Checked It Out 2022: Porsche Heaven
The biggest midwestern Porsche gathering that seems to grow exponentially year after year.
Mark The Calendar!
One of the most memorable trips by far this year, Checked It Out Chicago 2022, has the biggest place in my heart out of any show I attended for one reason and one reason only, I got to bring my car. For those who don’t know, I own a 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo, one of the lesser appreciated Porsche models and one that has quickly garnered appreciation from those who can’t afford a higher end, mid or rear engined P-car (like myself). The story of how I ended up with the car is a blog post in and of itself but to keep it short, I had my eye on my exact car for three years before eventually having the cash together on my 20th birthday (April 19th 2022) to buy the car.
I learned how to drive stick in that car, I got to bring my own personal car to the local cars & coffee for the first time, and I got to finally own one of my dream cars. Checked It Out was in August, so I knew I had time to really get familiar with my new money pit before the trip. The trip was on my calendar immediately after the success that was Check21, a show that really put my photography on people in the Midwest’s radar. Since I had already been to Checked It Out in 2021, I thought I knew what to expect, I was wrong.
Photo of Mouse Motors Singer 911 from Check21 that they reshared.
Road Trip?
When I had first got the 944, it had been sitting for about 8 months, meaning it had some mechanical gremlins that needed to be sorted out before the drive to Chicago. The first order of business was doing a new battery since the old one held very little voltage. So little that it would die after two starts of the car. Not the best battery life, especially for a new manual driver (me) who stalled constantly during the learning process. One of the perks of working at Kelly-Moss in the parts department is the ease of ordering parts for my personal cars. I ordered a battery, brought it home and did my first ever wrenching on my own ride. The swap took longer than anticipated but even for work as simple as swapping a battery, I was really proud to have completed the task. Once the battery was installed, it was time to get it over to Kelly-Moss for a full fluid flush to make the car not smell like old burnt up oil every time I drove it. Once the fluids were flushed, it was a (knock on wood) low maintenance summer of cruising, driving the car to work and the occasional cars & Coffee appearance. Then the day finally came, the day to drive it down to Chicago.
As mentioned in my About Me page, my parents were never car enthusiasts. They didn’t trust that the 944 would make the trip but allowed me to take it since they knew how much it meant to me. I had a different mindset. My car is no winter beater. It has been painstakingly rebuild in many ways including all new brake calipers, rotors, seals, lines, the whole nine yards. It also has an improved clutch disc over the abysmal stock design. The car has had excellent preventative maintenance done by the two previous owners who are Porsche technicians, so I trusted it completely. It did not let me down.
The car made it to Chicago flawlessly, even in the middle of August with humid Midwest heat and over 45 minutes of stop and go traffic outside of Chicago, my left foot aching in pain after that whole mess, I made it to the venue in time for the pre-party festivities.
My 944 parked up outside the venue, doing some light painting at the pre-party the night before the show.
Party Time!
The pre-party was nothing short of awesome. I just barely missed the cutoff to have my car in the venue, but that ended up being for the better. I parked just outside of the south garage door, grabbed my camera gear and headed inside to begin shooting photos and catch up with some friends. Not one, not two, but three Kelly-Moss 911’s were present at Check22 this year. The most recent safari build, Norman, an incredibly rare 964 Carrera 4S and one of our 911 Cup cars. You can some of the photos I shot of those cars here. Once the party winded down, it was time to head to the hotel, catch some sleep and come back the next morning for set up.
Not only did I get to photograph some awesome Porsches from all over the Midwest, I also got to try light painting for the first time, which proved to be challenging but I think I did alright for my first time. I also got to do a tech talk on the 992 Cup car with some awesome Porsche enthusiasts from the Milwaukee area that I greatly admire and have followed for quite sometime as I moved from Accumoto to Kelly-Moss. Tony, If you’re reading this, I haven’t forgotten about our little key swap deal with Pablo, here’s hoping it can happen at vintage weekend this year.
