The Kobus Interview, Revisited
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Concept
Grand Prix
Grand Prix is a term used for important car races, especially in Formula 1. These races are very popular and feature fast cars competing against each other.
Concept
Kailami
Kailami is a famous race track in South Africa where many car races take place. It's known for exciting events like the Grand Prix and long endurance races.
Car
The 1969 Nine Hours of Kyalami
Featured on Bring a Trailer: The 1969 Nine Hours of Kyalami
Car
Porsche 912
The Porsche 912 is a vintage sports car that looks similar to the more famous Porsche 911 but has a smaller engine. It's loved by enthusiasts for its classic design and driving experience.
Car
Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 is an older sports car that was made by Porsche. It's famous for being one of the first cars the company produced and is cherished by collectors for its style and performance.
Concept
Rensport reunion
The Rensport Reunion is a big event for Porsche fans where they can see both old and new Porsche cars, watch races, and meet other people who love Porsches.
Term
overriders
Overriders are extra bars on the front or back of a car that help protect it from small bumps. They were often used on older cars to make them look nicer and keep them safe.
Term
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a well-known race track in Germany where many cars are tested and raced. It's famous for being very difficult and has a lot of twists and turns.
Term
rebuilt engine
A rebuilt engine is an engine that has been taken apart and fixed with new parts so it can work like new again. It's a way to make an old engine last longer.
Part
gearbox
The gearbox is a part of the car that helps control how fast the car goes. It works with the engine to change speeds and make driving easier.
Term
fuel cell
A fuel cell is a special type of gas tank that keeps fuel safe and secure, especially in race cars. It helps prevent fuel leaks if there's an accident.
Part
roll bar
A roll bar is a metal bar added to a car to keep people safe if the car flips over. It helps keep the car's shape and protects the passengers inside.
Car
Dispatches From Lime Rock: Kobus Gets His VSCCA License
Featured on Bring a Trailer: Dispatches From Lime Rock: Kobus Gets His VSCCA License
Concept
Formula V
Formula V is a type of racing where small, simple cars race against each other. It's designed for people who want to start racing without spending a lot of money.
Term
1968
1968 is a year when many famous cars were made. Cars from this time are often seen as classic or vintage, which means they are older and have special value.
Concept
Pitt Race
Pitt Race is a racetrack in Pennsylvania where people can race cars and motorcycles. It's a popular place for racing events and car enthusiasts to gather.
Term
brakes
Brakes are the parts of a car that help it slow down or stop. If they stop working, it can be very scary and dangerous.
Company
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer is a website where people can buy and sell classic cars. It's popular among car enthusiasts for its detailed listings and community discussions.
Car
BaT Photographic Inspiration: Kobus Covers The Goodwood Revival
Featured on Bring a Trailer: BaT Photographic Inspiration: Kobus Covers The Goodwood Revival
Car
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta Ti Sedan is a stylish small car that was popular for its sporty looks and fun driving experience. The 'Ti' means it's a sportier version of the regular Giulietta.
Term
flat four cylinder engine
A flat four cylinder engine is a type of engine where the cylinders are laid out flat, making the car more stable and easier to handle. It's different from the more common upright engines you might see.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that many people admire. It's known for its unique shape and powerful performance, especially in older models.
Concept
Lamar Classic
The Lamar Classic is a big car show where people display classic cars. It's a fun event for car lovers to see and appreciate old cars together.
Concept
Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood is a famous car event in England where people can see and hear many different types of cars racing up a hill. It's a fun place for car lovers to gather and enjoy the excitement.
Concept
Monaco Classic
The Monaco Classic is a special event in Monaco where old cars are shown off and sometimes raced. It's a chance to see beautiful classic cars in a fancy place.
Concept
pre-war cars
Pre-war cars are cars made before World War II. They are often classic and vintage, and many people love to collect and restore them.
Car
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche Boxster is a small sports car that has two seats and is designed for fun driving. It's usually less expensive than other Porsche models, making it a popular choice for those who want a Porsche without the higher price tag.
Car
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf GTI is a small car that is really fun to drive and has a lot of space inside for passengers and cargo. People like it because it combines sporty features with everyday comfort, making it a great choice for many drivers.
Car
Bmw X3
The BMW X3 is a luxury SUV that is designed to be comfortable and fun to drive. It has plenty of room for passengers and their stuff, and it comes with a lot of high-tech features that make it feel special.
