At the turn of the year, as with the tides, the big fish make their move. This new year, we’ve seen the passing of two legends of the motoring world.
On December 29, Adrian Pheiffer, the man primarily responsible for the formation of the Western Province Motor Club, passed away after living a full life into his ninth decade.
Then, on January 2, Hoonigan founder and action sports rally driver giant Ken Block died tragically in a snowmobile accident near his home in Utah, aged 55.
The last post out to his two million YouTube followers was of a proud father touting his daughter’s rebuild of an ‘85 Audi Quattro.
Pheiffer, who is credited as being the ideas man who saved Killarney from closure in 1965, was dynamite on the track. After qualifying as a motor mechanic, he and his friend Willie Meissner rebuilt a three-speed Ford-powered Spyder.
On his debut race in 1956, the handicappers took one look at the sheet metal basic bodywork and handed him a big start.
Not even SA champ Bill Jennings could catch him, and this is how Adrian became SA champ in his first race!
Among Adrian’s many achievements, his contribution to getting Killarney on the map is one all Cape petrolkoppe have gratitude for. In 1959, when Adrian was chairman of the Metropolitan Motorcycle and Car Club, the club negotiated a loan of £20 000 for the construction of a circuit to the Formula One standard of the time. Then the challenges started.
The 1960 inaugural Cape Grand Prix, in a fierce south-easter blowing stinging sand, was a financial disaster despite Stirling Moss and other greats being there.
Then the 1962 event, a triumph for Trevor Taylor, was almost as bad, leaving little cash in the kitty and a huge loan still due.
That’s when Adrian pulled one out of the bag, coming up with the idea of organising a big motor show over eight days at the Goodwood Showgrounds.
The show was a success of note, and also led to the formation of the Cape Helldrivers. The club could pay off its debts and look to the future.
Once again Adrian took the lead, proposing that Cape Town’s various motoring clubs merge to form a single administrative body for the circuit, and the WPMC was formed in 1965 with Adrian as first chairman.
After seeing an article about a miniature racing car powered by a lawnmower engine in an American magazine, he and Cedric Selzer each built one. Thus the The Kape Kart Klub was born, the launchpad for many a Cape racer.
Adrian stepped down after a year to get back to racing, starting with an Alfa-powered Cooper in 1961, which he wrecked in East London in 1962.
The engine and box went into a locally-built replica of the Lotus 23. He also raced all manner of saloon cars and took two Western Province titles along the way.
WPMC executive manager Des Easom says: “He was a colleague, a mentor and a true friend ... [Adrian] was and remains a huge influence on Killarney.
Despite his quiet and unassuming manner he was a skilled storyteller with a wicked sense of humour, which he used to good effect in his newspaper articles and the periodical The Blower which he produced for the club.”
The club has bestowed every award it has on Adrian, including one of only 15 life memberships that have been awarded during its history.
He has also received a number of motoring journalism awards, including the motoring guild’s Journo of the Year award in 1988.
This man, who devoted most of his adult life to building racing the Western Cape, will be sadly missed by all the staff at Killarney. Our thoughts and prayers are with his sons Earl, Dale and Roy, and his extended family.