959 Porn: Original Porsche Factory 959 Assembly Photos...

[Wayne 962]

An anonymous friend of mine gave me this box of slides a few months ago. I had them scanned, and here's what was on them. Very, very, very cool...

The first link on the 959 Registry page sends you there:

http://www.959registry.org/

The images are uploading right now, and should be ready very soon...

-Wayne

[Dutchie]

Nice !!! thanks for posting those. What is the part with the yellow circle for ?

Cheers,

Ed

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Love those pictures - especially the ones with the crazy German guys in 'em...

[Oh Haha]

In one pic there is a guy bending down looking at the front and it sure looks like Alois Ruf. I tried posting the slide but I can't seem to make it work today.

[exc911ence]

Wow, fantastic Wayne, thanks for sharing!

[sc_rufctr]

The level of engineering is awesome. There will never be another car like the 959.

You can see why Porsche lost money on every 959 they built.

[willtel]

That is really cool, thanks for making these available.

It is interesting to see just how similar and how different the 959 tub is from the 911. Does anyone know if these tubs started life as 959s or was a standard 911 tub modified at some point to create the 959?

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by willtel

That is really cool, thanks for making these available.

It is interesting to see just how similar and how different the 959 tub is from the 911. Does anyone know if these tubs started life as 959s or was a standard 911 tub modified at some point to create the 959?

I don't know for sure but looking at the photos I'm guessing the tubs were pretty much standard 911 but with a lot of individual parts unique to the 959. (suspension areas etc)

I know the bodies were made by Bayer Plastics in Germany.

[esotoracing]

this is a terrific photo....thanks wayne

[Oh Haha]

RUF?

[kycarguy 935]

Those are great Wayne. Thanks for posting them.

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by willtel

The front and rear suspension definately required new mounts for the upper and lower wishbones. There were also the mounting points for the twin shocks. It needed reinforcement for the coil-over springs.

Definately a different breed of cat from the base 911.

[Wayne 962]

My anonymous friend sent me a note, and asked me to add this to the thread:

The one picture is of Alois Ruf, he happened to be visiting the Factory the one of the same days we were also visiting in May 1987. I had meet him and visited his Pfaffenhausen shop a year earlier. After we left Stuttgart we visited the RUF shop. It just so happened that was right after the Yellow Bird had won the first Road & Track high speed test. Alois took each of us out for a test ride in the Yellow Bird (YB) ...I think he only took the YB up to about 310K per/hour. Truly unbelievable, more incredible than the ride we had a few days earlier at Weissach test track with the Factory driver in the 959.

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Dutchie

Nice !!! thanks for posting those. What is the part with the yellow circle for ?

Cheers,

Ed

This is called a pressure accumulator and is part of the antilock brake system. If you thought that working on a 959 wasn't complicated or confusing, check out this diagram of the system that contains that part (part #1).



-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by exc911ence

Wow, fantastic Wayne, thanks for sharing!

You'd have to thank my anonymous friend, who has been on and seen this thread. He didn't want to be mentioned because he thought that people at the factory might not like these photos "getting out". However, after dealing with Porsche for many years, I doubt they care too much about 21 year old photos of the 959 assembly workshop.

Very cool!

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

The level of engineering is awesome. There will never be another car like the 959.

I actually think that Porsche's two other supercars (the street GT1 and the Carrera GT) are similar in concept and in nature. Anyone who has taken a really, really close look at a Carrera GT will tell you that the car is simply a no-excuses engineering marvel. The Carrera GT in street legal version is faster and handles better than many Le Mans cars from the past!

-Wayne

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

My anonymous friend sent me a note, and asked me to add this to the thread:



-Wayne

Man, I have got to get out more. I thought that looked alot like Alois in the pic.


Very cool.

[berettafan]

Liked the pic showing the underside of the tub w/ just the various electrical and i suppose hydraulic lines installed. LOT's of tech stuff going on in that car!

[daepp]

I have always loved everything air-cooled from Porsche. That said, the 959 always seems too complex to me. IS it that much better car than the 993 TT's?

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by DAEpperson

I have always loved everything air-cooled from Porsche. That said, the 959 always seems too complex to me. IS it that much better car than the 993 TT's?

Faster and better than the 993TT, very close to the 996 Turbo. The 997 Turbo and GT2 are faster and better than the 959...

-Wayne