I have a huge soft spot for the Porsche 959. It came along on the crest of the wave of 1980s technology, strutting its Group B credentials, and casually turning the supercar establishment on its head. It was a four-wheel drive, twin-turbocharged game-changer that not only had the potential to cross deserts when fitted with studded tyres, but also safely run to almost 200mph on a de-restricted autobahn. It was - and is - the ultimate supercar of the '80s.
959 accrued 50,000 km as a demo car!
So when one comes up for auction, I usually end up sitting to attention, pen in hand, ready to note what it's bid to when the hammer drops. Okay, so I am not in the market for one - obviously - but I am keenly interested in how the 959 fares alongside its one-time Group B sparring partner, the Ferrari 288 GTO.
The Italian car had its most deadly adversary licked for looks and drama, but aside from the composites used extensively in its body and chassis, it lagged some way behind Stuttgart's finest when it came to overall tech. And we're now in the situation - approaching 30 years on - that the Porsche isn't as highly-prized by the market as the Ferrari, with auction values running at between a half and two-thirds. But what do they know?
If it's the Porsche you want, this is good news - prices range from around £300,000 to £500,000, while the Ferrari is getting dangerously close to becoming a million pound car. The Porsche and the Ferrari were much closer until a couple of years ago, when the GTO cantered away, spurred on by the overall surge in value of top-end Ferraris. We're hoping the 959 doesn't follow too closely, because the less a phenomenal car like this costs, the more accessible it is - relatively speaking. What the legendary 959 needs is recognition, without the need to resort to a seven-figure value.
Just 21 959 prototypes were made
Perhaps the example that RM Auctions has up for sale at its Amelia Island sale in Florida on 8 March may go some way to redressing the situation. But it's a rarity. A
1986 959 'Vorserie'
, that's one of 21 pre-production examples, and fully documented by Porsche - and as you can see, it's fitted with a pair of splendid spotlights to set it apart from the 336 other 959s. But there are other detail differences that make this one a Porsche spotter's delight.
It was originally displayed at the Porsche Zentrum sales facility throughout 1986, and the continued service for the company through to 1989 as a factory demonstrator, clocking up around 50,000km in the process. They must have been some pretty lengthy test drives to log that many miles, and one can only assume, they were conducted at a suitably fast pace.
That might explain why, when Porsche finally sold this one in March 1989, in order to get it ready for its for its first private owner, the car received a thoroughly comprehensive overhaul. Bertram Lehnan was his name, and aside from an as-new, but leggy Guards Red 959, he received a letter from Porsche that spelled out the improvements: 'New drivetrain, new wheels and tyres, a new hydraulic system, all the electrical components were overhauled to newer series specification, new sport seats installed in leather, including motor completely overhauled, rear axle and suspension overhauled, front transaxle'. One can only assume that, befitting of the boom years of the 1980s, he paid handsomely.
959 has had only two owners after Porsche
Lehnan didn't much use the 959. Between 1989 and 2010, he added 9,000km to the car's total, and had it retrofitted with air conditioning. Since then, another 1,000km has been added, and now it's in the USA - on show, and sale, at one of the world's most exclusive concours events. Amelia Island is a haven for well-heeled enthusiasts who want to see some of history's best-kept big-buck cars neatly parked on the neatly manicured greens of the Ritz Carlton's golf course. So, if a 959's going to score well to an appreciative crowd, it's going to be here.
In the past year, RM has auctioned two other 959s, each making £450,000-500,000. It's an epoch-making Porsche, and expect this one to achieve an epoch-making price.
If the thought of this two-owner pre-production 959 scares you a little, but you're set on buying one, Specialist Cars of Malton are just about to take delivery of a 959 Sport, on a Price on Application basis. And if you can't run to that you could, of course, go for the 959's spiritual successor, the 993 Turbo, which comes in at a much more manageable starting price of around £60,000. Start searching here, get it mildly chipped and enjoy 959-style performance at a fraction of the price.