Canepa Porsche 959SC is One of Fifty Beauty
One of just fifty units of the Porsche 959 SC churned out by famous tuner Bruce Canepa is now up for sale.
Unheard Of
When the legendary Porsche 959 was first introduced back in 1986, the world had never seen a production car like it. Porsche redefined the idea of a supercar, creating a machine that holds its own against the world's most capable exotic machines, more than three decades later. For well-known tuner Bruce Canepa, though, there was room for improvement.
Source: Canepa
Couldn't Stay Away
Due to the fact that Porsche's top-of-the-line performance car didn't meet the Federal Motor Safety Standards of the United States at the time, the absurdly quick Porsche wasn't sold Stateside. Canepa couldn't stay away. Having gotten the chance to man the 959 for himself in 1987, he knew he could enhance the work of the German manufacturer even further.
Mid-Boggling Performance
With a 2.8-liter flat-six motor at the back aided by twin turbochargers, the 959's powertrain produced 444 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. This was enough to propel the lightweight frame of the supercar from 0 to 60 mph in just 3 seconds. The top speed came in at 195 mph. Ludicrous numbers, even by today's standards, especially considering the lack of any sort of PDK transmission tech. No sir. Drivers of the 959 had to row their own gears via the 6-speed manual gearbox.
The Canepa Treatment
So, for the folks at Canepa to hope to add even more performance to this near-perfect vehicle, they'd have to make incremental upgrades in every department. And that's exactly what they set out to do. With the Show and Display law coming into effect years later, it was time for Canepa and team to go to work. The 959 "Reimagined" by Canepa, AKA 959SC was treated to a reworked power plant, the 2.85-liter six-cylinder now capable of over 800 horsepower, with help from upgraded Borgwarner parallel twin turbos.