LIVE
Hi, everybody, welcome to the BAT Podcast.
This is Randy Nonenberg, co-founder of Bring It Trailer.
I'm here at our San Francisco offices today, and I have a super special guest that is in
town, so we grabbed him for our conversation.
I pronounce his name Cobus.
You guys may recognize that from the website.
He contributes photographs.
He goes to events, writes up interesting historical stories on BAT and is pretty well known in the
comments section.
He's out of New Jersey.
Cobus, welcome.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for the invitation.
It's a pleasure.
I'm super excited that you're here, and I'm sure people in the BAT community are going
to be excited to hear from you.
I pronounce your name Cobus and you're just informing me that that's probably a butchering
of your actual name.
Do people the actual way that you say your name?
Well, the right way my wife would say is Cobus.
It's actually short for Yuck Cobus, which is Dutch, or I'm from South Africa.
The first radio guy went there in 1672, so you can call me a South African.
That's a real Afrikaansne.
Okay.
Fantastic.
K-O-B-U-S.
If you search that on the website, if you haven't already been following, his photographs
are amazing on BAT.
The stories are also amazing, but I'm always drawn to them for the photographic skill
and capability.
Tell us where that came from.
Have you been shooting pictures since you were a little kid, or you just started that
last year, or what's the deal?
No, a little kid.
My father gave me a little Kodak brownie, started taking photos when I was very, very young.
Eventually high school gave me a Pentax Sputmatic, so I got a little serious, and started
taking cars specifically.
I mean, back in the day when I was in high school, we went to Kailami all the
time to watch the Grand Prix and the nine-hour races, slept over, usually two nights, got
dropped off.
Sometimes my brother would take us, and we would hide in the trunk of the car to get
in for free, and it was sort of party time, you know, late high school was a lot of party
time.
We didn't watch racing that much, but the real fun part about photography is in my
last two years of high school.
My brother was in college.
He contributed to the newspaper in college, and I asked him, I said, hey, I go to the races
all the time.
Can you get me a media pass?
And he wrote to the organizers, and I got a photographer pass to go shoot photographs
at the Grand Prix and the nine-hour races for 1969 and 70, and those articles on bring
a trailer so you could see the photos.
It was just the blast, because then you could stand right next to the track.
So I was totally hooked then.
Of course, I only started picking it up again on the track when I came to the States, and
much later when I really hooked up with bring a trailer, but that's my roots.
Always loved photography.
In high school, I was sort of an athlete, so you had to go to the events, so I couldn't
go to that many races, but definitely Kailami always.
All the big boys were racing there, and the nine hours was just amazing.
Really cool races.
I love that.
Thanks for the history lesson.
It's special that we have those pictures and your stories of those events on BAT now.
If you go to BAT and you just search Cobus, K-O-B-U-S, you will find the, what is it,
17 or 18 different things that you've contributed to BAT, event coverage, and those range
from your crazy historical times to some modern vintage racing that you've been
doing.
You have a 9-12 that you've had on track, and one of the ways I met you is you
pulled up to one of our events in a Silver 356, which is near and dear to my heart, so
I came and spoke to you directly.
Tell us what your car activities look like present day.
Well, I like to drive.
I mean, I've taken the 356 to a couple of concor events, but it's just informal.
I don't like paying or being really, it's not my thing.
I like to drive the cars, so definitely take it out on the weekends to go full
spend, and the racing is something, when I came to the States originally in 78, I'm
an old guy, I came to the States in 78 and always loved to go watch vintage racing at
Landmark Park.
I actually went to the first Rensport reunion at Landmark Park.
Always wanted to race, but I thought it was crazy expensive.
The people who all look, you know, they have these really expensive cars that just
look very difficult to get into it.
But eventually I really, and I think I can blame bring a trailer for it, in that I started
photographing cars at the track, and that got me in contact, put me in contact with people
who actually race.
So I started talking to them and I figured out it's not that difficult.
Yes, it costs some money, but it's not super expensive.
So I decided to go racing and actually the first time was during the COVID year, the
first COVID year.
They cancelled the driver's school at the VSTCA at Landmark Park.
And I said, well, I want to come race.
So the guy who ran the school said, well, if you have an old car, I'll let you race
in a later race in the year.
You won't have to do the driver's school provided you've done like a racing school,
which I had done with Bertrand Ruth.
So I had my 356 Caboole stock car, and I went to race with it with a VSTCA.
It was hysterical.
