Red Carpet Roll Out: 959 on BaT

[stevej37]

Wayne has some great comments in the listing...regarding his 959 experience.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I never "got" the 959 from an esthetic standpoint. I think the first time I saw a picture of one was in an article with Bill Gates driving one on the track and I just found it odd looking...but I think the 964 was the apex of 911 air cooled evolution.

So there's that. That and I like Targa's

Proof that there is an a$$ for every seat.

I almost have my 997 back on the road, so my opinion may change!

Bill Gates could be flying the F-15 and make it look lame. So there is that.

[pavulon]

Like so much in life, 959s need to be appreciated for what they are/were instead of criticized for what they might not be.

[Joe Bob]

1300km and inoperable systems? WTF? Fix it and THEN sell it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

1300km and inoperable systems? WTF? Fix it and THEN sell it.

that's my thought as well. Like I said, they aren't selling an '87 Cutlass Supreme for $2k. This is a $2mil car that's nearly new. And it's not like the radio stopped working and the power passenger's seat moves forward and backward, but not up and down. This is the ABS and suspension.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I never "got" the 959 from an esthetic standpoint. I think the first time I saw a picture of one was in an article with Bill Gates driving one on the track and I just found it odd looking...but I think the 964 was the apex of 911 air cooled evolution.

So there's that. That and I like Targa's

Proof that there is an a$$ for every seat.

I almost have my 997 back on the road, so my opinion may change!

+1

The tech is amazing the look? It looks like a 911 from that era was stung by a bee.

[rusnak]

If I had an extra $1.6M and the means to import it and register it in the USA, I'd totally buy it. An analog Porsche 911 that can cruise all day at 200 mpg? Not to mention the sheer technical triumph that it still is? Heck yes, please.

[speeder]

200 mpg?? Now I want it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rusnak

If I had an extra $1.6M and the means to import it and register it in the USA, I'd totally buy it. An analog Porsche 911 that can cruise all day at 200 mpg? Not to mention the sheer technical triumph that it still is? Heck yes, please.

959 vs Ruf Yellow Bird

I'd rather have the yellow bird.

[rusnak]

^ OK, I agree with that. The original Yellowbird vs this particular 959.

But would you choose one of the Yellowbird clones? Perhaps one based on the 964?

What if the 959 was a Sport, or let's say this one:

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rusnak

^ OK, I agree with that. The original Yellowbird vs this particular 959.

But would you choose one of the Yellowbird clones? Perhaps one based on the 964?

What if the 959 was a Sport, or let's say this one:

I'm OK with a yellow bird clone as long as it's faithful and accurate.

Hmm, that might be tough.

I'd probably want a test drive of each before I decided.

[stevej37]

[Superman]

Notwithstanding complaints of inadequate routine maintenance, that has to be the finest surviving example of one of the most important automobiles of all time.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I had to watch that several times.

In the comments they're talking about how fast it is compared to the CGT. I dont think that is the point though, is it? It's more about the potential acceleration, or the potential top speed, because you're really not going to drive it flat out anywhere on a public road. That's like tossing two million dollars into the wind.

By pioneering all of the tech that it did, at the time when no one had things like torque vectoring and street worthy anti lock braking (Porsche came up with it in the 1970s with the 917 but they had problems on bumpy tracks), sequential turbo charging, different engine and chassis modes that you can select with a switch, tire pressure monitoring, etc etc - I think Porsche advanced vehicle technology forward by at least a decade with that one car. And it's not a one-off or a prototype. It won races. It was produced and sold to customers. It was such a milestone and a technical tour de force, Porsche was reported to have lost money on each car they sold. It's still considered a success for Porsche merely for the number of firsts that they achieved with it.

We are looking at a production car that did all of this. Think about that a minute. That is astounding.

[speeder]

The maintenance stuff doesn't matter, it's not going to be driven. Plus, it can be serviced. It's an unbelievably valuable lump of metal.

I need to dig up the original sales literature that I have on the 959. I was working at the dealership in 1986/87 and worked the LA auto show, can't remember where I got it(?)

Should be worth a pretty penny if I can find it.