Mason Bloom
One of the most legendary Porsches has been listed for auction on Bring a Trailer and, with a current bid of over $1.8M, it’s on track to be BaT’s most expensive car ever sold. That Porsche, the 959, is a groundbreaking car. It uses a highly advanced all-wheel-drive system, was the first car with sequential turbochargers and active suspension among other things, and was named the fastest production car with a top speed of 197 miles per hour. It paved the way for the supercars of today with such advancements.
This particular 959 is one of 337 “Komfort” models made from 1986-88 (no need to bust out the translators, as Komfort, much to our surprise, translates to comfort). This European model resided in a Japanese museum for some time before being imported to the US in 2015, and was bought by its current owner in May of 2021.
This 959 is coated in the iconic Guards Red, and is paired with 17-inch hollow-spoke magnesium wheels which are only found on the 959. It also comes with currently-not-functioning height adjustable suspension and also non-working ABS. However, the four piston, vented brakes have quite a bit of stopping power.
Despite being a revolutionary track machine and with roots tracing back to Paris-Dakar rally where it took a one-two finish in the 1986, the 959 is surprisingly loaded with creature comforts. It comes equipped with power adjustable, leather, heated sports seats, air conditioning, and a revolutionary tire pressure monitoring system. Leather further extends to the door panels, steering wheel, and dashboard.
The Porsche 959 uses a twin-turbo, 444-horsepower, 2.85L flat six, similar to those found in the 956 and 962 endurance race cars. With a six speed manual and AWD, the 959 can propel itself to 60 miles per hour from a standstill in a mere 3.6 seconds… in the 80s! This example has clocked a mere 800 miles.
A free CarFax report comes with the listing, noting that there is no damage with a detailed servicing record provided.
The current bid rests at $1,859,959 with 10 days left on the listing. The most expensive car to sell on BaT is a $2M Porsche Carrera GT, meaning this 959 could take the crown.
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