I mean, I was the slowest and it was very uncomfortable because the seats don't give
you any support sliding around, going around Big Bend, which is a long right-handed.
I remember just my leg pushing against the door because the body just wanted to go
out.
Then gone to the door space.
But I love that because that is a full street car and a cabriolet, and it's a great
car for those of you who haven't seen it at an event.
Silver, I think green interior.
Is that right?
Yes.
Yeah.
Silver, green interior.
But super hub caps on overriders.
Doesn't have overriders?
Yes.
Yeah.
But it's like a full, not only a street spec car, but like a luxurious, like all
the options, really nice car and to take that out and try to vintage race it with
guys today.
Everybody's so race prep.
I have a photo downstairs in BHQ here, a big one on the wall from the Nurburgring
and I think 56 or 55, 56.
And a lot of the race cars are cabrios, right?
With the top up.
They put the top up on them and would race them at the Nurburgring and they look
like stock type cars, right?
So that's kind of what you did.
And these days in modern vintage racing, that car kind of doesn't have a prayer
against a bunch of race prep, even other 356s.
I love you have your full interior, does your car have headrests on it?
Does it have this round headrest?
I remember that from when I saw it.
It's just like has everything on it.
It's like not stripped down at all.
You could have been listening to the radio going around the track.
But the fact that you did it and the fact that they let you do it,
honestly, both, I think are actually pretty neat.
The VACTI is unique in the United States.
It's actually the oldest vintage racing organization.
And they don't really like the safety side of things.
They want the cars to look as stock as possible.
I think they're the only organization that lets pre-war race
cars actually race wheel to wheel with no protection.
All you require is to have a seatbelt and a cutoff speech.
And the guys go in and they'll say, no helmet.
You got a helmet, but no roll bars needed.
And they go bonkers.
They race their cars.
Yeah, that's pretty crazy.
But seeing you doing that, they make you pull your hubcaps off or no?
You ran with them.
No, it's still an ongoing joke that I raced it with a hat.
That's not.
It's, you know, I didn't know I have to take.
No, I love that.
I love that.
Well, it would save you whatever, half a pound.
And then that saves you almost no time.
But people have always done that.
But I think I just love it that you're out there
cruising around with the headrests and hubcaps and the whole deal.
It's so great.
But anyway, so that.
But then there's the 912 story also, right?
So that year I was convinced by my local shop,
Gaspari and Gasberg's garage.
They said, now I got to come race with him
because Gaspari races in my 12th.
And they said it's the perfect car to come racing.
And the owner of the company, Chris,
races all kinds of crazy cars, including a 356.
So they said, no, you've got to buy a 912.
So we both look, we found the same car and I bought it.
It was like a good driver.
It was newly painted, basically to get flipped.
But it was a good driver.
And since then I've rebuilt the engine, rebuilt the gearbox.
They put roll bar in, fuel cell, nice seats,
like period to red seats, not, you know, not like crazy racing seats.
But it's just it's so much fun.
I'm still obviously like, I don't know, you race a little bit, a little bit.
I'm not, I'm not a real racer.
Let us stop learning.
It's just amazing.
And Lime Rock Park is very technical racetrack.
Lime Rock is very cool.
I'm looking at your story right now with the 912.
So I'm not making eye contact with you right now.
I'm looking at your 912 on here.
It's like, what's that color?
Sand beige.
Anyway, little 912 with you standing next to it in 2021.
You wrote a story on BET about getting your VSCC license.
It's a driver's school.
Yeah, running that car and getting it out on track.
Just really need to see that and need to see how your snapping photos
in the paddock leads to making friendships, leads to ending up on track
for a parade lap or two.
And then all of a sudden you're buying a race car, you know, off you go at Lime Rock.
It's just really a neat sort of progression, I think.
Yeah, it's a little crazy.
My days at the track is a little hectic because I try to take photos.
Of course, I don't get photos on my own group.
So sometimes I'll just jump into the other group, the faster group,
go and take photos of my group and get back in the car again.
Yeah, it's just so much fun.
I actually bought a historic Formula V as well.
Oh, wow.
That I've read a little bit is expanding.
The fleet is going out.
This is historic.
So it's 1968.
OK.
It was owned by Bull Noble, who's very famous for vintage V racing.
This was his very first Formula V.
So it has logbook number two, SCCA logbook in the Northeast.
Number two.
Yeah, so it's wow.
It's a historic race car.
It's so much fun.
