This artist turned burned Porsches from the L.A. fires into symbols of hope

After past year’s fires, cars were often each that remained connected the tons of homes reduced to rubble. Some sat remarkably untouched, but astir were damaged beyond repair — crushed by falling beams, burned to a shell, and covered successful toxic dust. The steely husks stood sentinel implicit unfathomable nonaccomplishment for weeks oregon months until they were towed distant and sold arsenic scrap.

More than 6,000 cars were destroyed successful the Pacific Palisades alone. Some were utilized for regular commutes and near successful garages arsenic families fled; others were trucks and vans packed with landscaping cogwheel oregon tools.

Then determination were the showpieces: steel-and-glass representations of an owner’s emotion for the unfastened roadworthy and classical automotive design. It was these vehicles that captured the imaginativeness of Ben Tuna, a self-described car feline and stained solid artist, who saw a mode to make thing beauteous from the rubble.

Pieces of salvaged solid and different tools litter the enactment array of creator Ben Tuna arsenic helium works to make sculptures utilizing vintage Porches that were burned successful the L.A. fires.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Beginning successful March 2025, Tuna snagged 5 burned-out Porsches from the L.A. fires, and began turning the shells into cathedral-like creations utilizing salvaged stained solid from aged churches.

Armed with a soldering robust and bully intentions, Tuna paid tribute to what the fires took.

Tuna said that helium was moved by posts connected Instagram of cars getting taken distant connected trailers, and by speechmaking astir the nonaccomplishment successful quality stories. He couldn’t halt reasoning astir what the collectors were experiencing.

“It was each truthful bittersweet to ideate losing thing that you mightiness person worked 30, 40, 50 years to collect,” Tuna said. “And it benignant of broke my heart. A batch of those cars were history. They’re not making caller ones.”

Tuna made connections done societal media to get the Porsche shells, with 4 coming from a azygous collector’s store successful the Palisades. As a instrumentality of classical automotive design, Tuna calls the Porsches “icons of design” and “the astir recognizable cars successful the world,” contempt what they looked similar aft the fires. He wishes helium could person collected galore more.

“I astir apt could person gotten 300, but I conscionable didn’t person the abstraction and couldn’t enactment accelerated enough,” helium said, adding that helium besides acquired 2 further Porches that were not burned successful the city’s fires.

One of 5 vintage Porches burned successful the L.A. fires that Ben Tuna reimagined arsenic works of creation utilizing salvaged stained glass.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Tuna’s archetypal post-fire task was a 1965 Porsche 356 that helium turned into a 700-pound portion of movable sculpture. The artwork took him and 2 helpers respective months to implicit astatine his store connected the eastbound broadside of L.A. They wore respirators portion they worked to debar unsafe ash and chemicals, and began by stripping the car down to bare metal.

Next came the meticulous solid work. Tuna utilized pieces of solid from what helium estimates are astir 15 antithetic salvaged stained solid windows from decommissioned churches. He thinks they were apt each created successful antithetic countries, eras and studios. Much of the illustrated solid successful the car was hand-painted successful Germany successful the precocious 1800s, a look helium grew to emotion arsenic a kid aft proceeding however overmuch his begetter — besides a stained solid creator — adored it.

Tuna says he’s not trying to archer a communicative with the windows. Instead, he’s assembling them by feel: matching pieces of chopped solid by size and colour connected apical of a acheronian array earlier utilizing pb to solder them unneurotic successful a cleanable arch for the car’s backmost window. Tuna says helium ne'er knows what a model is going to look similar earlier the end, erstwhile helium lights it up — but by merging the solid and the car he’s aiming to grant the plan legacies of both.

Stained solid windows salvaged from churches are cardinal to creator Ben Tuna’s practice. “All these windows were beauteous backmost successful the time but person been forgotten,” helium said.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“All these windows were beauteous backmost successful the time but person been forgotten,” helium said.

Though Tuna’s cars are inactive works successful progress, his extremity is to yet show each 7 arsenic portion of a assemblage show. In the meantime, he’s hosting visitors who privation to spot the enactment truthful acold — including the proprietor of the 4 cars salvaged from the Palisades, who cried.

Tuna says everyone who has travel to spot the creation has near feeling a spot much reverent.

Artist Ben Tuna stands with a portion of creation helium made from a vintage Porsche that was burned successful the L.A. fires. “Because these cars are truthful big, erstwhile you’re lasting astir them, you truly spot what occurrence tin do,” helium says.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“Because these cars are truthful big, erstwhile you’re lasting astir them, you truly spot what occurrence tin do,” helium said. “You tin truly survey it, and you commencement to deliberation astir nonaccomplishment and however blistery the occurrence indispensable person burned and what signifier the buildings astir the cars indispensable person been successful afterwards.”

Each car is an altar of remembrance to the fires, Tuna said, but they’re besides a reminder.

”Even erstwhile you suffer everything, there’s inactive quality that tin travel from that loss,” helium said. “You tin instrumentality each that devastation and inactive marque thing good.”