In my first year of Junior College, Porsche made world wide headlines with their all new, all radical, all innovating “959” model. Only about 500 were planned for productions but only 337 saw creations.This was the car which made me think hard on German innovations and advances in the field of automotive. I wanted so much to view this car in person and finally the chance came up upon me one day when I was actually invited to attend the Porsche 959 soft launching by Rusnak Porsche. I was excited as I had actually believed the 959 would actually be there, and I even packed along my Minolta SLR for the trip. But was I the naïve one! It was all just a platform for them to highlight all the left over Porsches that were in stock, with only just a 29” video display of the 959 that was made available on the showroom floor, and that was about all. But there was a German engineer said to be from Porsche Germany talking in broken English about the 959. He was telling the exclusive gathering, about the 959 wonders. Then when it came to question and answer time, I had asked him for some more details of the then revolutionizing Porsche 959 no spare wheels system, whereby the wheels were all designed by Bridgestone to be run-flats good for speeds of up to 50MPH. He looked at me, then pretended to be checking his books on the desk in front of all of us and then looked up again and proceeded to take the next question from a white skinned American. Sprechen sie Deutsche I wondered, and I asked the same question again, but this time in German (I was taught the basics of that semantic by a friend who had lived in Rheine Mein for 5 years with her USAF family), again I was sidelined. This time he took a question from an elderly man ahead of me. But the elderly man stood up and politely pointed to the German host of the fact that he should answer me first, as even he (the man who had questioned) wants to know about the run flats too. This time the German Porsche guest apologized and said that his assistant next to him was actually preparing the details as he speaks before going back to my question for answer. He went on to apologize and answered my question. After that session, he even shook hands with me and asked how old I actually was and where from. In those days I had to carry a small pocket diary to show people where West Malaysia is. The impression he had given us was that he was honestly trying to keep up with the crowd with his halting English. I had wanted to judge him as a Swastika racist pig, but I did not. And for eternity, I am glad I did not as he had quietly whispered away from all the others later on his actual reason for sidelining my questions earlier was simply that Porsche had “broken tradition” with the 959 when they’ve decided to use Bridgestone RE-71 wheels over the traditional Dunlop’s offering instead. Bridgestone being Japanese, and it was the unofficially “hushed” policy of Porsche at the time to not use Japanese parts in any of their cars vital equipment’s, hence the “slight diplomatic miscommunication” there earlier between the two of us. He was worried that with my line of questioning and that Minolta SLR sling down my neck, that I was perhaps from Press or something.At the end of the event, he gave me a scaled 1:24 model of a red Porsche 959 in a clear plastic case display that was officially built and sanctioned by Porsche AG, complete with signatures by the whole of Porsche AG Board 1985 in Stuttgart and some brochures to explain the wunderkar! And that was as close as I had gotten with the 959 for many years to come. The guy was no racist; he was just like me, a real Porsche fanatic!I still have that priceless gift and in 2002 I had it appraised by an Australian collectors group and they offered me AUD$2,000 for it. But I still have it with me till this very day. I figure, that’s as close as I’d get to actually owning a piece of the 959.The Porsche 959 was born out of Porsche urgent and almost critical needs to have their “Gruppe B” racing Porsches comply with the “FIA Homologation Requirements” and keep their entry qualified for the “1985 Paris-Dakar Rally”. You see, the homologation requirements means that all race entered cars for the Paris-Dakar Rally must have their origins from a mass produced model, which was sold to the public at large; and "at large" was first defined to be a minimum of 500 units, then dropped down to just 250 and then settled at just 200 units.
The racing Porsche Gruppe B model was achieved after years and years of countless developments on the Paris-Dakar Rally side of things for Zuffenhausen. What had originally started as a 4-Wheeldrive 1978 930 model, had slowly over the years evolved into the Gruppe B design and at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche had put on display a 911 Gruppe B model and had officially termed that evolution as the “Gruppe B” moving away from their traditional 911 moniker and then unexpectedly by 1984, Porsche was issued with an ultimatum by the FIA and “Amaury Sport Organization” (the organizing body of the Paris-Dakar Rally); that they have to now sell at least 500 of Gruppe B street legal Porsche or their entry for Rally year 1985 would automatically be disqualified. With just months away into the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally to go, Porsche went into overdrive and they just “toned down” a Gruppe B model just essentially enough for it to be street legal, and after some quick FIA diplomacy, the numbers were agreed at 250 units (later dropped to 200 units) which must be sold to the public worldwide.In just roughly a month or two later, the 959 was coined and premiered to the world at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show. Tradition was almost entirely suspended and Porsche fully embraced the future with the 959 model. Worldwide, the motoring fraternity went overdrive and gathering as many info and pictures of the 959 was no easy task. There was no internet in those days, no high mega-pixels camera phones to help out with their cause, and so there was no real 959 image or data till the later part of 1986. Everything was spy shots and all “purported vehicle data’s” were entirely the ones that had somehow been “filched” from under Porsche’s foot themselves by unscrupulous insiders looking for fast bucks. 