Open real racing is crazy.
OK, cool.
And Formula V, that's not Porsche-powered.
That's Volkswagen-powered and it has a little VW-flat fork.
Cool.
Have you posted photos of that one?
I feel like I need to do some reading.
I'm not sure.
I should, right?
I literally need to see a photo.
It's the 60th anniversary this year of Formula V.
OK.
And so I plan on taking it to Pitt Race,
but they're going to have a big reunion.
OK.
And I'll definitely have to take some photos there.
Tell us about that.
Pitt Race.
I know Pittsburgh Vintage GP.
Is that what you're talking about?
Or are you talking about something else?
No, I raced at Shedley Park.
That's the traditional Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.
Correct.
But it's actually a 10-day event.
The weekend before.
Pitt Race is the track one a week before.
That's right.
I was, we were there, and you were mentioning that we met there.
That may have been the first time we met,
was at the BAT event at Shedley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
We went out there and did an alumni gathering.
My dad grew up in Pittsburgh, and I always wanted to go see that event
and knew that it's so neat that they raced through, you know,
the big city park there.
Somehow the park still lets them do that,
which is unbelievable.
Very unwind.
But that's my most memorable racing experience.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Yeah, really neat.
And so we met there.
But yeah, there is the other event they do a week before that,
which is a little bit more all-out speed.
You don't have to pay your V8 cars and stuff, racing, everything.
So anyway, that's nice that you'll be racing there this summer.
I know that event is going out here.
I mean, I did it last year, so that was just so much fun.
And I actually have a little story.
I don't want to take up too much time.
No, please.
I raced for, I think, like 25 minutes in the Porsche Only Race.
So I was one of the trailing guys there, racing.
It was in the 9-12.
In the 9-12, in the Porsche Race in Schenley Park.
Got it.
With curbs everywhere and hay bales protecting you from lampposts.
Anyway, I ran about 25 minutes, and my actual group race
was immediately following.
So I pulled off five minutes early, just did a U-turn,
and took my spot on the grip, which is, like, I think,
in false places, something like that.
So off we go, race.
Within, like, three laps, I was in second place.
And it's in the slower group.
I was going to say, wow, that sounds very slow.
It was in the slower group.
It was, like, in the preservation group.
It was a slow group.
But I was up to second place, and I said, well, OK.
Maybe I can get a podium, because you actually
have bouldering prizes and stuff like that.
And halfway through, I'm coming down the straight
to the hay bales chicane and the brakes went.
Oh, no.
And it was really scary.
I slowed down enough, and I kept trying it,
but the brakes were gone.
So that was the end of my day.
And you went through the hay bales?
Or you went into the grass, or what did you do?
I made it through.
OK.
Wow, that sounds crazy.
I love that event.
Yeah, it is.
There's no runoff there, and there's curbed it.
It's like a road through the park.
There's no, you could really lose at the, yeah, well,
losing your brakes there sounds terrifying, honestly.
But I'm glad it was a little bit lower risk,
and it worked out for you.
I wish I could have been there to see it.
We have many BET alumni cars that run that event.
We have, obviously, BET fans that are at that event.
And we like the organizers there.
I've just always had a very positive impression
of what they're putting on there.
It's kind of different than anything else in the country,
in my opinion.
Let's talk a little bit about the things
that you've been putting on the website,
but also, how'd you discover BET?
How'd you even figure out what BET is
or come to be part of it?
The main event for me that got me on the map
with Ring of Trailers was when I went to Goodwood Revival.
2017, I think.
And it was just, I don't know if you've been there.
I've been there twice, yeah.
I've been astonishing event, right?
The best thing in the world.
I think it's the best event in the world.
You can't get better than that.
But I actually got media passes through a friend of mine
who went with me.
He knew somebody who got us the media passes.
So we got sort of run of the place
to go take photographs, which was amazing.
K-Bat was tons of photographs.
And I had been following Bring a Trailer.
And here and there, there were some things
that you talked about to put up and something like that.
But there was nothing really of substance.
So I sent an email to somebody.
And I said, hey, look at all the photos from Goodwood.
You want to publish it.
And so they wrote a little article with all my photos.
And then they said, well, are you
going to go somewhere else and you contribute?
Well, and it helps that the photos were really great.
This wasn't you taking your blurry, junky photos.
Or you're great at taking photos.
So we saw those come in and said, where's this guy going?
When are we going to get him to shoot photos again?
I love it.
