The Drifter

I had the pleasure of meeting Kobus a few years back at one of the CarPark events in Brooklyn. To say he makes an entrance is an understatement. More often than not accompanied by the previous (and seemingly long departed) original owner of (one of) his immaculate rides (more on his affliction below),  Kobus retains a youthful fascination and reverence for automobile culture which manifests most clearly in his marvelous body of photographic works.

He grew up a world away, in South Africa, where he enjoyed drifting sideways around deserted dirt roads after learning to drive at what he candidly describes as ‘a very early age’. He’s been a resident of the greater New York area for over forty years, and it wasn’t until recently that he found his dream car. Or at least one of them.

So tell me Kobus, what are you driving these days?

I have a 1959 Porsche 356A Cabriolet, silver over green. It was restored a number of years ago by the previous owner who changed the interior from red to the current shade. I fell in love with the Porsche 356 shape back in South Africa in the mid-seventies. A few years ago I decided to look for a race car, one that I could also drive to the track because I’ve always been obsessed with racing. So we went to check one out at a dealer, but we ended up with the 356A.

I also have a 1968 Sand Beige Porsche 912 which I am having prepared for vintage racing, as well as a 2018 Porsche Boxster S. The Boxster belongs to my wife, or at least it did.

Sounds like a story there…

Well, we both love the 356, so when the time came for my wife Susie to replace her car, she asked me to look around for a convertible Porsche. And I found a Boxster with low mileage which was perfect for her. So she drives it around everywhere over the summer, from tennis to the shops. She loves it.

And then winter comes and it starts to get cool, and the top has to go up. Now you may not know this, but the top in the Boxster has one of the worst blind spots, so she just refuses to drive it now. This means I now have three Porsches, while Susie drives the SUV. Needless to say, I’m not too happy driving around in the Boxster with “Sweet Susie Q” vanity plates.

I hope you’re not looking for any sympathy from me, but you haven’t always had a stable of exotic cars, have you?

Not at all. Growing up in South Africa I could only dream of these cars. I couldn’t say that I’ve had a very illustrious past when it comes to cars. My dad was never a ‘car guy’, so we always had pretty boring cars. It’s probably not even worth publishing.

But a few of my high school buddies and I became race car fanatics. It was the ‘60’s, and keep in mind South Africa didn’t even get TV until 1975, which meant that we got all of our international car news from a shared, dog-eared copy of Road & Track Magazine. My very first car was a Ford Prefect that I inherited from my brother when I went to college. I also had a Lambretta scooter at the time which was great for getting to class on a daily basis, and to the pub, especially after exams.

So tell me about that. How did having your own car affect you?

Well, I’d actually learned to drive at a very young age. I must have been around ten, or even younger, when I would first sit on my mother’s lap while she drove her Morris Minor. She’d put my hand on the gearshift and work the clutch and eventually, I learned to shift gears that way. As I got older I was allowed to drive her Morris 1100, even though I didn’t have a license, and there were times I kind of stole it, quite a few times actually, to go to parties, until a friend ended up crashing it one night.

To me, driving has always been about the adventure. And I love going fast. Growing up we’d always be driving on the edge- even when going on diving trips with my buddies and to the races at Kyalami. All those little things. I think it's just the adventure. Right? I think that's it.

To me, it's an adventure.

And when I think now, you know, there are so many opportunities to go on big trips. I like doing these little local drives, but in the end, I still want more than that. I really yearn for long-distance adventures.

You mentioned going to the Kyalami races when you were younger. Sounds like you were inspired from an early age?

Back then I loved the Cheetah, and those famous endurance and Can-Am racers from the ’60s, such as the GT40 and Ford Mirage, the Ferrari 330 P4, Lola’s T70, and the McLaren M1B. Besides those racers, I probably have too many ‘dream cars’, mostly the famous pre-war chariots like the Auto Union Type C, Bugattis, Mercedes Silver Arrows, and the Fiat Type 76S.

And I’m always dumbfounded by the amazing designs of the pre-war French coachbuilders who created those impossibly beautiful Bugattis, Talbot-Logos, Hispano-Suizas, and Delahayes. The early Italian designers of those beautiful Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Lancias, and Ferraris also share the podium in my mind.

But I guess the car that I most desired, back before college, a car that I could actually drive on the road, would have to be the Alfa GTV. It was the one that I most wanted to have at the time. And then in college, I saw the 356, but I could never afford that at the time. Those are really the two outstanding cars in my mind that I really wanted.

And where would you be driving these?

I always look forward to driving the coastal and mountain roads of southern Cape province in South Africa when I go home. The views are amazing, and the turns seem to always follow in perfect sequence. And the cops are virtually absent. Stateside I’ve really enjoyed the rural roads of Colorado and California, and close by we regularly head out to Harriman State Park and beyond. The trip to Lime Rock Park, which I make several times a year, is always a highlight in that it’s always in a Porsche.

Let’s get back to the 912, shall we?

I love the lines of the 912. They're just amazing cars to drive and they are reasonably priced, at least compared to the Lamborghinis and Ferraris. I got sort of talked into this by a couple of friends of mine, Gaspare and Chris Turner. Gaspare is pretty famous for working on Porsche 356’s and old 911’s at Gaswerks, which is where we met.

Photo courtesy of Kobus Reyneke

The 912’s are very cool, and you can get a fairly clean example for say $40,000  and then put another $10k or more in and you have a great driver. Anyway, Gaspare suggested I consider a 912 to race, like his, and we started searching for one separately, but we zeroed in on this particular one at the same time. We bought the car, and they proceeded to get it running properly, and now we are getting it track-ready. I want to drive it to Lime Rock Park, race it, and drive home.

The VSCCA really only likes to have pre-1960 cars, but they do accept cars from 1960-65 on a case-by-case basis. And because my ‘68 is essentially the same as the 1965 model, it gets a pass. It’s Sand Beige and has the same 1600cc engine as the 356C, but it’s quite a bit more nimble with four-wheel disc brakes and improved steering, along with a 12V system. I’ll be also adding racing seats with a six-point harness and this will be my racing car for the road.

We can’t wait to see it in the wild…

It will be ready around March, but with racing and other commitments, I often have difficulty getting out to cars and coffee events on Sunday mornings. I consider the really good ones, like CarPark and the Bridge, to be more of an event, however, and do my best to attend those.

Otherwise, you can find me @kobusreyneke or at my website www.Reyneke.com.