Real 959 on ebay....

[Pete000]

Always fun to see them when they show up for sale. Sorry don't have the link, just do a search for Porsche 959 and look at the highest priced item of course.

[layzee]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2496347220&category=6058

[Joehand1]

With only 250 built, I wonder if its' future value would mirror the rare 70s musclecars.

[Craig 930 RS]

If it ain't converted for US......$$$$$$$

[competentone]

I was going to bid on it, but the seller has that little (damm) annoying "pop-up" email tab that hangs on the screen -- anyone using somthing that annoying will never get my business!

More seriously: I thought the 959 was banned, by an act of Congress, from being street legal in the U.S.? Could that 959 be licensed and driven here?

[CJFusco]

the reason it was never imported into the US is because it was considered a new model and would have to be 1) crash-tested, and 2) emissions-choked for the US market. Porsche didn't want to do this.

Since it is X amount of years old now, it can be imported under the new "show and display" law, which dictates it is to be used in shows, parades, etc... with the mileage kept under 2000 per year. A shop on the east coast (Kanepa?) mods 959 emissions systems for US importation, and actually manages to make MORE hp in the process

[notfarnow]

Doesn't Bill Gates drive one? Or does he just OWN one?

[Wil Ferch]

Hold on !

CJFusco...partially correct....the 959 was *unique* in that the US gov't *specifically* called out the 959 to be particularly anti-social and wouldn't allow its operation "on US public highways"...regardless if it could have been grey-market converted, or not.

Notfarnow....Gates owns one that, at last report, is deteriorating dockside on the west coast. See answer to CJFusco as to "why".....

This last round of Canepa getting a hold of a bunch of 959's and (now) converting them at CGT prices indicates that the US Govt view must have changed in the intervening years.

Wil

[Eric Mckenna]

Eric McKenna "TV Star" drives the 959!



Eric

[competentone]

This was interesting:
http://erntheburn.tripod.com/autos/959/95911.htm

[BigD9146gt]

But they are legal arn't they? Compelle or some company in santa cruz california crashed 3 of them a few years for the feds to allow the 959 in, they were in Excellence...

Go figure, our government thinking that Porsche would produce a car that could win the Paris/Dakar and not meet todays safety standards. Porshce was one of the first car companies to have a colapsable steering colomn standard on their cars, and when a child was killed in a rollover accident and the cause of death was determind to be the metal coat hanger hook in the car, they made them rubber!

I would put money on the fact that our government didin't approve of the 959 because Porsche didn;t pay those beaucratic dicks the money they wanted. The TUV's standards are much higher than ours. Its all BS sugar coated in cash.

[K. Roman]

Happygirl Pink is highest bidder.

[JmuRiz]

Yep, to get it modded for USA use is bigtime $$$...good thing the shops that federalize them mod them to 500+hp...now you're talking!
959 Federalize article from Autoweek

[Craig 930 RS]

Different turbos - the old supercar is actually improved when federalized

[ZAMIRZ]

First F50 is also on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6212&item=2495440694&rd=1

[Wayne 962]

Sports Car Market Letter pegs these as being worth about $180-$200K

-Wayne

[Wrecked944]

Can you import one strictly for racing?

[BigD9146gt]

Sure, they're just not allowed on public roads, and i think bill gates had to sign a waver saying that he would NEVER drive his car on public roads.

[Pete000]

I have seen a silver one and a red one running around LA. Very cool to see one on the street. They guy with the silver one is very cool, even let me sit in it! He said he got it in Japan and purchased it from a museum there. He said he drives it almost every day. Mentioned it has cost him a bit to get the leaks fixed due to all the sitting it did for years. I took these shots in West LA before a dirve event with the 996 crowd.

[violin959]

1) Bruce Canepa does not EPA or DOT approve anything. He is not an RI or an ICI. He modifies the 959 rims to accept a Michelin tire but this procedure is unsafe, IMHO. All the POrsche rags got it all wrong and were not willing to tell the truth and print my letters.

2) John Dixon owns the first legally imported 959. I helped write the law that allows the car in and Bill Gates helped finance the lobbying that made it so.

3) I assisted Bill Gates in legalizing his 959 and he does drive it.

4) There are approximately 60 959's in the US.

5) The 959 would have passed US DOT and EPA. Helmut Bott, the father of the 959, drove a 959 with a catalytic converter installed. It would have passed CA emissions. The reason the 959 was not imported had more to do with a 930 death/lawsuit in CA that Porsche AG lost and the subsequent litigeousness that the US was experiencing.

6) Porsche has always supported their cars and the 959 is no exception. Parts are available. Service through very qualified shops is available, Andial in the West and Paul Russell in the east.

7) The F50 may not be a 1995. I would have to check the VIN but it is a high number. I know of at least six F50's advertised as 1995's which are 1996 or later. At least two have no conversions done to them. In the past Ebay has had many illegal or illegally converted cars and was finally pressured by the Feds to clean up. This is a common paperwork trick and was used on 7 McLaren F1's. Starting in 1996 EVERY car has to meet stricter OBD II emission regs. Call it a 1995 and you in.