Well, I'm not that good.
But that was the event, huh?
That was so hard to miss and not
take a good photograph at Goodwood.
A lot of opportunity.
Yeah, so it just grew from there.
You asked me, can I go there?
And I say, I took these photos.
Do you want a little article?
So it's these little articles.
I'm not great at writing, but I put something together.
It seems to be good enough.
So that's very similar to how BAT started, honestly, with me.
I don't know how to write, you know?
And I started writing about cars for sale.
And it was good enough that people would read it
and wouldn't totally laugh their head off, right?
So yeah, I think we're in the same boat on that one.
So OK, so Revival 2017.
I'm looking.
I love just searching through your stuff here on BAT.
And there's a couple of, here it is,
BAT photographic inspiration.
Covis covers the Goodwood Revival.
That was October 10th, 2017, right after the event, right?
Probably a week after the event.
You sent all that stuff over.
Everybody ought to go, look, you
took this photo of one of my favorite Goodwood cars, which
is the Red Alpha Giulietta Ti Sedan kind of
on three wheels going through the terrain.
That's your photo?
Yeah, I thought that was like a Goodwood press photo.
I didn't know if we had rights to use that photo.
I think it's on one of our BAT emails.
And it's one of my favorite Goodwood photos of all time.
I have a car similar to that.
And that's your shot.
Man, I may as to blow that one up and put it on.
You don't do whatever you.
Anybody can do whatever they want to do with the photos.
Nobody makes money from photography.
Yeah, that's a hard business, isn't it?
But we're glad that there's a home for them on BAT
and enthusiasm around them.
It's really neat.
OK, so that happened.
But you knew somehow to send them to us.
Had you been watching the site before that?
Or had you heard about it from a buddy?
Or how on earth did you know to email us
about your photos at Goodwood?
No, that was the first time, really.
OK.
I mean, I think the reunion or the alumni gathering
was before there.
I think Pennsylvania may have been just before that.
And we ran into each other there.
So that's where the contact developed.
But then I went to Goodwood, took the photos,
and then contacted you.
Then off to the races after that.
I love it.
Fantastic.
So, obviously, a thread here of flat four cylinder engines
for you.
356s are sort of the focus area and the passion.
But you came to the West Coast to go to Lufkirkul
this weekend.
Tell me why you flew all the way across the country
to go to that show.
Well, it just sounded too good to miss.
I went to the one at Universal Studios.
It was astonishing.
And I was a little disappointed.
I should say disappointed, the one at Indianapolis.
OK.
Because it stepped down from.
You went to that as well.
But this one I wasn't going to miss.
It just sounded too good, an industrial area.
And the setting turned out to be just amazing.
I thought it was really fantastic.
And you were snapping photos all through?
I was thinking too early for it.
I was there as well.
I was there on Saturday.
They made it two days this year,
which just finished yesterday.
But I was there on Saturday with my boy.
He likes to take photos.
I wish I could have paired him up with you
as you were taking some of your pics.
I pointed out a couple of known photographers
that were there.
I was like, check that guy.
Watch what he does.
Happy what he does, because he's really good.
I wish he could have found you.
Everybody's getting good at it now.
I mean, they all make see what other people do.
So they all got the little angles coming behind
through windows all the time as well.
So you enjoyed that show?
Oh, it was amazing.
I mean, the highlight for me was to see Ken Voxcar.
You didn't see that.
That was on Sunday.
Oh, the pink car, you mean?
Yes.
The pink.
Yeah, I did not see it.
That was really special.
It was standing in the middle in a huge cavernous
building, deserted building.
And people sort of kept the distance away.
People obviously knew whose car it was.
It was like a trine standing there.
So they kept the distance and nobody really
approached the car.
That was very cool.
Interesting.
There's so many things.
I mean, I'm not too fond of the newer horses.
I like the older ones, especially the old 911 styles.
But yeah, because of ridiculous and the setting was great.
Awesome.
And it's very cool that you got to go to the Universal Studios
back lot event that was a couple of years ago.
A lot of people talk about that as being like the best one
there ever was.
That setting was also totally crazy, wasn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's awesome.
It's just different situations.
So you can't really compare them.
They're both amazing.
Well, I'm glad you came out all the way this way
and got to go to that show.
It seemed like it was a special show
that the year on our staff got to go
and we're excited to go and have been to some
of the other ones as well.
So Portia is a little bit of an area of emphasis for you
and you do some writing and some photo work
for some other publications as well.
Tell us about that.
Just the Portia 356 registry.
There's 7,000 members.
So it's quite a big group
and everybody gets a magazine four times a year.
So I've just, or they flashed onto me
or I flashed onto them.
It's just fun to take photos
and especially for the magazine.
So I'm constantly there in articles,
either just photos or writing for them as well.
So it's similar to that,
but of course a different angle to the whole thing.
Well, I had a silver 356A,
which is why I like your cabriolet so much
and was in the 356 registry and got the magazine.
My dad did do, and we'd call each other
as soon as it arrived in the mailbox
and talk about reading through the member magazine
and what was going on there.
That was always super fun.
And yeah, I think there was a little order.
I kind of like you,
kind of a little sort of grassroots article
with some photos I took on an event once
that I got into snuck it into that magazine.
Somehow they let it happen.
And that was very big reading for me,
kind of a exciting connection to their club.
I really like what they do
and they seem to support the 356 community really well.
Don't they?
Very good.
I mean, just got a new website
that I was involved in too.
And it's just amazing the amount of paperwork,
the PDFs they have in the thousands and thousands
of technical articles.
It's just really extensive.
Did you used to get the email
that they used to send out like before?
They didn't even really have a very good website
out of there, but they had like a message board.
You'd get the 356 registry email digest
that would come out,
which was basically, it was like a forum
of people asking technical questions
like, my horn's broken
and like I don't know,
is the red wire or the black wire?
What do I do to fix it?
And people would get on and answer.
So were you ever involved in that sort of
archaic old email messaging that they did?
I liked that.
I didn't do that.
But they still have the forums.
I'm not a big forum guy.
They have a massive forum as well.
And they still have the old one.
Yes. And that old website was terrible.
And for that, it's pretty slick.
It's good.
I sort of in charge of the BDSI
and we wanted to do articles.
So it's still sitting there,
but we're looking for content
that I can't provide the old content.
Yeah. So it's hard.
That makes sense.
Anyway, it's one of the cooler sort of club magazines
that are out there and club communities
that are out there, right?
The events that they do
and the different 356 things,
even those cars have gotten so expensive, right?
I mean, when I bought mine,
you could still get into that club
for the 14 grand that I paid for my a coup
but ancient history,
but still a vibrant community
and a lot of people on BET that are involved there
and it's helpful knowledge, helpful information.
So cool.
So you're involved with that?
You're posting some photos on BET?
What other automotive events
or what's in the future?
What else is on your bucket list
or things that are gonna happen in the next year?
Well, I'm definitely gonna go racing
quite a few times this year.
So that's just sort of the normal stuff
and Greenwich Comport is coming up.
I didn't really plan for these things.
I just sort of build it around my racing now
because that's almost the priority,
but bucket list
and I don't know if I can do it
because a very good friend of mine had some health issues.
I'd love to go with him to the Lamar Classic,
which is a big year this year.
I'm going.
Are you going?
You should go.
I'm going.
There you go.
I'd love to see you there.
I need a place to stay.
But I'm gonna apply for media credentials
and I think if I get it, I will go.
That's definitely a bucket list.
We're gonna go back to Goodwood again.
We gotta do that every few years.
There's a Porsche race there this year.
I think a two liter race.
That'll be fun.
And the Monaco Classic.
Mm-hmm.
So those types of things,
I don't want to keep doing the same stuff over and over.
I gotta explore and do different things.
Like we have the VCCA has two hilltimes for pre-war cars.
So I'm gonna go there.
I'm gonna try and find the pre-war car somewhere.
Are you gonna try to drive?
Are you gonna try to get a pre-war car?
Wow, I love it.
What would be on the list there?
Well, they do everything, like buccates and...
Yeah, but what would you do?
You're not gonna go buy a Bugatti.
Are you?
I don't know.
But I have someone who may have an NG for me.
Oh, cool.
Pre-war NG.
That'd be funny.
But we have a very cool hill climb, too, VCCA,
at Mount Equinox.
It's the oldest paved hill climb race in the country.
Not that that feels much, but it's a lot of fun.
That sounds fantastic.
That sounds like that'd be a good event.
You say building around your racing.
You're building your schedule around your racing.
How many VCCA things will you do this year?
Two or three?
No, not just VCCA.
I'll probably do three or four VCCA events.
And then last year, I did 10 race weekends,
which was a lot.
So maybe eight maximum this year.
