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TwinSpark CEO Leonard Stolk hosted a small dinner in Amsterdam last week. Invited along were two of the most well-known Porsche works racing drivers of the factory’s late ’60s and early ’70s heyday: Gijs van Lennep and Tetsu Ikuzawa.

L-R: Gijs Van Lennep, Tetsu Ikuzawa and Leonard Stolk.

All of our readers will know of Gijs: hard-fighting winner of the Targa Florio and Le Mans races, behind the wheel of some special racing Porsches. But what of Tetsu? Let’s learn a little more about this very special guest.

In the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix, the mighty Porsche 906 was beaten hands-down by the homegrown Prince R380: a car with more than a hint of Ferrai 250LM. Distraught with Germany’s defeat by England in the World Cup (maybe) and Germany’s loss to a Japanese Ferrari copy in the Japanese Grand Prix (definitely), the factory put a lot more effort into the 1967 race.

Four former Prince/now Nissan R380s lined up against a Porsche 906, driven by Porsche’s only Japanese works driver: Tetsu Ikuzawa. “Sayonara,” said our man, eventually finishing two minutes ahead of the second place Nissan. The other Nissans finished third, fourth and sixth. Tetsu’s success earned him a trip to Europe, to go racing.

Living and racing in England in 1969, Tetsu bought a Signal Yellow 911 S Targa. The car stayed with him for years, travelling right around the world and ending up back in Japan. When the car was sold some time later, Tetsu lost contact with it. A few years ago, he decided to track the car down. After a long and laborious global search, he eventually found the Targa – now black and wearing a ducktail and a truly horrid steering wheel – in the town of Nogano, Japan.

Ikuzawa-san immediately commissioned Porsche Classic in Stuttgart to restore the car to its former glory. No mean feat, as much of it was flaked across a Japanese garage floor. It was not in the best of states!

A Porsche fan par excellence, Tetsu went a step further in his restoration. A new 997 Targa from the Exclusive range was ordered: painted Signal Yellow and featuring the same houndstooth interior that his original ’69 S came equipped with.

Tetsu with wife Hitomi and (literally) the team behind his pristine Targa

Tetsu was a special guest at Porsche’s Nurburgring Oldtimer GP celebrations in 2009. After the traditional Saturday night dinner, Ikuzawa-san spoke of his time as a Porsche works racing driver and his experience of racing Porsches all over the world. Unfortunately, the R Gruppe tour to the Oldtimer arrived a day too late to catch the proceedings but, now we know how to find this noted Porsche protagonist, he has very little chance of peace.

I feel a trip to Tokyo coming on!