JOINED AT THE HIP

Joined at the Hip

As is so often the case, it’s the earliest motoring experiences that stick with us. Kota Engaku was relatively fresh out of university and working in the editorial department of Car Magazine when he was first acquainted with a Porsche 356. Since then Kota has had a long and prolific career within Japan’s still vibrant print media landscape. Now, his experience in and around vehicles of all forms is far broader than it was when he was 23. Nevertheless, there’s something that keeps him attached to that fateful encounter.

“After graduating university in 2004, I joined a large publishing company. I spent five years as a magazine editor before I published a fixed bike magazine called ‘Pedal Speed’, followed by a skateboarding magazine called ‘Slider’ and a vintage motorcycle magazine called ‘Roller’. In 2012, I also published the Japanese version of Kinfolk and several spin offs of Roller.”

It was in the midst of all of this that Kota sought out buying a 356 of his own. It didn’t take him long to find one. In 2006, he caught wind of a 1959 356A for sale. It was available locally and had a few bodywork issues, but he was just 25 years old and the car was going cheap. That’s still the one he owns today.

“The car was imported into Japan from California in the 1990s and had been lying dormant in the previous owner’s garage. He had stopped driving it when he got older and eventually decided to put it up for sale. The exterior originally had a Ruby Red finish but was repainted Meissen Blue in the 1980s. At 2,800,000 yen, It was cheap even then, but that would be an unimaginable price in today’s market.”

Zipping through the streets of Tokyo, there’s no denying that Engaku and his 356A look very much at home with one another. Kota bought this car young, on a budget that would scarcely buy you a bare shell for one of these now. At this point, it’s been with him almost half of his life and the two of them are joined at the hip.