Okay.
Eight.
That's a lot.
It is.
And my wife is probably happy that I get out of the house.
She thinks I'm just nuts.
Wait.
She doesn't get into too much trouble.
I think it's a good hobby.
I think that's fine as long as you're coming home
in one piece from these race weekends.
We're conservative in the racing.
Things happen, right?
But we're very conservative.
And my car is slow.
So it's just when somebody hits me, of course,
you never know.
Let's cross our fingers that doesn't happen.
So the BET community is an interesting place.
You've been posting these stories
and connecting with people in that way.
And people like the banter and discussion.
When you walked in today, you said the BETs,
what we've created is crazy the way people engage with it.
How does that feel for you putting stuff out there
and having it open for people to discuss it
or comment positively or negatively or whatever?
What's it like being part of the BET community?
For me, it's wonderful.
It's just so much different
from having something in the magazine.
Like the Porsche, it's in a magazine and you see it
and you're sort of proud of it.
But with Bring A Trailer, when people comment
and they actually ask you,
you can see they're paying attention.
They're there, they're real people
who are interested in what's going on there.
And they're not just gonna criticize you for being silly,
but when people come back and they ask you,
do you know what car that was that you took a photo of?
And then it's nice to be able to do the research,
find out and see if you can get the answer
because these people obviously care.
And that's something amazing that I find
that you've done is just astonishing.
Yeah, that's very invigorating.
For me, even as well, writing early days BET stories,
you start to get into a discussion with people
or you're like, wow, I didn't know
that person was paying attention
or it can be different ways that they're watching
or engaging and that's fun to see.
And also very different than,
what do you think about the future of magazines
and print and stuff like that?
I mean, I still think it's fun to page through a magazine
or you talk about the 356 registry
or some innovation that's happening
in different kind of car magazines.
I think it's cool, but a lot of people think
that the digital interaction,
that instant feedback that you're talking about
is the new way and that the print stuff is,
I don't know, I just think it's different.
I think they both have their value.
No, it's like still picking up a newspaper
and paging through it.
I love it, like linkage magazine
and even Haggerty puts together a great magazine.
But I do think and I just spoke to someone
who's in the business and he said,
standalone magazines are gonna have a hard time
and they're probably gonna disappear.
So unless they hooked up with like a Haggerty magazine
or feeding another entity that can make money for them
and pay for the magazine.
So it becomes a whole sort of ecosystem for them.
Yeah, the business model I think is problematic
but the actual experience of opening one up,
I actually still think it's fun.
Maybe that's just my nostalgia from that.
That's cool, that's wonderful.
I still think it's cool to see photos
like yours like in print form like that.
I still think it's neat.
But BOT is a whole different flavor.
Tell us about, here's a curveball question,
like other cars that you had,
the Porsche thing is recent
or did you have Porsches back decades ago
or was your silver car your first Porsche you ever bought?
Yeah, that's the first one.
I never really liked Porsches that much
and a friend of mine who lives in Florida,
he had a Porsche and he said,
no, you got to look into these things
and I slowly started looking into it
and I just said the 356 just does something for me.
But I wanted to buy a race car.
So a local dealer had an Emory race car,
one of the cars that brought Emory race
and I went to look at it
and it was just the one down I didn't want.
Which one was it?
The number four car, the red car?
Was it red or was it blue?
It was his first race car I think.
I followed those pretty obsessively
at the beginning of BAT and you say a local dealer,
I know some that were out on the East Coast
and a couple of people had them,
but anyway, it doesn't matter.
And I wasn't ready for them.
But the guy had this silver 356 sitting there
and I just fell in love with it.
I should probably not have bought it
because I like the coupe a little better,
but yeah, it's a wonderful car.
And of course, here's a little side angle.
I bought the car,
brought it home, my wife loved it.
Driving around, she needed a new car.
She needed a replacement.
So she said, she wants a Porsche too.
So I said, okay, let's go shop for a Porsche.
One of the Boxster is less expensive.
She would like it.
Test drove it in the summer.
She loved it, bought it.
And of course, come October, November,
it gets cold, the top has to go up.
And a Boxster has one of the worst
rear quarter blind spots.
She refused to drive it.
And this is after she got vanity plates
that said sweet soothing cure.
So now I had to drive around with a buddy
that says sweet soothing cure.
Why are you rolling your fat?
It's a little different.
I like that, but you still have that.
So that's your daily.
Yeah, I should sell that too.
