feature I | road trip to mankei.

cars
Written By Chris

from several cars — a lot of them Porsches — parked on top of a mountain, to the twisting roads of the austrian alps and a shared excitement around cars. we take our Porsche 944 S to the FAT Mankei for the Porsche Late Summer Heat hosted by the team at FAT International.

black porsche 944 s parked at a großglockner viewpoint with dramatic snow-covered mountains in the background.

i love these stories. stories about twists and turns. stories about changing gears and hitting the breaks. stories about arriving and leaving. stories about discovery and curiosity. it doesn’t take much for these words to come together. a tank of gas, a sunny day in the austrian alps and the motivation to discover whatever lies ahead.

the origin of these lines is owed to the boys and girls at FAT International and their version of a car meet at a small mountain hut — the FAT Mankei. great views, cool cars, twisty roads. something new. that‘s all the reason we need to grab the keys to our trusted Porsche 944, a camera and an old cassette and get going.

porsche 944 s parked on the großglockner hochalpenstraße with the road winding through green alpine slopes and a tall rocky peak rising above.

the winding road for this story — the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße.

blurry image of a red porsche 964 moving along a mountain road lined with fresh snow and rugged alpine terrain.

out of focus, but you get the picture.

several porsches gathered near a wooden lodge on a high-alpine plateau with snow and bright sunlight.

cars, mountains and the FAT Mankei.

white porsche porsche 981 bergspyder with green livery parked at fat mankei car park with alpine scenery beyond.

from one (or two) rare Porsche Spyders.

porsche le mans race car and a silver 550 spyder parked at a high-alpine lookout with snow-covered peaks in the background.

to another — not to mention the le mans race car next to it.

low-angle view of a silver porsche 550 spyder parked on a mountain pass with bright sky and snowy peaks behind it.

and yet another.

blue snow groomer resting on a mountain pass with patches of snow beneath a clear blue sky.

an entirely different kind of vehicle waiting for its season to start.

alpine cow with traditional floral decorations walking along a sunny mountain road, seen through a car window.

a final picture during the short break before our drive up to the FAT Mankei. roads have to be shared. it‘s rarely just you. with winter around the corner, we got to witness a small part of a yearly tradition — the Almabtrieb — and wait for the local cows to let us pass.

days and events like these are really fun for us. the best moments of excitement are those shared together. what makes them especially great is when they happen in a unique place — the FAT Mankei definitely checks that box — and remain open for everyone to come together and join in.

we love telling stories about true enthusiasm and shared passions. cars fit right in this category for us and we always enjoy taking our old 944 on a long drive. celebrating a common excitement for something — especially when it‘s about (vintage) Porsches — is just the right reason for us to get up early, drive for hours and make fresh memories with some old (and also some new) cars.

Chris
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