But one by one of those appearing hazy data’s and images went on to reaffirm the eagerly awaiting motoring world that Porsche was not kidding about embracing the future with the 959 model. Twin turbo-charged, flat six-cylinder engine with heavy duty water cooled, six-speed manual transmission, all wheel drive (AWD) PDK system (prelude of today’s SMG gear boxes) with 80% of power going to the rear axle in normal situation, double-wishbone suspension – and for the first time, all hardware’s were governed by an advance on-board computerized management system right from active suspension settings, active under body spoilers, and active tractions control with certified aircraft ABS system all the way to the extensive usage of aircraft Kevlar and aluminum for body panels and also the exclusive magnesium alloy for wheels with built in tyre pressure monitors. Under the hood, with a capacity of 2.85 liters, the wunderkar supply the driver with a steady lag-free 445 turbo horsepower and 386 lb.ft of torque. Combine this with a weight of just under 3,000 lbs. (max 3,200 lbs.), and a six-speed short-shifting twin clutching PDK manual transmission, an impressive acceleration from 0-100 KMH in just 3.7 seconds was achieved, and acceleration from 0 to 200 KMH came in just slightly under 13.0 seconds culminating to a top speed of 325 KMH. In its original Gruppe B guise, the 959 carried over 700 BHP under its Kevlar rear engine hood. At speed below 4,400 RPM, the 959 would only be using one turbo unit for spooling power, but above 4,400 RPM the second turbo unit would kick in and the 959 would just fly like none other at the time. For maximum aerodynamic stability, the 959 could lower or raise itself automatically depending on speed and road surface coupled to terrain settings and inputs.
These details, were beyond mere automotive reach in 1985, and in all these stunning details, one can surmise that the Porsche 959 at the time was a masterpiece of technology and appearing to be more than just a practical car. But with luxuries such as leather interior, air-conditioning system, a set of Bose Hi-Fi, and even electronic active power steering; over the years, the opposite has quite holds truth really. By the first week of the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche had announced that all 200 copies of the impressive supercar (yet to be manufactured) was all sold – and each was priced at USD$225,000 in 1985 dollar value! Porsche was rushing things through at this stage and for most 959 owners later, official order records from Porsche would most likely show them to be the 2nd owners instead of the first and only owners for their new Porsches. That’s because it was Porsche themselves who had purchased outright all 200 units at the motor show. And then another 50 were built between year 1986 to 1988 and these were sold brand new to their collectors owner; so total production was somewhere at 250 units, but when you also add in the prototypes and the factory test units and then too the few “hushed built” for the silent super rich of the world at the time, the total and final number stood at 337 units.Brief interjection in time: from 1992 to 1993, Porsche built 8 more units from left over parts from the bins and shelves of Zuffenhausen. I don’t know where to place this 8 really, but insurance companies recognized them as the genuine Porsche 959 from Zuffenhausen undeniably. Their chassis numbers correspondingly were accorded as WPDZZZ95Z JS900338 to WPDZZZ95Z JS900345 and these cars were sold at a much higher price of USD$553,765 than the previous price of USD$225,000 a unit.
