RE: Spotted: Porsche 959 prototype
Discussion
|http://thumbsnap.com/EaAjb3QT[/url]I love the 959 and so much rarer than an f40. I think we might see the tables turn with the values of those two cars in the next 10 yrs. Reality is that most of these cars turn a wheel once a year so i cant imagine they need that amount of annual maintenance (except the big fixes with the suspension etc which are surely every 5 yrs).
Twincam16 said:
Speaking of 959s, let's not forget the 961 - the only 4WD car to contest Le Mans:
Caught fire, like, but it's still cooler than the Larsen Ice Shelf.
And here it is at Le Mans in period? Sorry about the eighties collage - to think we used to wait two weeks to get photos developed. Music might have been better back then, but the things people did to cars... Caught fire, like, but it's still cooler than the Larsen Ice Shelf.
stradman said:
Not sure why fugly.
I think it's a pity the car got caught up in the supercar bubble of the 80s, had it not I think we'd have seen a lot more used in anger and people would appreciate what an amazing car it was/is.
I remember one being sold at coys porsche auction a few years back with minimal mileage. I seem to remember also being told it had just cost over £30K to have it recomissioned!
SmartVenom said:
Agree, not in the slightest bit fugly. Gorgeous with clear hints of later designs.
I think it's a pity the car got caught up in the supercar bubble of the 80s, had it not I think we'd have seen a lot more used in anger and people would appreciate what an amazing car it was/is.
I remember one being sold at coys porsche auction a few years back with minimal mileage. I seem to remember also being told it had just cost over £30K to have it recomissioned!
I thought I was alone for years in disliking the 959 shape. However I have warmed to it of late and part of the reason is that I've realised the 959 is very colour dependant on the looks front. I think it's a pity the car got caught up in the supercar bubble of the 80s, had it not I think we'd have seen a lot more used in anger and people would appreciate what an amazing car it was/is.
I remember one being sold at coys porsche auction a few years back with minimal mileage. I seem to remember also being told it had just cost over £30K to have it recomissioned!
The above poster on track, in that colour looks alot better than others (white?) that just look frumpy.
Saw a couple at Stuttgart, and both looked fantastic, one was the Dakar and the the other was a kind of metallic grey if memory serves.
Howrare said:
I had always known I loved cars, but the 1987 July issue (IIRC) of CAR with the F40 vs 959 sealed it. Loved these things ever since. Lusted after the Tamiya RC one as a kid. Stood by a battled scarred ex Daker 959 in Stuttgart for a very long time as a (kind of) grown up.
I remember that edition too. IIRC the cover had the caption "There'll never be another month like this"
Was lucky enough to have a passenger ride in the early 90's in a 959: Simply stunning performance coupled with drop dead gorgeous looks.
Fast forward to recent times & a friend had one in his workshop so it was rude not to go to have a look underneath- not as bespoke as one might think. That does have it's advantages tho'.
Fast forward to recent times & a friend had one in his workshop so it was rude not to go to have a look underneath- not as bespoke as one might think. That does have it's advantages tho'.
nottyash said:
I couldnt resist taking this one parked up locally last week.
I've driven that car quite a lot and to this day it is my favourite ever car to drive, out of the 10,000 plus cars I've driven, better than Carrera GT, Murcielago, 288 GTO, 458, Gallardo Superleggera, 599 GTO, everything. It is the most well rounded supercar ever, driveable every day, in traffic, no silly foibles, just superb performance and handling.markmullen said:
nottyash said:
I couldnt resist taking this one parked up locally last week.
