August 2024
Building community through food and fellowship is just the beginning for Adam Hoffman, the owner and founder of Big Hoffa’s Smokehouse in Westfield. Hoffman is not only passionate about bringing people and families together around the table but also about connecting them through his love of collectible cars—specifically, the Porsche marque.
A Penchant for Porsche
Hoffman has been collecting various Porsche models over the last decade and is a regular exhibitor at Artomobilia’s Porsche Palooza, sponsored by Tom Wood Porsche.
“I fell in love with the brand when I bought a four-door Panamera,” Hoffman shared. “I used to be a muscle car guy and had a ’71 Chevelle that took me 20 years to restore. I had a guy offer me a [Porsche] GT3 for my Chevelle, and I took his advice, took the car, and was sold [on Porsche]. I was like, ‘It can’t get any better than the Panamera,’ then I drove the GT3 and was like, ‘It can’t get any better than the GT3,’ and then the search was on. I started searching for older, classic, air-cooled Porsches.”
Hoffman continued, “At the time, it wasn’t the market that it is now; Porsches were easier to find, and nobody wanted the crazy colors that I love. I got into the Porsche market early … not as early as [Jerry] Seinfeld did. He did the smart thing and bought original one-of-one race cars from Porsche. I wish I had done that. I found some great deals and good cars, and I slowly started to build a collection. I fell in love with the air-cooled division and focused most of my purchases on the early ’90s, ’89-94. The 964 versions were my favorite. I have a 1990 964 [Viper Green] that is my favorite. I love the carburetion, the smell and the feel of that raw car. You’re driving this beautiful piece of artwork on the road, but it feels like you’re in a muscle car, so for me, it’s the best of both worlds.”
One of Hoffman’s unique finds includes a Porsche RWB, a customized, wide-body Porsche 911 built by Japanese tuner Akira Nakai—with an interesting provenance.
“A buddy of a buddy who has a friend whose uncle’s sister knows this guy, who ended up being the tour manager for Guns N’ Roses,” Hoffman joked. “This guy had a massive collection of cars, and he sold me one of his RWBs. I had a friend in California take a look at it, and I ended up bringing it here [Indiana]. I’ve had it for four years, and it’s pretty cool.”
Building Community Around Cars
Hoffman will exhibit a visual feast of his favorite Porsches at Artomobilia this year. It is also a time for him, his family and friends to gather together and enjoy a day of showing cars and sharing stories.
“I think Artomobilia is amazing,” Hoffman said. “I tell as many people as possible about it every year, and we don’t miss it for anything. We plan our vacations around this one event. I have all my buddies come to my house to dri
ve my cars to the event, and it’s a fun experience. It takes me two weeks to get the cars show-ready, and my buddies and I tune them and clean them up … it’s just such a cool event and a huge day for us. For us, the joy is immeasurable when young kids come up and talk about the cars, and when I say, ‘Hey, you want to sit in the car?’ and their faces light up. It’s that simple, them getting into the car and having their picture taken. They’re ecstatic, and truly, that’s what all this is about for me. It’s that level of happiness you bring to people with these cars.”
Hoffman added, “John [Leonard] and his team do a very good job of bringing all these different kinds of cars and people together for one day, and we have a blast every year we’re there. We just can’t wait for it.”
Hoffman has been the proud owner of his smokehouse for 22 years. Big Hoffa’s Smokehouse is located at 800 E. Main Street in Westfield, Indiana, and is proudly catering the upcoming Porsche Classic Restoration Challenge at Motor District on Friday, September 6, as an extension of Artomobilia weekend events. This is a ticketed event, and more information is available online at motor-district.com/activities.
“We love what we’re doing, and [the smokehouse] is my passion,” Hoffman shared. “We started in a food truck and moved to a small building, and then we expanded, and expanded to where we are now, 22 years later. It’s just crazy, but we are honored to do what we do and to be a part of the community.
“We try to give back as much as we can. We are in the business of bringing people and families together. It’s that simple to me, and I feel that describes what we do.”
Check out the menu at bighoffas.com, and be sure to tell them Carmel Monthly sent you!