When it was launched in the late ‘80s, the Porsche 959 was not only the world’s fastest road-legal car with a top speed of 314 km/h (195 mph), but the most technologically advanced, too.
Its 444hp 2.8-liter flat-six engine featured water-cooled heads and air-cooled cylinders along with two sequential turbochargers that reduced turbo lag. The 959 also had an all-wheel drive system that could direct torque to the axle that most needed it, the wheels were made of a magnesium alloy, the body out of an aluminum and Kevlar composite and the suspension had an automatic ride-height adjustment system.
Porsche refused to provide the NHTSA with the four cars it needed to certify the 959 for the US. Thus, until 2001, when the “Show and Display” bill that removed the crash test requirements was passed, the 959 wasn’t imported to the US. Even so, it had to meet 1987 US emission standards, which the 959 didn’t without fitting a catalytic converter and a remapped ECU.
In its two-year production run, only 292 units rolled off the production line (excluding the 37 prototypes), thus the 959 is quite a rare animal.
A 1988 model, though, is currently for sale at Cropley Motorcars in Massachusetts. It is a silver car in Komfort specification, with an all-black leather interior that was imported and certified for the US by 959 expert Bruce Canepa, who also painted the wheels in his signature matte black, and was recently had its major service done.
Its odo reads 16,500 km (nearly 10,000 miles) and it goes without saying that it has the original owner’s manual along with a Porsche certificate of authenticity. All that could be yours for the low-low price of US$1.45 million…
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