1986 - 1989 Porsche 959
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Porsche 959
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Year:1986- 1989
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Make:
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Model:
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Engine:flat-6
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Transmission:6-Speed Manual
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Horsepower @ RPM:444 @ 6500
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Torque @ RPM:370 @ 5500
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Displacement:2849 L
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0-60 time:3.7 sec.
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Quarter Mile time:12.5 sec.
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Top Speed:197 mph
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0-100 time:8.3 sec.
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Price:225000
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Price:
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car segment:
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body style:
In the 1980s the world was just coming off the gas-crunch of the `70s, and it had a taste for insanely fast machinery thanks to the Group B racing boom in rally and road cars. Porsche decided it wanted to use the racing regulations as a test bed for future models, so it took a 911 and used it as a rough base to create the 959, one of the greatest cars the world had ever seen. Originally codenamed the Gruppe B, the 959 would make use of an incredibly advanced electronic all-wheel drive system, some of the most advanced body materials available in the world, and a whole host of electronic aids that set the blueprint for today’s supercars. When the car finally hit showrooms in 1986, the Porsche 959 was the fastest street-legal car in the entire world.
While its bones are a 911 underneath, the 959 is a completely separate model of car that shares very little with its donor. The engine used a hybrid air- and water-cooled design, came with a pair of turbochargers, and it produced 444 horsepower. The 959 is the template for the modern supercar in almost every way. As a road car, it was the first to ship with tire pressure sensors, magnesium wheels (with hollow spokes no less), and an active differential. On top of all of its other accolades, it was also the first mass-produced car to come with a six-speed manual. Even today there are few cars on sale that can match the speed, pace and excitement provided by this incredible Porsche..
Continue reading to learn more about the Porsche 959
Latest Porsche 959 news and reviews:
This Porsche 959 Prototype Is One of Very Few Surviving Examples In Existence
Developing a car from scratch starts with some drawing and calculations, then the building of test prototypes, then pre-production cars, and eventually the pilot production vehicles. Most of the time, test prototypes are usually destroyed when their use has been exceeded, yet here we are looking at a test prototype of the Porsche 959 – a car that is believed to be one of the few surviving examples of the F-Series prototypes from 1985. It’s currently listed for sale on Mechatronik for an undisclosed price, but is It truly authentic?
How The Porsche 959 Rally Legend Redefined The Nature of Supercars
For most of its long and illustrious career, the Porsche 911 acted as the brand’s range-topping sports car through turbocharged models like the Turbo, Turbo S, and GT2. But the 911 was at times superseded by supercars like the 959, Carrera GT, and 918 Spyder.
The 959 was Porsche’s first supercar and it’s by far the most intriguing when it comes to the reason it was designed. Unlike its spiritual successors, the 959 was born out of Porsche’s desire to join Group B rally racing. But development took longer than expected and by the time the 959 was ready for production and homologation, Group B was cancelled. Porsche eventually raced it at the Paris-Dakar Rally, winning the grueling event in 1986. It’s been almost 35 years since the 959 won the race and Porsche is celebrating with a special "Top 5 Series" video.
Here’s Why Porsche will Bring back the 959 in 2019
In 2018, Porsche took us by surprise with a 935 race car for the modern era. Although based on the existing 911 GT2 RS and built using parts from the 919 Hybrid, 911 RSR, and 911 GT3 R, the modern 935 looks incredibly similar to its sibling, produced between 1978 to 1981. With Porsche now making tribute cars from the past, what if Porsche decides to create a modern rendition of the 959 in 2019?
1988 Porsche 911 Turbo ’Ruf CTR’
The original RUF CTR, commonly known as the “Yellowbird”, outran the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959 from 0 to 100 mph and kept going all the way to a top speed of 213 mph. It was the fastest car of the ‘80s and, arguably, the most extreme road-going interpretation of the Porsche 911 Carerra at the time.
As a follow-up to the vicious BTR, the RUF CTR was even more insane. It used parts from the Porsche 962 Group C prototype racer, had lightened body panels, a gearbox built just for it, tires similar to those on the spaceship that was the 959 and a bright yellow paintjob that made it stand out and earned its nickname: Yellowbird.
Before Alois Ruf and the team set about building the CTR, the world’s fastest car was the Lamborghini Countach. Surely, with all the wings it had grown by the time it received four valves per cylinder in 1985, it looked the part. Sadly for the Italians, the more understated Ruf CTR blew by the Countach, and the Testarossa, and the 288 GTO and just about any other supercar you can think of. And Ruf themselves thought that they could’ve eeked more with longer gears.
