Daily Slideshow: Secret Porsche 959 Examples Built From Spare Parts
Four years after production of the 959 stopped, Porsche slapped together a very limited run of one of its finest creations.
1. Secret Story of the 959
When Porsche dropped its legendary 959 on the unsuspecting world, it immediately became the most technologically advanced cars ever built. Chock full of automotive firsts, the 959 went on to destroy all its competition and occupy the wall space of virtually every car-crazy kid in the '80s. But as Road and Track found out, Porsche not only tried to avoid building one of its most iconic models, they also briefly started up production of the car years after it ended.
2. Ahead of its Time
Despite its roots stemming from the air-cooled 911, the 959 was a car chock full of amazing technology considering it was built in the '80s. It came with all-wheel drive equipped with driver-selectable torque split. The ride height was adjustable, the magnesium wheels had hollow spokes, and it even came with tire-pressure monitoring. Its engine was similar to the ones that powered the motorsports-dominating 936, 956, and 962. And it was built at a time when Porsche was still a relatively small car company, a far cry from the massive organization it has become today.
3. Return of an Icon
All of those factors meant that the 959 was terribly expensive and difficult to produce. And it's also why Porsche ceased production of the car in 1988. But even after the last car rolled off the assembly line, Porsche still had a bunch of 959 parts lying around. Enough, in fact, to restart production four years later in 1992.
4. Six(?) Mystery Cars
Porsche has confirmed that they produced a handful of 959s in 1992, but the actual numbers vary. Some believe eight were built, while many others say six. Not even Porsche knows for certain. All they can confirm is that a grand total of 294 Komfort-spec 959s were built, along with 29 Sport models. When production officially ended in 1988, the last chassis number to roll off the line was #288. But records indicate that the total number of chassis serials go up to #294.
5. One Lucky Guy
According to 959 expert Bruce Canepa, these special cars are very much real. "All of those cars were really purchased by one person for himself and for one friend of his," Canepa told Road and Track. "The gentleman that bought them was from Macau and the other gentleman was from Hong Kong. I did business with that gentleman, and after a lot of years, we started buying the cars back one at a time."
6. The Mystery Continues
Dave Engleman, Porsche Cars North America's in-house historian, agrees with Canepa. But he also notes that it's impossible to know the true number of cars produced. After all, Porsche kept very few records on these 1992 959s. "My info is the same as Bruce's," Engleman says."I haven't seen anything here internally or externally that differs."
7. Paid the Cost
Problem is, there's no way to tell a 1992 Porsche 959 from any other model. This comes from the fact that all the cars are identical. All the parts used to build this limited run already existed, after all. Porsche was forced to end production of the 959 because its final cost far exceeded the initial estimate, yet they were already locked into selling the cars at a loss after taking initial orders. In fact, Porsche didn't even bother to get the car certified in the U.S. just so it could cancel those contracts. And that's how Porsche wound up with all those spare parts in the first place. So why did they bother to put them all together in 1992? According to Canepa, the buyer and his friend paid nearly double the original price for those cars. And yet, their investment still paid off!
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