RE: Showpiece of the Week: Porsche 959
Discussion
British Beef said:
Boris Becker also owned one as his very first car !!
And his Mum banned him from driving it allegedly.thegreenhell said:
Didn't his wife smash it up with a golf bat after she found out he was having an affair with his young female caddy, or some such?
http://www.autobahnbound.com/2009/12/05/a-porsche-and-a-set-of-golf-clubs/F40 has aged better, the 959 is one of those things that looked sleek and futuristic back in its bad but sort of looks a bit gawky and upright now, the overhangs especially look odd, wa sit longer than the 911 it was based on ? strange how it looked better than a 911 at the time, now a 911 CS looks far better to my eyes anyway, I love it for what it represents but it aint a looker.
F40 still looks like it always did, dramatic and purposeful, I dont really get Ferraris (good job...) but the F40, and the 250GT, maybe a 355 Competizione, actually, scratch that, maybe I do get them.
And Test Drive, that takes me back, so much promise, the intro music, the car selection, the cool sample as the guy drives off in your chosen car,
Then, a selection of freeze frames meant to represent driving round a mountain, with other cars wobbling towards you, down a bit, across a bit and then you miss it by ten feet yet you crash, and all that happens is your windscreen cracks, same if you over rev the engine, amazing how you can get so nostalgic over utter crap ! Kids today with their Forza Horizon, dont know they are born, never been hit by a badly collision detected Minivan.
F40 still looks like it always did, dramatic and purposeful, I dont really get Ferraris (good job...) but the F40, and the 250GT, maybe a 355 Competizione, actually, scratch that, maybe I do get them.
And Test Drive, that takes me back, so much promise, the intro music, the car selection, the cool sample as the guy drives off in your chosen car,
Then, a selection of freeze frames meant to represent driving round a mountain, with other cars wobbling towards you, down a bit, across a bit and then you miss it by ten feet yet you crash, and all that happens is your windscreen cracks, same if you over rev the engine, amazing how you can get so nostalgic over utter crap ! Kids today with their Forza Horizon, dont know they are born, never been hit by a badly collision detected Minivan.
Edited by J4CKO on Monday 11th June 19:24
Having been lucky enough to spend quite a lot of time behind the wheel of a 959, an F40 & a 288 GTO there is, IMO, a clear winner.
The F40.
Whilst there is no doubt that the 959 is a technological masterpiece I believe that for the average owner it is just too complicated.
Too many computers taking away the drivers input. Add to that the four wheel drive & a lot of the fun of driving the car was taken away.
On the other hand the F40 was, simply, an absolute joy to drive.
The build quality was the polar opposite of the Porsche, in particular the paintwork, however no one appeared too concerned. Indeed the weave being visible beneath the thin layer of paint was beautiful to look at.
And the power/acceleration of the F40 was matched, for me, only by the 288.
Sodding brutal!!
The 288 was sublime, it is a beautiful car to look at, it is very very quick & remains my all time favourite car.
At the end of day it is down to the drivers personal preference as too which one he or she chooses.
The F40.
Whilst there is no doubt that the 959 is a technological masterpiece I believe that for the average owner it is just too complicated.
Too many computers taking away the drivers input. Add to that the four wheel drive & a lot of the fun of driving the car was taken away.
On the other hand the F40 was, simply, an absolute joy to drive.
The build quality was the polar opposite of the Porsche, in particular the paintwork, however no one appeared too concerned. Indeed the weave being visible beneath the thin layer of paint was beautiful to look at.
And the power/acceleration of the F40 was matched, for me, only by the 288.
Sodding brutal!!
The 288 was sublime, it is a beautiful car to look at, it is very very quick & remains my all time favourite car.
At the end of day it is down to the drivers personal preference as too which one he or she chooses.
My dad had one of these. Bought it secondhand from AFN in Reading a few years after it came out. Paid about £195k, I seem to remember. He was fortunate enough to be able to afford to build quite a collection of cars, and had a "thing" about Group B road cars. So had this, an RS200 and a Lancia S4.
He never really rated the 959, especially in comparison with the other two ( all standard road car versions, not rally specials - well, as standard as they came for homologation specials ). He found it a bit soulless - it was something you sort of respected but never really bonded with. He sold it on after a couple of years ...
He never really rated the 959, especially in comparison with the other two ( all standard road car versions, not rally specials - well, as standard as they came for homologation specials ). He found it a bit soulless - it was something you sort of respected but never really bonded with. He sold it on after a couple of years ...
The Brummie said:
The build quality was the polar opposite of the Porsche, in particular the paintwork, however no one appeared too concerned. Indeed the weave being visible beneath the thin layer of paint was beautiful to look at.
I was always under the impression that it wasn't until the McLaren F1 was born that a process was developed where by a perfect finish was achievable on carbon fibre as it's main applications to that point, racing yachts and F1 cars, didn't really require the paint to be any better than was required for it to look acceptable from a distance. A very expensive thing to have done at the time, 40K per F1 so explains the decision not to have done the same for the F40.
SmilerFTM said:
The Brummie said:
The paintwork on our F40 was not good however it all seemed to add to the love.
It was an epic car.
Was the paintwork not thin to help keep the weight down? I may have imagined that sometime but not sureIt was an epic car.
Rather like with the 288 I collected from the factory back in 1985.
They forgot to install the Kenwood stereo system that had been specced & paid for.
However it did mean I got to listen that beautiful V8 beating away behind me.
The Brummie said:
The build quality was the polar opposite of the Porsche, in particular the paintwork, however no one appeared too concerned.
I love the Gordon Murray quote when asked if the F1 was McLaren's answer to the F40. After a pause he said: "No; I don't think we've got anyone at McLaren who can weld that badly".I remember looking after an F40 on a track day at Goodwood for someone around 20 years ago and the two things I recall are the insane heat in the engine bay and the shocking build quality.
For me it remains the only truly desirable Ferrari though. I'll edit that to say 'of the last 30 years or so'. The Daytona, 208GTB, 288 and 250 GTO are lovely.
Edited by Ahonen on Tuesday 12th June 12:44
The comments on here about the first hand experiences with the 959 and F50 really highlight the differences between the German and Italian approach to supercars (and normal cars), to the point of it being stereotypical.
The exacting and strictly-measured Germans vs the passionate, enthusiastic-but-less-exacting Italians.
When I was a child I read and re-read this book countless times and drooled over the pictures. It pre-dated the F50 but it does include the 959 and the 288GTO - which to me is the most perfectly styled car ever made.
The exacting and strictly-measured Germans vs the passionate, enthusiastic-but-less-exacting Italians.
When I was a child I read and re-read this book countless times and drooled over the pictures. It pre-dated the F50 but it does include the 959 and the 288GTO - which to me is the most perfectly styled car ever made.
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