1988 959:

Pristine, Showroom New, Corporately Owned. All Services Current and Up to Date. Matching Numbers, Completely Rust and Accident Free!

Background:
The Type 959 was Porsche’s first true “supercar,” a design to which every imaginable accolade has been applied. Based on the company’s evergreen 911 sports coupe, it was built to win the FIA’s Group B World Rally Championship and, not incidentally, serve as an all-wheel-drive development platform for Porsche’s future 964 production series. The “Gruppe B” prototype was introduced at the 1983 Frankfurt auto show, where it stunned onlookers with advanced technology that included a chassis built of advanced lightweight materials, a rear-mounted, 2.8-liter turbocharged engine, and a mind-boggling array of electronic engine and suspension management systems.

To homologate the new Type 961 rally car, Porsche had to build a series of roadworthy cars to prove the 961’s legitimacy as a production model. When the FIA suddenly cancelled Group B, Porsche was faced with a dilemma; production of the road cars had already begun, but there was no longer a rally program to justify them. Porsche pressed ahead in hopes it could convince a fairly limited number of wealthy customers that a 200-mph road car was a practical investment and thus defray Porsche’s huge development costs. It need not have worried. Whenever Porsche builds the exciting and unexpected, customers will line up, and so it was with the very expensive 959, even though it is said that Porsche lost money on every one it built.

The 959’s chassis, on the same 89.4-inch wheelbase as the 911 Carrera, was made of carbon fiber, aluminum, and Kevlar. The roofline, doors, and interior resembled the 911, down to the ignition placed to the driver’s left. Porsche’s goal was to achieve zero body lift at speed, and it succeeded admirably. The nose was extended and flattened and featured near-flush headlamps with extensive ducting for cooling the front brakes and oil radiator. The rear of the car was also stretched rearward and liberally ventilated, and it was topped with a full-width rear wing. Beneath the body shell, though, was a double-wishbone, racing-derived suspension with coil springs and double shocks, adjustable shock damping and ride height, and an electronically managed all-wheel-drive system (Porsche’s PSK [Porsche-Steur-Kupplung]) that allowed the driver to vary the torque (370 foot-pounds at 5,500 rpm) between the rear and front axles, up to 80 percent, under hard acceleration. A full array of instruments kept the driver well informed of all the suspension and traction settings.

The flat-six engine, with air-cooled cylinders and four-valve water-cooled heads, was derived from both the “Moby Dick” IMSA GT racer and Porsche’s Indy open-wheel project. This engine mounted a pair of intercooled sequential turbochargers. A small turbo began producing boost almost from throttle tip-in, while the larger unit came in at about 4,500 rpm, generating a seamless flow of power. This engine pumped out a fearsome-for-the-day 450 brake horsepower at 6,500 rpm. The transmission was a Borg-Warner six-speed, with a very low “G” or “Geland” first gear for the off-road conditions that the 961 rally car might have encountered. A quite docile machine at civilized driving speeds, the 959 could leap from 0–60 mph in less than four seconds, do the standing quarter-mile in just over 12, and reach a maximum speed approaching 200 mph. In the fully leather-upholstered, carpeted, air-conditioned confines of a 959 “Komfort,” this was accomplished in a calm and controlled, even quiet, fashion.

When it came time to stop, huge power-assisted, ventilated disc brakes with ABS handled the task with aplomb. The 959’s 17-inch diameter magnesium wheels and special run-flat tires were specially designed by Bridgestone; hollow spokes allowed use of an air-pressure monitoring system. All told, a well-driven 959 could see off almost any other high-performance car on the planet; not until the arrival of Ferrari’s F40 a few years later was there anything to rival it. Including 16 prototypes and several “Sport” models, a total of 329 examples were eventually produced between 1985 and 1992.

VIN No *WPOZZZ952JS900214*
Engine No *65H00191
Body No *53900116
Production Sequence No 212
Exterior Color 936 9 3 “S7” (Silbermetallic) Silver Metallic
Interior Color Graues volles Standardleder (Standard Grey Full Leather)
Ordering Dealer Porsche Distributors Monter Carlo Monaco
Completed December 1987
Sold March 1988
Registered New April 18th, 1988
Mileage 38,179 Kilometers (23,723 Miles)

This 959 is the 212th example built of at total of 293 production examples. This is a normal “Komfort” model, there were five original European Sport models making this the 207th of 288 Komfort models built. This 959 (Production Sequence No 212) was special ordered new by the Monte Carlo, Monaco Porsche distributor and completed on BAUR Job No. 53900116. The exterior was the standard production color, Silbermetallic (Silver Metallic) and it was fitted from new with a standard grey full leather interior. During assembly It was assigned from new and remains fitted with Engine No. 65H00191. This vehicle was completed in December of 1987 and shipped to Monaco in January of 1988. It was then sold new that same year in March to the Porsche dealer, InterAuto of Nagoya, Japan. On April 18th, 1988 this 959 was sold and registered corporately to the Melrose Private Museum Corporation in Tokyo, Japan.

The 959 had three private corporate owners in Japan prior to our purchase. The ownership history is completely documented going back to new. Our company just purchased this 959 from the last private museum collection that owned it in Japan and it has been formally imported to the United States and will be in our San Diego Showroom later this month. This 959 has zero cosmetic or mechanical issues and all services and updates are completely current. This 959 remains completely as delivered new and has had all Factory authorized updates via the service bulletin program. Each owner meticulously cared for and preserved this vehicle to original day one condition. The only non-stock item is a battery cut-off switch. All delivery items are with the vehicle and total mileage is now 38,179 kilometers (23,723 miles) from new.