I've driven that car quite a lot and to this day it is my favourite ever car to drive, out of the 10,000 plus cars I've driven, better than Carrera GT, Murcielago, 288 GTO, 458, Gallardo Superleggera, 599 GTO, everything. It is the most well rounded supercar ever, driveable every day, in traffic, no silly foibles, just superb performance and handling.The contest between the 959 and the F40 seems to me to be a contest between subtle and obvious, individualist and populist, brains and brawn, intellectual and sportsman, thoughtful boy and school bully. At school, all the dummies who couldn't think for themselves preferred the F40; its (undoubted) qualities seem to be obvious and immediate whereas the 959's are sophisticated and intelligent. The quality and finish of the 959 seem to be exquisite next to the rather bodged F40, too. Personally I find it beautiful but taste is a matter of taste. If I had the means I'd use one every day of the week and I suspect it would thrive on it.
markmullen said:
nottyash said:
I couldnt resist taking this one parked up locally last week.
I've driven that car quite a lot and to this day it is my favourite ever car to drive, out of the 10,000 plus cars I've driven, better than Carrera GT, Murcielago, 288 GTO, 458, Gallardo Superleggera, 599 GTO, everything. It is the most well rounded supercar ever, driveable every day, in traffic, no silly foibles, just superb performance and handling.
monamimate said:
Did I read that right: 10,000+ cars... that's one a day for the last 27 years! Can I have your job when you're finished with it?
Or a lot more than one a day for the past 10 years.Admittedly it has slowed down a lot more here, but at main dealerships I could easily drive 5 or 10 a day.
Like Stradman, I couldnt possibly choose between and F40 and a 959, except I dont own both 
I hold them both in equally high regard, for different reasons, but I really cant separate them, they are forever linked despite being quite different, from quite different manufacturers, it is just they appeared in what 86/87 and redefined the supercar, how many pictures of a Countach (usually with a leggy woman and a Leopard in attendance) were torn down and replaced by either of this pair ?
The 959 was so techno it hurt, the 0-60 below four seconds was scarcely credible, we were all still in awe of anything that did it in less than 8 seconds back then, the fact it looked so futuristic, if a little unusual helped, also it seemed so complete and finished, like everything under the skin was no big deal, it is kind of difficult to explain the subtle aspects of its appeal, i.e. that other than what it is, very very special.
The F40 just looks so purposeful, as a car it seems the complete antithesis to the Porsche, the techno was there in terms of materials and design but the execution was a total no frills approach, almost unfinished, shorn of the 80's gauche, shoulder pads, Miami Vice and Phil Collins album naffness of the Testarossa, just a clarity of purpose, styled like a helicopter gunship cross with a bullet train, a complete armed b
d of a car, very upfront about its capability to kill you, I don't think it actively wanted to kill its driver but made no bones about the fact it would if you took the piss. If Ferrari released it now, it wouldn't really look out of place, time has been kind, perhaps kinder than to the Porsche.
I hold them both in equally high regard, for different reasons, but I really cant separate them, they are forever linked despite being quite different, from quite different manufacturers, it is just they appeared in what 86/87 and redefined the supercar, how many pictures of a Countach (usually with a leggy woman and a Leopard in attendance) were torn down and replaced by either of this pair ?
The 959 was so techno it hurt, the 0-60 below four seconds was scarcely credible, we were all still in awe of anything that did it in less than 8 seconds back then, the fact it looked so futuristic, if a little unusual helped, also it seemed so complete and finished, like everything under the skin was no big deal, it is kind of difficult to explain the subtle aspects of its appeal, i.e. that other than what it is, very very special.
The F40 just looks so purposeful, as a car it seems the complete antithesis to the Porsche, the techno was there in terms of materials and design but the execution was a total no frills approach, almost unfinished, shorn of the 80's gauche, shoulder pads, Miami Vice and Phil Collins album naffness of the Testarossa, just a clarity of purpose, styled like a helicopter gunship cross with a bullet train, a complete armed b
d of a car, very upfront about its capability to kill you, I don't think it actively wanted to kill its driver but made no bones about the fact it would if you took the piss. If Ferrari released it now, it wouldn't really look out of place, time has been kind, perhaps kinder than to the Porsche.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff