PRETERNATURALLY PORSCHE

From a simple exercise for a Group B sports racer, Porsche’s unstoppable engineers fashioned the company’s first great supercar. Their only failure was not charging enough for it…

Words Karl Ludvigsen

Porsche’s first ultra-great supercar, the Type 959, was a consummate road car, master of any and all conditions up to its peak 220mph. Launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1985, this all-pawed Porsche was priced at a then stunning DM420,000 (equivalent to $140,000 or £100,000). This was nearly three times the price aimed for at the project’s outset. Worst still, the cost to the company for manufacturing each 959 was DM1,300,000 (approximately $720,000). Considering 337 cars were produced, the total cost would have been close to DM368,000,000 (near $204,000,000) across the life of the project. Of this sum, only about one-quarter could have been recouped by sale of cars. “The 959 is an enormously competent car representing great investment, both in terms of engineering expertise and customer buy-in,” wrote…

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Classic Porsche (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2024

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