Keep reading to learn more about the ludicrous Ruf CTR
2016 Mecum Monterey Auction – Preview
Mecum Auctions has been involved with collector cars for almost three decades now, growing from a small family business to selling roughly 20,000 lots per year. In addition to top-dollar automobiles, Mecum also offers vintage motorcycles, collectible road art, and believe it or not, tractors. But you and I don’t really care about all that other stuff – we’re in it for the cars, from cutting-edge performance machines to ironclad muscle cars, antique classics to no-frills racers. Thankfully, Mecum has the entire spread on tap. The auction house averages more than one event per month, but one of the biggest is in California for Monterey Car Week. Roughly 600 vehicles are slated to hit the block for 2016, and we’ve got some of the most interesting of them profiled right here.
Highlighting the lineup for Monterey is the Modern Speed Collection, a host of ultra-high-end speed-mobiles from the present day. Mecum calls it “the apex of 21st Century automotive performance,” and picking through the offerings, I’m inclined to agree. Think rare, gorgeous, and absurdly quick.
TopSpeed will be on the scene this year, bringing you all the latest. Read on for a taste of what’s in store.
Update 08-20-2016 5:00 P.M. PST We’re on the scene at Mecum and have updated this preview with a welcome video. Check it out in the preview below.
Continue reading to learn more about the 2016 Mecum Monterey Auction.
1987 Porsche 959 Gen III by Canepa
The Porsche 911 may be considered as the quintessential Porsche model, but others like the 959 also deserve the “all time” status that they’ve been given. In the case of the 959, it featured some of the most advanced technologies available in the world at that time, and when Porsche was done building it, the model became the fastest street-legal car in the world. Only 292 units of the Porsche 959 were built and one of them belongs to Bruce Canepa, the owner of the noted car restoration company Canepa. Since the company prides itself on being a world-class restoration service company, it took up the task of customizing its owner’s 959. The result is a supercar that packs an incredible 763 horsepower and 635 pound-feet of torque.
Those numbers may look normal by today’s standards, but remember, this was done on a car that’s on the cusp of being 20 years old. This was done on a car that took on the Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari Testarossa during its time and has etched its own legacy in the annals of Porsche lore. In other words, it’s every bit as impressive a restoration/tuning job as anything the company has done. The fact that the car is actually owned by the owner of the company further adds to its one-off aura.
Don’t be fooled by the lack of exterior upgrades that would’ve modernised the car. Canepa barely touched the exterior except for replacing the wheels. Everything else though was given the full cosmetic and mechnical peek and subsequent work.
It certainly goes without saying that unless another 959 owner actively seeks Canepa and asks for the same program, this particular 959 that’s owned by Bruce Canepa will remain a complete one-of-a-kind. It’s a fitting title for a car that at one point in its life was considered the fastest in the world.
Continue after the jump to read the full review.
Born as a Group B rally car and built for the road in only 337 units, the Porsche 959 is widely regarded as the most sought-after Porsche in history. The fact that it was hailed as the most technologically advanced vehicle of the 1980s, delivered impressive performance, and was Porsche’s first-ever supercar also contributed to its reputation. Nearly 30 years have passed since the 959 was put into production, and car collectors are willing to pay millions to get their hands on one.
This is exactly what will happen at Gooding & Company’s car auction at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where the 959 shown above is expected to change hands for $1.6 to $1.8 million.
The supercar in question was built for the 1988 model year and delivered to Dr. Friedrich Flick. In case you’re wondering why it’s called Komfort, this was a designation used by Porsche to differentiate it from the lesser-equipped siblings, marketed as Sport.
Making this 959 truly special is that it had been ordered in paint-to-sample black. And I’m not talking about just the body, but the wheels and every inch of chrome too. Only three cars have been finished in this color and the auction house says it has been factory maintained its entire life. That said, it’s not surprising Gooding & Company expects it to fetch more than $1.5 million.
Continue reading to learn more about this story.
In the 1980s the world was just coming off the gas-crunch of the `70s, and it had a taste for insanely fast machinery thanks to the Group B racing boom in rally and road cars. Porsche decided it wanted to use the racing regulations as a test bed for future models, so it took a 911 and used it as a rough base to create the 959, one of the greatest cars the world had ever seen. Originally codenamed the Gruppe B, the 959 would make use of an incredibly advanced electronic all-wheel drive system, some of the most advanced body materials available in the world, and a whole host of electronic aids that set the blueprint for today’s supercars. When the car finally hit showrooms in 1986, the Porsche 959 was the fastest street-legal car in the entire world.
