Without this Porsche 959, the Nissan GT-R would not exist

Without this Porsche 959, the Nissan GT-R would not exist


This Porsche 959 was once – believe it or not – owned by Nissan. The manufacturer managed to get the car secretly through the roundabout and immediately dismantled it.

Porsche wanted to participate in the popular Group B rally class and began developing the 959 in 1981, which was presented as a Gruppe B concept car at the IAA in Frankfurt two years later.

Late Porsche 959

The 959 was technically very complex, with a very advanced 4WD system, height-adjustable chassis and a body made of composite materials. Because of that, development took a long time.

Porsche 959
(Afbeelding: Broad Arrow Auctions)

A very long time, because when 959 was ready, Group B no longer existed. The extreme rally class was banned by the FIA ​​in 1986 after a series of fatal accidents involving the public.

Walking around the block with a Porsche 959 worth millions of euros

Porsche won the Paris-Dakar with the 959, but had little success with the production version of the sports car. It was very expensive, with a starting price of DM 420,000, but production cost Porsche twice as much.

Nissan was rejected

Ultimately, less than three hundred were built, one of which was secretly purchased by Nissan. Initially, the Japanese manufacturer approached Porsche for the 959, but they refused.

Porsche 959
(Afbeelding: Broad Arrow Auctions)

So Nissan came up with a trick. Finally, this car – chassis number 022 – was ordered by D’leteren, the Belgian Porsche importer, for a customer in Belgium.

Make it green again! A green Porsche with green leather is a great choice

But through the customer, the car was immediately sent to the Japanese city of Yokohama, where Nissan took it apart to examine the 4WD system in detail.

All-wheel drive Skyline GT-R

Without this 959, Nissan would never have come up with the ATTESA ET-S (Advanced All-Terrain Transmission System with Electronic Torque Split), which is on the legendary Skyline GT-R.

Eventually, the 959 was bought by an engineer who worked… from Skyline GT-R R32 he had worked. He never registered it and removed it after a few years.

Porsche 959 SC Reimagined

Porsche is now anything but standard. It was replaced by the American specialist Canepa in the 959 SC Reimagined, with a new color (Oak Green) and a beautiful brown interior.

Initially, the 2.8 twin-turbo six-cylinder boxer engine produced 450 hp and 500 Nm of torque. Canepa has done this: 800 hp and 884 Nm.

The Porsche 911 Dakar is so cool that it still smokes Rothmans cigarettes

959 SC Reimagined is coming soon under the hammer in Florida, where it should offer between 3.25 and 3.75 million dollars (converted between 3 and 3.5 million euros).

Did you see an error? Send us an email. We thank you.