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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Ultra-Rare Porsche 959 Prototype Ready For Barrett-Jackson Auction
One of the original factory cars used by engineers to develop the groundbreaking 1980s supercar will be crossing the block in Scottsdale.
The Porsche 959 prototype helped the performance engineers develop the production car from the race car. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)
Barrett-Jackson is offering one of the rarest and most desirable of all road-going Porsches at its Scottsdale auction, a factory prototype for the groundbreaking 959 super sports car (Lot #5011).
For anyone who knows anything about Porsche, the numbers 959 are infused with magic. The Porsche 959 was startling not only for its technological achievements – it was one of the first performance road cars with all-wheel drive – but also for its jaw-dropping aerodynamic bodywork that took the classic shape of the 911 to a different level.
The 959 was unveiled as a Group B race car at the Frankfort Motor Show in 1983, and two years later shown in Frankfort as a limited production car for the 1986 model year.
This is one of the 29 pre-production prototypes that Porsche engineers created as they developed the race car into a street machine. Just four prototypes survive today, and this is one of only two that remain in running condition.
The 959’s twin-turbocharged flat-six engine churns 450 horsepower, and when the street versions began production in 1986, they were heralded as the world’s fastest production cars, capable of reaching 195 mph.
Just over 300 959s were ever produced and when new, they were never permitted for import to the United States.
With good reason, the prototype Porsche 959 is something of a Holy Grail for any Porsche collector. This is a verifiable piece of Porsche history from when factory engineers transformed their advanced race car into one of the world’s most memorable super sports cars.
The 42nd annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction takes place Jan 13-20 at WestWorld, with 39 hours of live coverage on SPEED. For more information about the January event, see Barrett-Jackson.com.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
For anyone who knows anything about Porsche, the numbers 959 are infused with magic. The Porsche 959 was startling not only for its technological achievements – it was one of the first performance road cars with all-wheel drive – but also for its jaw-dropping aerodynamic bodywork that took the classic shape of the 911 to a different level.
The 959 was unveiled as a Group B race car at the Frankfort Motor Show in 1983, and two years later shown in Frankfort as a limited production car for the 1986 model year.
This is one of the 29 pre-production prototypes that Porsche engineers created as they developed the race car into a street machine. Just four prototypes survive today, and this is one of only two that remain in running condition.
The 959’s twin-turbocharged flat-six engine churns 450 horsepower, and when the street versions began production in 1986, they were heralded as the world’s fastest production cars, capable of reaching 195 mph.
Just over 300 959s were ever produced and when new, they were never permitted for import to the United States.
With good reason, the prototype Porsche 959 is something of a Holy Grail for any Porsche collector. This is a verifiable piece of Porsche history from when factory engineers transformed their advanced race car into one of the world’s most memorable super sports cars.
The 42nd annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction takes place Jan 13-20 at WestWorld, with 39 hours of live coverage on SPEED. For more information about the January event, see Barrett-Jackson.com.
Bob Golfen, Automotive Editor for SPEED.com, is a veteran auto writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, with a passion for collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. SPEED.com fans can email Bob Golfen at
Goodwood Festival Of Speed
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