Profile of a Jet-set Porsche Enthusiast: Peter van der Spuy
Whether cruising or racing, van der Spuy drives a 2018 Porsche 911 Cabriolet, 964 model range. This year he aims to start in the South African Classic series as well. He’s been driving Porsches for decades is down to his early years behind the wheel. “In my late twenties—even before I started flying—I bought a dismantled Porsche. Its owner had wanted to restore it but eventually tired of the project. We agreed that I could assemble the car in his garage. For over a year I worked on the car every weekend. It was a long slog, but as I was building it I really came to appreciate the incredible precision with which a Porsche is designed.”
Since then, van der Spuy’s passion for Porsche has never abated. Over the years, many different models from Zuffenhausen have found their way to his garage. Until recently he drove a 911 GT3 RS and a 911 (964) cabriolet that has won no fewer than six trophies as the Concours champion of the Porsche Club South Africa. “I take pains to ensure that my cars are in perfect condition. I’m an absolute technology freak; it’s in my engineer’s genes,” quips the Capetonian before continuing more earnestly: “I always appreciate the highest levels of technology—in vehicles as much as in jets. Porsches, for me, are the best-built sports cars in the world. Porsche and my job are closely intertwined.”
The South African came to flying Gulfstream jets as a second career. In his first professional life he specialized in chemical engineering, but a passion for aviation led him to take private flying lessons. For his final examination in navigation, he wrote a software program that he later sold to aircraft pilots. But it was a chance occurrence that ultimately changed the course of van der Spuy’s life: “A friend who owned an airplane asked me if I could find a pilot for him; I must know a few from my pilot training. I asked around, but couldn’t find anyone. I still didn’t have the type rating, which was necessary to fly particular types of aircraft and was very expensive. When my friend said, ‘I’ll pay for it,’ I went straight to my boss, quit my job, and became a commercial corporate pilot for private airplanes. The rest is now history. I’ve traveled the world as a career and always make sure that I touch base with the family of Porsche enthusiasts in the world, wherever I go. So the Porsche brand and flying jets are closely knit in my business life and my fun time.”
Whether in Europe, North America, or Asia—over the past 20 years van der Spuy has been on the job for his clients outside of South Africa for the majority of the year. Van der Spuy is one of the most experienced Gulfstream pilots in the world. He has clients all around the globe. Does he still fly celebrities to important meetings? Peter van der Spuy cocks an eyebrow, smiles—and keeps mum.
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