by Mike –

Here is my pick for the classic car for sale today that I would like to own. This is a very rare and highly desirable Porsche – the 959. Porsche created a new category of super car with this design and the 959 set the standard that all other super cars had to meet. Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini and others had to live with the legacy Porsche created with the 959.

With a top speed of 198 mph and a 0–60 mph time of 3.6 seconds – in 1986! These numbers still put the Porsche 959 in a very elite class nearly 30 years later. There were only 337 959s made between 1986 and 1989.

1988 Porsche 959 ‘Komfort’

RM Auction says,

* 450 bhp, 2849 cc rear-mounted, air- and liquid-cooled, horizontally-opposed six-cylinder engine with twin two-stage turbochargers and intercooling, six-speed manual transmission, four-wheel drive, independent double wishbone front and rear suspension with electronically adjustable ride height and shock absorber control, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes with ventilated rotors. Wheelbase: 89.4 in.

* One of the most important Porsches; a technological tour de force

* Extremely rare in the United States

* Acquired from and fully serviced by Canepa Design

* Excellent overall condition, with 17,727 km from new

* Porsche Certificate of Authenticity

This Porsche 959 is for sale at the RM Auction of the Don Davis collection in Ft. Worth, Texas on April 27, 2013.

The estimate is $500,000 – $650,000 without reserve.

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The Porsche 959 was not legally imported into the US before 1999 when the “Show and Display” law was passed thanks to the efforts of Bruce Canapa (who told me that Bill Gates and Paul Allen helped fund this effort). Canapa also says he sold a 959 to Gates and to Allen, the founders of Microsoft.

This Porsche 959 was given the Canapa treatment which means that it will perform very well and that is was certainly very expensive. Canapa has specialized in importing Porsche 959s into the US and making them US legal.

RM Auction also made this statement below,

Please note that this car was imported to the United States under the Show and Display waiver. As such, it cannot be registered for the street in California unless it is made emissions compliant.

I am surprised that this 959 was not made California legal the first time it was in Canapa’s shop but maybe since it was going to Texas Canapa only did the work needed to meet Texas law and not the California requirements.

If a California resident buys this Porsche it will need another trip to the Canapa shop and more money must be spent. These cars have increased in value significantly over the past 10 years or so and if the estimate on this one is met then this will be one of the most expensive 959s ever.

Let us know what you think about this classic car in the Comments.

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