Yahoo Autos This Is the Porsche 959 Nissan Bought to Make the R32 GT-R
With fewer than 300 production models built in the initial run in 1987 and 1988, every Porsche 959 is special. The 959 was not just a technological tour de force for Porsche, but the company's best guess at what the future would hold. With all-wheel-drive and sequential twin-turbocharged flat-six power, it is the grandfather of every modern 911 Turbo, and still spry enough to keep up to its progeny on a backroad. But coming up for sale at this year's Amelia Auctions is a 959 of such unusual pedigree that it inspired not one lineage of performance juggernauts, but two: both the aforementioned 911 Turbo, and the car known as Godzilla.
Lot number 220 is a 1988 959 SC anointed by the experts at former racer Bruce Canepa's specialist workshop south of San Jose. For that reason alone it is a jewel, one infused with careful upgrades that enhance its performance to equal that of a modern supercar without losing the spirit of the 959. Also, just look at it. With its dark green paint and rich mahogany-brown leather, it's the equal of any of the best work to leave Aston Martin's factory.
“I only want to start with original cars, the best of the best,” says Bruce Canepa, speaking by phone from his shop. “At this point, the cars find us – people know we are looking, and I get calls all the time.”
Canepa might as well be named Mr. 959. Decades ago, when the 959 was relatively unknown in the U.S., he was instrumental in pushing through the Show And Display law that allowed for limited-production cars to be road-legal in the US, with restrictions. He handled the importation of probably the best-known 959s, those of Microsoft co-founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates. Over the years, the Canepa garages have serviced or sold approaching one-third of all 959s ever made. Especially if you want to drive your 959 – and they are built to be driven, not put on a plinth – Canepa's the guy you want to see.
Which is why when a retired Nissan engineer was looking for a home for a 959 that had been quietly tucked away for over 30 years, the message made its way to Bruce. As it turned out, back in the late Eighties, Nissan applied to Porsche to purchase a 959 as a development study. Porsche, which reportedly lost money on every 959 it built, declined. So, some enterprising Nissan executive pulled a fast one, getting an unnamed Belgian national to order a 1988 959 Komfort in Polar Silver, then having the car shipped directly to Yokohama.
Here, it was pulled to pieces as Nissan studied the possibilities of an all-wheel-drive system that was tuned for performance, not just extra grip in snowy or otherwise slippery conditions. While the 959's Porsche-Steuer Kupplung (PSK) all-wheel-drive system differed mechanically from Nissan's Advanced Total Traction Engineering System (ATTESA ET-S), the engineers of the latter clearly learned something in their dissection of the 959.
Nissan's R32 GT-R showed up with ATTESA ET-S apportioning twin-turbocharged straight-six power to the road, and beat the pants off the competition in touring car racing. An Australian journalist dubbed it Godzilla, and the legend was set. As for Nissan's 959, it was sold to an engineer who never road-registered it. It remained barely driven for years, eventually turning up at Canepa with fewer than 1000 miles on the odometer.
The Canepa 959 SC treatment is a multi-year, no expenses spared process. The cars are fitted with the lighter, simpler, fixed suspension of the 959 Sport models, and receive the 18” wheels the road car was always supposed to have along with modern rubber. The flat-six engine is torn down and rebuilt around Borg-Warner turbochargers that give it well over 800 hp. A prospective owner selects a one-of-one color combo, as no two of these cars will be made the same.
“At this point, we will build 50 of these,” Canepa says, hinting that there are a half-dozen 959 projects on the go at present, including one in Porsche's glorious Rubystone. “The demand is there. But only 50.”
The winning bid for this ultimate expression of the 959 will have to be a strong one, with initial estimates in the mid-$3M range. But for that you're getting a car that can show a clean pair of heels to a modern Lamborghini while still feeling small and agile as the 1980s 911 it shares DNA with. And, at the same time, it's the sole 959 that can claim to have inspired modern versions of both the 911 Turbo and the mighty Skyline GT-Rs. Put it another way, in-period, this car's chief rival was the Ferrari F40, and a tidy example of one of those would cost roughly the same – and be more than four times more common.
Every 959 is special. This example is especially so. It's the stuff of dreams whether you are a devotee of Luftgekuhlt or the Fast and Furious franchise. The hammer comes down on February 29th.
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