One of my favorite cars from the night, a 993 C4S with original Speedline wheels from 1994.
Built by Porsche Exchange
The Big Day!
After a decent nights sleep, I woke up at 6am, hungry to get to the venue since I had stored my car there the night before and needed to be there in the morning in case the car needed to be moved around. As I approached the venue, a line of Porsche’s was visible in the distance. Multiple blocks of various Porsche’s getting ready for the show. Thankfully my car was already parked in the venue lot so I walked up with my keys, got the car warmed up and began wiping off the morning dew to get it show ready. The night before, during my tech talk on the 992, Tony, the owner of the Targa 911 and a Porsche 968, said we should have our cars parked next to each other in the show, you know, being transaxle Porsche’s and all, so the goal Saturday morning was to get the cars together before set up really got hectic. I moved my car around to the other side of the building, Tony brought over his 968 and we got the cars parked up. Parked right outside the venue, we had one of the best spots in the house, which did make it difficult to get out but I didn’t mind.
Once the car was parked, the focus could purely be on photographing the event. I was pretty proud of how things went. The cars that appeared this year were a mix of old and new. Some classic aircooled cars which is more up my street but there were also many modern GT series cars and some of the greatest Porsche’s ever built. Myself and a few of my friends spent the day rotating between shooting photos outside, inside and cooling off by my car. I also got the chance to meet and compare notes with Michael, who owns an identical year and color 944 Turbo of his own. It was so cool to compare setups and see the differences between two cars that left the factory almost exactly the same. The show just had a never ending variety of Porsche’s.
My 944 parked up with Tony’s 968 just outside the venue.
Post Check22 Travels.
Once I decided to leave the event, attempting to beat the rush before everyone tried to leave at once, I ventured out to La Grange, just west of the city to meet up with my good friend Patrick, who I met during the pandemic through Forza of all things. After a hot day of running around shooting photos and getting stuck in my air condition less car (yes, my car does not have A/C) on the way out of town, I was super hungry and knew it would be best to get food before setting off back to Madison. I went over to Patrick’s house, where he finally got to see the 944 for the first time. He suggested a local pizza spot and I obliged. We cruised about ten minutes down the road to a pizza joint off of La Grange’s main street. It was quite possibly the messiest Chicago style pizza I’ve ever had, but the laughs and stories shared around it will be something I’ll always remember.
My 1988 944 Turbo with Patrick’s 1987 Camaro IROC-Z
We then went to the affluent neighborhood of Hinsdale for some car spotting. I was not disappointed, we stumbled upon a 911R, one of the best versions of the 911 and a 992 GT3 touring a few blocks from there. Foolishly I did not bring my camera, but I do have some phone photos. After this, myself and my co-pilot Matt, made our way back to Madison with a drama-free, gorgeous sunset drive. I do retroactively wish I would’ve hit some back roads but I’m slightly tall for my car so my legs were killing me after the two and a half hour drive.
GT3 Touring (left) and 911R (right) spotted in Hinsdale, IL.
Check22 truly was the best show I went to because it was so personal. My love for the Porsche brand and the people that make it so special runs deep. While the 944 is awesome, it is not the peak Porsche I’d like to own in my lifetime, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of my favorite cars and I feel so blessed to own it at my age. I look forward to future Checked It Out events and other Porsche events all over the country (and the world?). The road trip down, the night before experimenting with lightpainting, the sketchy hotel, frantically running around the morning of the show to capture a Fayence Yellow Carrera GT on the move, sweating a tenth of my body weight off sitting in traffic, meeting people and eating messy pizza were all a part of the experience. This show and the journey around it, really made me realize how much I love the hustle of this whole car photography thing. The hustle is what makes it fun, so… let’s keep hustling in 2023. Were you at CheckedItOut this year? Will I see you next year? Comment below or DM on Instagram here.