It's, you know, it's just an expensive car.
Yeah, they're nice though.
I don't blame you or her for liking it.
I think that's a funny license plate,
but the car, the car is cool.
But then earlier, so your first Porsche
took you decades to buy.
What kind of stuff did you drive
when you were young or in your 20s, 30s, 40s?
What were you behind the wheel of?
I was never into big cars.
I guess I didn't have enough money.
I mean, learn to drive
and assemble.
What did you drive?
A Volkswagen Golf or like, well, I mean,
those are fine.
In Latin with Volkswagen Golf.
Of course, everybody did.
Right? Yeah.
Just a regular old Toyota
with the kids, you have a Toyota minivan.
Sure.
And stuff like that.
Sure.
BMW X3 now.
OK.
Yeah.
But I get my fix with the three Porsches.
OK.
Totally enough.
OK.
But in South Africa, my father was never a car guy.
He was always sherry, like a Cheval.
OK.
And stuff like that.
And I learned to drive on a Morris Miner.
OK, that's cool.
Morris 1100.
OK.
Was my high school.
Well, I don't know if cool is the word for it.
About a school.
That's OK, right?
It's interesting.
Yeah, they're not real cars.
They're just transportation.
Mm-hmm.
But it was fun.
I'd love to get those old cars and maybe track them again.
If I could get a.
Oh, man.
Morris 1100.
You said you're at the back of the pack in the 3V6.
Morris 1100, you may be guaranteed back of the pack.
I don't know.
What do you think?
I don't know why I'm so involved with the racing.
It's just, I just love it.
It's fun.
That's very fun.
It's fun to hear some of your history and the cars
that you had back then or that your dad had back then.
A lot of people like to surf around on BAT to look at examples
of the finest Morris 1100 in the world shows up on BAT.
And it kind of takes you back to maybe that one
that you were driving around.
But that's a fun aspect of BAT, I think.
So it's super fun to have you here.
We'll be looking forward to more stories on BAT from you
and certainly more photographs and those events coming up.
I can't believe you said you're
going to try to eight-vintage race.
I thought you were going to say, oh, maybe I'll
do two or three this year.
You're going to eight-vintage events this year
plus travel around to photograph other ones.
So anyway, it's impressive.
Thanks so much for stopping through BAT today.
Thanks so much for what you do that contribute.
I am sure I'm amplifying thanks from everybody who's
listening.
We love looking at your stuff and hope you do some more.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate the opportunity.
It was fun.
Awesome.
Thanks for listening on BAT today.
We always love talking to people from the BAT community.
It's my favorite part of this.
So we'll bring you more of those.
Stay tuned for the next ones.
See you next time.
About this episode
Randy Nonenberg interviews Cobus, a passionate automotive photographer and contributor to Bring a Trailer, who shares his journey from childhood photography to racing vintage Porsches. Cobus recounts his early experiences at racetracks in South Africa, his transition to the U.S., and how he became involved with BAT after capturing stunning images at the Goodwood Revival. The conversation also touches on his current racing activities, including his beloved 356 and 912, and his plans for upcoming events like the Lamar Classic. Cobus emphasizes the vibrant BAT community and the joy of sharing automotive stories.
Original notes
As our hosts recover from their various holidays, we revisit our May 2023 interview with Kobus, BaT commenter and contributor extraordinaire. Randy and Kobus discuss his formative years at Kyalami in South Africa (including talking his way into a media pass for the 1969 and 1970 Nine Hours); his love of driving and racing his vintage Porsches; getting into vintage racing in a stock 356 Cabriolet during the pandemic; and acquiring his Sand Beige 912 racer, seen at tracks and events all over the Northeast, followed by a very historic Formula V car.
The two go on to share in the beauty and danger of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in Schenley Park; their mutual admiration of the Goodwood Revival; their thoughts on Luftgekühlt; Kobus' work for the 356 Registry in print and online; and pre-war hillclimbs.
Links for things mentioned in this episode:
2:38 The 1969 Nine Hours of Kyalami and The 1970 Nine Hours of Kyalami
9:22 Dispatches From Lime Rock: Kobus Gets His VSCCA License
16:07 BaT Photographic Inspiration: Kobus Covers The Goodwood Revival
16:22 Red Alfa Giulietta TI sedan on three wheels
Got suggestions for our next guest from the BaT community, One Year Garage episode, or (B)aT the Movies subject? Let us know in the comments below!
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