Guus Reinerink is a savvy fashion entrepreneur - with a severe engrossment in Porsches.
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“You can’t make something out of nothing… But you also have to be lucky in life,” says Reinrick, the Netherlands native and owner of ‘Corporate Fashion Industries’. He recently spoke with Porsche about his unique love for Porsches and of course, the two Turbos sitting pretty outside his modern company building - a 930 and a Taycan.
Reinerink’s story is about as dreamy as they come, and the enthusiasm for Porsches was just a bonus.
Reinerink told Porsche much about his early life. His father worked at a textile factory and his mother stayed at home to take care of his 3 other siblings. “I always wanted to go into business,” he told them, “Even as an eight-year-old I used to dig up plants from the forest and then sell them.” Guus was always meant to be an entrepreneur, and his wish came true.
After finishing his degree in International Business at the age of 21 he was primed and ready to scout out his next move. As a business major, he knew that he had to weed out his next gig and get after it, nothing would be handed to him. At the age of 22, he applied for a job at the clothing company “State Of Art” and was gunning for the sales manager position. Reinerink said that as he approached the company’s building he saw a Porsche 944 Turbo sitting out front. It was the big boss’s car, Albert Westerman.
That was his first eye-catching glimpse of a Porsche and Guus says that it stuck with him to this very day where he is now 51 years old. But as fate would have it, he got the job with the Porsche-loving boss and was invited to go with Westerman to the Zuffenhausen plant in Germany where he would drive his first Porsche, a 964 C2 Coupé.
“I’ll never forget it,” were his words when speaking about his first drive in one of the world’s best sports cars. Reinerink lives by: “you can’t make something out of nothing,” and that was his embodiment of that sentiment. He earned that moment in the 964. But right around the corner was his “luck” moment that changed his life. He met Saskia, his boss’s daughter. “Sparks flew as soon as we met,” he says of her. It took Guus a turtle’s minute to confess his love for Saskia as his fear of rejection from her father loomed over him. Luckily for Guus, her father, his boss, took him in with loving arms.
Guus worked for Westerman at “State Of Art” for a solid 17 years before deciding that he wanted to be a “small-time boss” rather than a “big-time employee.” So he and Saskia started his current business, “Corporate Fashion Industries”. Guus is the CEO and owner while Saskia is the Office Manager.
The couple’s business is filled with wonders of fashion and lifestyle. Posters of cars, bookshelves filled with automotive history books, scale model cars, and an oil painting of his beloved father. The showroom is also home to Aga Blue 1965 Porsche 911 adjacent to a 1971 Ruby Red 911 T 2.2. And possibly the best part of his company is the basement. You could even call it a warehouse with all the collectible Porsches he has hidden down there.
Porsche 911s of all generations including a ‘74 Duetch Police 911 T fill the garage. All of Porsche’s classic original color codes illuminating off of each other, leading your eye to his crowning jewels - his 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo and his brand new Porsche Taycan Turbo.
Guus took Porsche’s journalists down his favorite road off the beaten path in Lichtenvoorde, a small town near his home. The two cars couldn’t be more different as you see them driving down the road. They share more in their contrasts than any of their similarities. The 930 and Taycan are separated by 44 years, 334 horsepower, and 6 cylinders, but they both share the same badge.
Max Larsen is the Porsche reporter at Torque News. Since he was 15 years old Max was building old cars and selling them for profit, spawning his love for cars. He has been around Porsches his entire life. His grandpa had several 911s and he owned a Porsche 944 when he was younger, which made the auto-shop class cars a lot simpler. Reading old car magazines and seeing press cars at shows gave him the passion to write and pursue the industry. He is currently studying Journalism at Western Washington University and writing for the racing team there locally. Follow Max on Torque News Porsche and on Twitter at @maxlarsencars. Search Torque News Porsche for daily Porsche news coverage by our expert automotive reporters.
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