Today's 959 Thrill - Photos of a 959 Prototype...

[Wayne 962]

Another anonymous friend of mine forwarded me these photos of a car that was just imported from Japan. This is a prototype 959, and the VIN number is one more than Helmut Bott's prototype.

See the photos by clicking on the first link on this page: http://www.959registry.org

The car is definitely a prototype - titled with a 930 VIN like the rest of them. This one is very close to the production 959, there are only a few changes that I can see in the photos from my production one (mine's #37). Here's what I see in the photos, any additional thoughts or info would be appreciated:

- The car has the early "961" style wheels on it. Most of the photos in the books from when the car was originally produced have these wheels on it. They don't have center caps, and the spokes are much thinner. I actually think they look "cooler" than the standard 959 wheels, and I am currently looking for a set for my car.

- VIN number corresponds to a 930, 10067. Helmut Bott's car that I photographed at Rennsport III is SN 10066. The current caretaker of this car was very glad to see that when I showed him those photos the other day, as he's trying to help document this as a prototype. The Porsche factory in Stuttgart was of no help to him.

- The engine bay looks the same, except that the air intake tubes are a little flatter.

- The underside of the carpeting has some interesting notations. Mine has a bunch of handwritten stuff inside in various places too though...

- The caretaker of this car thought that the brakes were 930 brakes, but they look just like the ones I have on my 959. They look pretty much like standard 959 calipers...

- The previous owner put center caps on the thin-spoked wheels which look odd to me, but they do make the car look better. These caps were never used with these early 961-style wheels.

- The letter shown with the pics basically says this is a prototype car and comes with no guarantees, etc.

- Interior looks pretty stock. Horn pad is loose, but is there, however, the production cars say "Porsche 959" on the horn pad. I have also not seen cloth seats used on any of the production non-S cars either. I suppose you could have ordered anything you wanted at the time though.

- All the cars came from the factory with the standard Blaupunkt radio, but this car has a crude radio block-off plate. Looks out of place to me, but then again, this is a prototype.

- Gauges are all standard 959.

Any more thoughts?

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Whoops, the link is wrong on the page. No wonder no one has commented on this! It's fixed now...

-Wayne

[911Freak]

The radio delete does seems like a non-factory modification to me...

Love the thinner spoked wheels too, very nice!
The cloth seats and their color design actually kind of work don't they?!

What ever happened to that white 959 you were looking at in Japan? The wrecked one, remember? When I saw this post I thought of that white 959 sitting in an uncovered stall somewhere in Japan

With a couple of "barn find" threads going on here I wonder what ever came of that 959. Did someone salvage it and restore it to original beauty or is it sitting in another 959 owners shop awaiting to be dissected into an exotic parts car?

Thanks for the link

Cheers

[Wayne 962]

On that car in Japan, there were too many unanswered questions and it was $100K for a parts car. At the time there was a 959 with 130,000 miles on it, selling for $200K, so that didn't quite seem like a smokin' deal. At $50K it would have been much more interesting.

-Wayne

[Reaper930]

I love those wheels, the're remiescient of the magnesium 15", 16" and 19" race wheels.

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Reaper930

I love those wheels, the're remiescient of the magnesium 15", 16" and 19" race wheels.

Yup, I'm currently looking for a set for the 959...

-Wayne

[G60SuperCharger]

That letter is interesting...I didn't know Porsche sold their prototypes to private parties! Looks like it was only purchased from Porsche in 2000? Very odd.

[Wayne 962]

Vasek Polak had a 959 Prototype chassis that he got directly from the factory, so I do know they did sell them to "special" customers from time to time...

-Wayne

[violin959]

010006 and 7
They were listed at manufactured in 1985

[Markus33]

Looks like it's the fourth link now on the 959 site for the car from Japan.

That radio delete plate looks like the same cheap $5 plastic item I purchased from my local Porsche dealer about 8 years ago. Fits about the same too.


Markus
'80 SC Targa