Even Enzo Ferrari himself made the effort to visit the Porsche 959 display at the Frankfurt Motor Show of 1985, and that was just one year away before the grand man of automotive had passed on to the heavenly circuits. And it was mentioned that grand old man Enzo went back to Italy immediately after visiting the motor show and was said to have designed the momentous Ferrari F40 on board his private jet, beginning with that distinctive “built in” rear spoiler and “wrapped running board sills” design as his very last design for Ferrari automobile. Porsche soon learned severely that the actual cost to manufacture each 959 was totaled to slightly over USD$524,000 per automobile, thus putting in great erroneous deficit their original asking price of “just” USD$225,000 for each car. But since they bought the cars themselves, the over USD$300,000 in pricing difference (totaling to over USD$70 million) was absorbed by Porsche as R&D budgets, but no matter how creative their accountants had tried to be, that whole episode was bad bookkeeping experience for them, sending them into the reds for the next many years to come. But with the technologies derived from the 959 platform, we see some design flairs in the 993, and today twin turbo charging is common with auto makers and almost all Porsches sold currently are AWD units with active aerodynamics and handlings. The 959 was never officially sold in the US due to it not passing the strict US emission requirements. For starters, the 959 was never sold with catalytic converters, a requirement in California, nor was its Motronic brain programmed to recognize an oxygen sensor. But all this changed in 1998 when during the Clinton presidency, Bill Gates of Microsoft (who was very close to the presidency), had wanted to bring in his 959 from Germany. And so his friend Bill the US President, saw it fit to introduce the “Show or Display Exemption Bill” which was eventually passed by Senate. According to the Bill, the vehicle in question must be either of technological or historical significance, or if over 500 were made, it must be of exceptional significance. You also need to supply photographs, production verification, proof of insurance limiting the vehicle to just 2,500 miles annually, and documentation to support the historical or technical significance if the vehicle is not on the list of those cars already approved by the National Highway & Transportation Safety Administration; and so Bill Gates got to bring in his Porsche 959 and have it kept in Seattle his home state, and as well Jerry Seinfeld of the Seinfeld fame. There’s only two documented Porsche 959 that’s in existence in America today via this “special Bill”. Actually the 959 was built with the wiring harness and exhaust requirements for an oxygen sensor, and the ECU was constructed with the right accommodating circuitry in mind. And if you're thinking that this may suggests Stuttgart had intentionally left the option for owners to fit the missing bits themselves, you could be right all along and for USD$50,000, G&K Automotive in Santa Ana, California would make sure your 959 passes all US smog emission testing for you with their software’s and hardware’s tuning plus modifications with no loss in horsepower or torque and drivability. But now it has been over 21 years old the design of the 959; and that means the statute of effect on all EPA smog and emission requirements on the Porsche 959 have all expired and the car can be imported and used in the USA with no certification other than its S&D certificate.In 2003, a Southern California company by the name of “Canepa Design” has started further chip tuning on the few programs and perimeters that was still available for the already-impressive Porsche 959. By using two newer design Garret-Turbochargers and making changes to boost system, the waste-gates and blow-off valves and, last but not least, the Bosch Motronic DME ECU control unit, they had increased BHP to no less than 585 horsepower - enough for an acceleration from 0 to 100 KMH in less than 3.4 seconds and a top speed exceeding 420 KMH.My personal encounters with the real life sized 959 remains merely at just three times; the first time was in Dubai the UAE in 1990 when I was on a delayed transit at the Dubai International Airport and the lone red 959 was on display at the Airport lounge. I was just admiring the car really close when a Porsche personnel walked up and greeted me and in mere minutes I was actually holding the keys to the 959 and was invited to sit in it for photo shots. But in those days, it was all on 135mm films.The second time was in 1996 when I was invited to go for a 20 minutes of incredible motoring prior to making the Friday prayer’s at the LUTH mosque in Jalan Tun Razak in a metallic bronze Porsche 959 that had belonged to an east coast member of royalty. Yes, at least there is one RHD Porsche 959 in existence in Malaysia today that I know of for certain.The third time when I was in a foreign land and had somehow ended up attending a “Porsche Meet”. Never driven one, but was able to really study the car closer. If you could observe a 959 up on a garage ramp and hanging in the air on hydraulics stand with their massive wheels off, the true complexity of the Porsche 959 shall be exposed. The wheel-wells reveal ECU control equipment’s, an intricate network of pipes and wiring connecting the car's assorted pumps and servos via computerized electronic sensors. It is very complicated and one look you may think that on some parts, even a light aircraft mechanicals looks less complex than this.
I don’t have many photos to share here, mainly because like what I have said; they were all on 135mm films and I happens to be in all the images broadly too! To swipe images off the net, won’t be fair to my other hard earning Porscheristis, and so that’s all what few I could share here.Maybe we best remember the Porsche 959 for its groundbreaking and instigative influence. At a retail price of USD$225,000 per car, it was well documented that Porsche had lost over USD$70 million with the “Gruppe B 959 Project” right from start. But let us all keep in mind here that without automotive manufacturers like Porsche paving the way and taking huge risks such as this in R&D, we wouldn't have a lot of these technologies in our cars today, and it certainly wouldn't be at an affordable level as they are now for us. So for that we must and should acknowledge the 959 for what it truly was; an innovator.
What made me write about the 959 today is simply the fact that I had recently received an email from an old buddy of mine up in New Hampshire with a picture attachment of what appears to be his superbly crafted 959 custom-replica that was based on an original 1989 Porsche 930 Turbo with a 5 speed manual box. It is so authentically Porsche that it is truly a Porsche in any other guise. Well, an authentic 959 would be priced today at almost USD$1 million each, and a few even went close to USD$1.5 million marker. They have all effectively become a highly priced investment commodity and I doubt I would ever own one or even seriously wanting to own one anymore. But the nostalgia it brings, the longing it conveys is still unmistakably Porsche 959 even after all this years of blissful ignorance! 
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