from the little guy—and it’s glorious. The
first thing you need to know is that the
sequential turbocharging doesn’t hit like
a grenade. Instead imagine that you’re
moving along at a good clip on a roller
coaster that suddenly slopes straight
down. The acceleration is fierce, even by
today’s ridiculous standards. Flooring the
959 is worth the price of admission.
The only thing tricky about doing so
is that once the second turbo fires, the
engine speed climbs dramatically and it’son you to shift that gear. I imagine it’s just
the example I drove, but power-shifting
into third didn’t always go so smooth.
Notchy H-pattern. Redline is 7,000 rpm,
so you have just 2,000 rpm or so to enjoy
the big boost. But as it turns out, that’s
plenty of time if you’re paying attention.
Handling is remarkable for a car more
than 30 years old, though it’s obvious that
the 959 is the forefather of the modern
Turbo, not the GT3. It’s competent
without being edge-of-your-seat thrilling.
It’s a bit dull, honestly, until turbo No.
2 comes alive. Then it’s just power and
grip and smiles. Full disclosure: There
was something wrong with one of the
right-front double dampers (there are two
at each corner) that showed up in fairly
extreme situations, like rounding Sonoma
Raceway’s Turn 2, a 90-degree uphill
right-hander, basically under full power.
Some sort of creaking, crabbing shudder
that I’m sure is an easy, mega-expensive
fix. Despite that, what a chassis, what a
machine, what a thing!
Earlier I said comparing the 901 to the
959 was nearly impossible. I’m changing
my mind. They are similar in their
influence on the Porsche brand and the
legacy each model left. The 901 begat the
911, the million-plus-units-sold sports car
that still charms the world. Remember,
the engine’s in the wrong place, it’s just a
Volkswagen, and as of 1981 it was going
out of production.
When Porsche made the correct (and
brilliant) decision to give the 911 a stay
of execution, it also decided that letting
its cars die on the vine wasn’t the way
forward. Massive and radical techno-
logical innovation would not only win
races and thrill customers but would also
ensure jobs for the workers at Zuffen-
hausen for decades to come.
Despite being a loss leader, the 959
program’s commitment to engineering
the near impossible is why the current car
is so damn bloody good. We should think
of the 901, then, as the grandfather of the
modern 911. Which means the 959 is the
current car’s daddy. Yeah, that’s it. QSPECS 1964 PORSCHE 9011986 PORSCHE 959BASE PRICE $6,490 (1964, $54,149
in 2020 dollars)$225,000 (1986, $531,045
in 2020 dollars)VEHICLE LAYOUT Rear-engine, RWD, 4-pass,
2-door coupeRear-engine, AWD, 2-4-pass,
2-door coupe
ENGINE 2.0L/130-hp*/119-lb-ft* SOHC
12-valve flat-62.8-liter/444-hp/369-lb-ft
twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve flat-6
TRANSMISSION 4- or 5-speed manual 6-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT 2,400 lb 3,300-3,450 lb
WHEELBASE 86.8 in 89.4 in
L X W X H 163.9 x 63.4 x 51.9 in 167.7 x 72.4 x 50.4 in
0-60 MPH 8.0 sec (est) 3.6 sec
FUEL ECONOMY Not rated (17-21 mpg,
factory est)Not rated (18.9 mpg comb,
EU cycle)German for terrain. You might be familiar
with the term from Geländewagen, the
actual name of Mercedes’ G-Wagen. On
the 959, G is a super-low first gear meant
for off-roading. Remember, the 959 was
initially designed as a Group B rally car.
Back to driving.
Keep the throttle down, and a magical
handshake occurs between the two
turbos, more like the passing of a baton
from a marathoner to a sprinter. Just shy
of 5,000 rpm, the big turbo takes over
THE ENGINE SPEED
CLIMBS DRAMATICALLY,
AND IT’S UP TO YOU TO
SHIFT THAT GEAR.You won’t be able to see
this 90 1 horked over in a
corner, but you can visit
it—and this 959 and tons
more—at the Porsche
Museum in Stuttgart.
HISTORIC DRIVE
*Measured via European DIN standard54 MOTORTREND.COM JUNE 2020