While its bones are a 911 underneath, the 959 is a completely separate model of car that shares very little with its donor. The engine used a hybrid air- and water-cooled design, came with a pair of turbochargers, and it produced 444 horsepower. The 959 is the template for the modern supercar in almost every way. As a road car, it was the first to ship with tire pressure sensors, magnesium wheels (with hollow spokes no less), and an active differential. On top of all of its other accolades, it was also the first mass-produced car to come with a six-speed manual. Even today there are few cars on sale that can match the speed, pace and excitement provided by this incredible Porsche..
Continue reading to learn more about the Porsche 959
Long before the 918 Spyder came to take over as Porsche’s range-topping supercar, the Stuttgart-based automaker had the Carrera GT. But the roadster built between 2004 and 2007 wasn’t the first road-legal supercar offered by the German automaker. The saga began as early as 1986, when the Porsche 959 was introduced.
Born as a Group B rally car in an era dominated by monstrous WRC machines, the 959 developed into a production car when FIA’s homologation regulations required at least 200 street-legat units to be built for a rally car to become a contender in the sport. Although it shared many of its internals and the rear-engine configuration with the 911, the 959 was offered with standard four-wheel-drive, becoming the first Porsche to carry such a configuration. Later on, Porsche used the technology to build its first all-wheel-drive 911.
Hailed as the most technologically advanced vehicle of the 1980s, the 959 boasts impressive performance figures. The range-topping 959 Sport model needs only 3.7 seconds to sprint from 0 to 62 mph and just 13 seconds to accelerate from naught to 124 mph. Its quarter-mile time stands at 11.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 209 mph.
Although short-lived, the 959’s racing career was equally successful. A rally version went on to win the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986, while a Le Mans-spec variant finished first in its class and seventh overall at the 24-hour event the same year. Sadly, the 959 never got to compete in the World Rally Championship, as the Group B class was abolished at the end of the 1986 season. Nevertheless, the 959 earned its place among the world’s greatest supercars and in the hearts of petrol-blooded enthusiasts, myself included.
Paying tribute to the 959 never gets old, which is why various publications and online magazines keep rolling out extensive articles and videos on the German masterpiece. The folks over at XCAR are the latest to join the ranks of those who worship the 959 by putting together the review-like, 10-minute video above.
It’s safe to say that major auto auctions like the recent one held by Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, Arizona are always a spectacle. It’s a playground for the rich auto enthusiasts to flex their financial muscles in an active bidding competition among their brethren to see who among them can scoop up their desired models.
Last weekend’s auction saw some pretty interesting models crossing the block and, while we’ve written about the final selling price generated by a number of the models being auctioned, we haven’t gone into detail on some of the more interesting vehicles auctioned off during the weekend-long event.
So we’re going to do this through a list because that’s generally how you can enumerate the models and have a rank for them based on what vehicle they are and how much interest they generated in the form of frenzied bids.
Check out our list of interesting auctioned cars at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale after the jump.
In the mid 80’s Porsche was shocking the world with the unveiling of the 959 supercar. Porsche by a 2849 c.c. flat-six engine with a total output of 450 hp, the 959 soon became the "World’s Fastest Car." But Porsche came with an even more exclusive version for those customer who were willing to pay more for an extra sporty package. This was the Porsche 959 S version, limited to only 29 units.
The 959 was a sensation by no doubt. From a technical perspective it was a racing car "nevertheless the result is a car which has all the comfort and smoothness and no more interior noise that we expect from a road vehicle along with a high safety margin", said the head of development of the time, Helmuth Bott, not without pride.
The S version featured a full roll cage, Sport seats with racing seat belts, and a race tuned suspension. It made the 0 to 60mph sprint in only 3.5 seconds and had a top speed of 198mph, and ran the quarter in just 11.8 seconds at a trap speed of 119 mph.
Because Porsche refused to crash up to 4 for testings, the 959 was never road legal for the US market. And this is where Canepa Design came in.
You rarely chance upon a limited-edition sports car being sold on, of all places, Craigslist. So when we found out that a Porsche 959S – a car that was so ahead of its time back in the ’80’s that Porsche highlighted it with a Sports package where they produced only 29 units - was being sold by Canepa Design in Scotts Valley, California, then we just had to go check for ourselves whether Bruce Canepa really needs some money these days or if he’s just lost his mind.
If the name sounds familiar, Bruce Canepa was actually a top-flight racer back in the day and he’s also the same man who helped make the ’59 street-legal in the US. So of all people, you’d think that he would know just how rare and valuable that Porsche 959S he has sitting on his studio really is.
In fairness, he is selling the car for a mind-numbing $525,000 so it’s likely he won’t get conned into selling his 959S for well below the standard asking price. Still, it’s a Porsche 959S, Bruce! Don’t you have any other thing you can sell for that kind of money? Perhaps your kidney?