Porsche 959

According to Manfred Bantle, Porsche's project manager at the time, the "Gruppe B" prototype was intended to be a "training car", but thanks to the almost unlimited budget allocated to the project, it became the most technologically advanced model of its time. The final version, unveiled in 1985, was a brilliant demonstration of the know-how of the Weissach development teams, with the result that the Porsche 959 was nicknamed "Weissachwunder", the Weissach miracle.

The Porsche 959 remained an impressive avant-garde vehicle for almost four decades, offering all the technological possibilities provided by the electronics that were then in full development. Its mechanical and aerodynamic characteristics made it an exceptional Grand Touring car. This true "Supercar", as they were called in the 1980s, combined the advantages of an average road car suitable for daily use on the one hand, with the performance of an ambitious sports car particularly suitable for competitions on the other.

A mobile laboratory    

The development of a Group B car became evident to Porsche once this category began to attract public interest and the leading manufacturers started to invest in it with models such as the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 or the Audi Quattro. Helmuth Bott, the chief engineer, initiated the project in 1981 and envisaged a new and improved version of the 911, despite the fact that this was no longer a priority at Porsche. The 911 SC-RS rally car was nearing the end of its career, but the idea of equipping it with all-wheel drive was approved and a prototype called "Gruppe B" was introduced at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show. The regulations for Group B required that a car competing in this category should be derived from a production model of which at least 200 units had been produced in order to be homologated. Consequently, the Porsche 959 in road version was presented to the public at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show. For the sake of the brand image, the general design of the 911, the flagship model of the company from Zuffenhausen, was continued. The bodywork was made of composite materials consisting of resin, glass fibre and Kevlar, while the doors and bonnets were made of aluminium. The water-cooled engine, installed in the rear overhang, was derived from that of the 956/962, used in endurance racing for a number of years. It is equipped with an all-wheel drive system with variable power distribution to the axles in relation to road conditions.

Victory at the Paris-Dakar race   

Just after the official presentation of the 959 Group B and whilst waiting for the car to be ready for competition, the Weissach centre prepared a 911 SC 4 x 4, called 953, to compete in the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally. Jacky Ickx, winner of the previous edition of the rally and for several years a factory driver for Porsche in endurance racing, recognised the advantages of all-wheel drive in conjunction with a Porsche-developed machine in this demanding desert event. Under the guidance of Peter Falk, the director of Porsche Motorsport, Jacky Ickx contributed all his knowledge and experience to this project. The car driven by René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne won the rally-raid from the start, while Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur finished 6th. For the Paris-Dakar in 1985, three intermediate and simplified versions of the 959 with a single turbo were entered. But when the car of René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne dropped out due to an engine failure, the Porsche team opted to withdraw from the race. Several months later, in October 1985, the lessons of this technical incident were learned and the final twin-turbo 959 of the team Saeed Al-Hajri and John Spiller won the Pharaons Rally. For the 8th edition of the Paris-Dakar Rally, which was held from 1 to 22 January 1986, three official Porsche 959s in Rothmans colours were lined up with Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur (No. 185), René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne (No. 186), and Roland Kussmaul (also Peter Falk's assistant) and Wolf-Hendrik Unger (No. 187). Metge and Lemoyne claimed the victory, followed by Ickx and Brasseur, providing Porsche with a strong one-two finish, which was complemented by 6th place for Kussmaul and Unger. The Group B was discontinued in 1987, and the short career of the 959 ended the following July at the Rallye des 1000 Pistes, where René Metge and Jean-Marc Andrié finished 3rd. However Porsche was always one step ahead and a 961 version intended for Endurance racing had already been built.