Porsche 959

Porsche 959 By John Lamm

It was the early-1980s, and after more than a decade of performance cars neutered by governmental regulations, we began to hear of this special new Porsche being developed. The FIA’s Group B racing and rally regs were spawning such outlandish autos as Ferrari’s 288 GTO, Peugeot’s 205 Turbo 16, Audi’s Quattro, Ford’s RS200, Lancia’s Delta S4 and 037...and that special Porsche, the 959.

They were all amazing machines, so quick and fierce they also proved deadly and Group B was cancelled. Most of those cars are now in collections and museums, but we still get to see 959s on occasion. We’d suggest the 959 is the most revered of all production Porsches...no small thing given the automaker’s history. If you’d like to follow our thinking, read on.

First we saw of the 959 was its show car predecessor, the Gruppe B, which was debuted at the 1983 Frankfurt Auto Show. In the background, Porsche’s chief engineer, Helmuth Bott, shows the Gruppe B to Ferry Porsche.

Here you can see how the Gruppe B show car foreshadowed the exterior design of the 959, while its name indicates Porsche was already planning a Group B race car, a class the FIA had announced in 1982.

Porsche launched the production 959 at the 1985 Frankfurt Show. At the start there was one edition called Komfort, which had 450 horsepower and 370 lb-ft of torque. In what might be considered an anti-Ferrari F40 move, in 1987 Porsche added a higher-horsepower Sport version. Eight were built for the world market and 29 for the U.S. However, the U.S. feds refused to allow those 29 to be imported, so they were sold in Europe.

Dimensions of the 959: 168 inches long on an 89.4-inch wheelbase, height 50 inches, width 72 inches. Other than being 2 inches wider and 1.5 inches lower, it is roughly the same size a stock 911 of the era. Curb weight is around 3200 pounds.

Ah, the complexity compared to modern all-wheel drive systems. Both the front and rear suspensions have dual A-arms and two shocks per wheel. On Komfort versions, the two shocks per wheel are coil-overs. Of each pair, one shock dealt with ride height while the other handled adjustable damping. Sport editions had the pair of coil overs up front, but only one of the two rears was coil over as the suspension was not height adjustable from the cockpit.

The 2847-cc flat-6 engine has air-cooled cylinders, water-cooled heads, twin-cams, 24-valves and was designed as a race engine. It was used in Porsche’s first Indy car (1980) and the 936, 956 and 962 race cars. To minimize lag, the two original KKK turbochargers were sequential. The left-side turbo peaks around 3000 rpm at 14.5 psi and then the right-hand turbo comes in around 4000 rpm.

What a view, the flat-6 nestled low and framed by intercooler piping. Originally at 450 horsepower for the Komfort version, Canepa has done three stages of development. Thanks to such items as modern, free-spinning turbochargers and new fuel delivery systems, they can now get as much as 762 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque on 91 octane gasoline from the flat-6.

Original road tests of the 959 might be almost 30 years old, but the results read like today. How about 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, 0-100 in 8.8 seconds and a top speed just shy of 200 mph?

This is not a 959, but a 4-wheel-drive 953, which used components that would go into the 959. René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne won the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally with this car.

For the 1986 Paris-Dakar, Porsche entered three 959s. This one, again with René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne, won the rally in a 1-2 finish for the 959s.

Other than some added switchgear the interior of the 959 isn’t that much different that a standard 911 of the time. That shift lever controls a 6-speed transmission, the first in a production car. Thanks to the German TUV laws, which did not yet allow for 6-speed gearboxes, Porsche had to call it a 5-speed. That lowest ratio is labeled “G” on the shift knob, which could mean Garage or, to some, Gelände, which translates to “terrain.”

The classic Porsche 911 5-gauge cluster, but note the speedometer at just a touch over 300 km/h (186 mph). The legendary Paul Frere is driving, but the stability of the 959 meant that such speeds were not a problem even for those of us who are not race drivers.

You can set the power split front/rear depending on conditions. Bottom light indicates dry condition running, next up for rain, then snow and the top one means both the front and rear differentials are locked. The dials left and right indicate the front/rear split.

Komfort versions of the 959 have these two switches, the left to soften or firm up the shocks, the right dial to select one of three ride heights. Above 95 mph, the 959 automatically settles to the lowest position...and you risk going to jail.

The view most drivers would see of a 959.

For the 959’s body, Porsche employed Kevlar and fiberglass reinforced plastic, which was also used for the rear lid and front rocker panels. The doors and hood are done in aluminum. The chassis floor is made of Nomex.

In its 1987 road test, Car and Driver magazine’s Csaba Csere summed up Porsche’s 959 by writing, “The ultimate automobile, it is to any ordinary car as the F-15 (fighter jet) is to a hang glider.”

Tire pressure monitoring systems are common today, but first used on the 959. The center-lock wheels are made of magnesium and have hollow spokes. Originally the wheels only worked with Bridgestone RE71 Denloc run-flat tires.

Porsche had planned to do a U.S. version of the 959 and even began taking orders and deposits. Then compliance and budgetary concerns ranging from the cost of crash and emissions testing to monetary exchange rates meant the automaker would lose some $200,000 per car. It wasn’t until 1998 that U.S. rules and developers like Bruce Canepa were able to combine to get the super Porsche in compliance for 49 states, adding California in 1999.

Porsche built 292 production 959s. Most were assembled in 1986-1989, but apparently not all those who wanted a 959 was able to snag one. So in 1992-1993, Porsche made another 8 959s from spare parts and sold them at a price of $1 million each.

Cost? Original price was $227,000 if the 959 had been sold in the U.S. Sport versions would have run $360,000. At auction today, a 959 in excellent, original condition can draw $1.5 million. Go with the “modern” higher-horsepower upgraded 959s and plan to spend $1.8-2.0 million.

Appreciate

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Porsche 959 By John Lamm

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