1986 Porsche 959 review

Porsche 959 review:

Firstly designed for Group B racing, in January 1983, the blueprint for Porsche 959 gradually shifted to becoming the ultimate road car that Porsche could design and produce
and from 1986 through 1988 about 250 cars were built.

Some highlights of the 959 were AWD; Nomex, aluminum, and carbon fiber for weight savings; the heavy use of Kevlar, automatic ride height adjustment; sequential turbocharging; water-cooled 4 valve heads. But perhaps the standout feature of the Porsche 959 was its high price and over-the-top approach to ultimate performance. In many ways, Porsche 959 is the spiritual ancestor to the many extreme supercars that followed it, such as the Ferrari F40, McLaren F1, Jaguar XJ220 and Bugatti Veyron.

Despite its high price, Porsche was said to have lost substantial amounts of money with every car sold. But in retrospect, the 959 may have proved to be an outstanding investment. Extremely popular as an aspirational vehicle among sports car enthusiasts of its day, the 959 served as an excellent halo vehicle for the entire Porsche brand. In addition, the technological advances made during the 959's development helped to ensure the continuing viability of the 911's rear-engine design.