Jeff Zwart was going to be piloting Willy throughout the shoot. I’d never seen such an accomplished driver truly put a car through its paces in real life before. At times, Willy was sliding sideways at 80+ mph on three wheels while the engine popped off the rev limiter; Jeff fully in control. It was mesmerizing, so much so that sometimes you’d get lost in the excitement and almost forget to take photos.
After hours of donuts, whoops, trails, long drifts and a few high speed passes, the sun started to set. Jeff was beyond excited with the car’s performance and the Hoonigan crew had memory cards full of great action. As the dust settled, I took a step back for thought. I just witnessed a remarkable photographer, videographer, driver, and car builder converge into one setting, each displaying the best of their professional abilities. Moments like that don’t happen often and I was lucky to be a part of it.
As a photographer, you learn a lot in moments like these. How to prevail in harsh shooting environments, where to stand, where to place gaff tape to help keep dust away from your sensor, and to always bring extra water. You also learn that photography not only takes you to amazing places, but connects you with amazing people. Photography allows you to capture a moment in history and I’m forever grateful I was able to do so on that day.
