The first thing I notice is how stiff the clutch is in comparison to the new car. Then there's the brake pedal, which has absolutely zero travel. The steering is heavy at low speeds, but along the winding roads, it eases into a wonderfully communicative tool. The seats are supremely comfortable and there is tremendous visibility all round, unlike the 959's contemporaries.
It all feels very familiar, which helps settle any first-time nerves. But the trained eye will see that this isn't just any old 911. Tire pressure monitor, 340 kph speedometer, controls for damper settings and ride height-the clues are there.
I'm eager to get my first hit of pure, uncut 959. As soon as the road allows, I floor the throttle in second gear. Very little happens-it's quick but not especially startling. The boost gauge twitches as I edge above 3000 rpm; only the first of the two turbochargers is doing its stuff. As the revs climb swiftly to 5000 rpm, the second turbo wakes up and the effects leave me reeling. The car just roars, hunkers down and launches forward with stunning ferocity.
I rapidly run out of useable road, such is the 959's enormous ability, so I simply turn around and go through the process again. And again. Just to experience that shocking power delivery from the 2.85-liter flat-six. What I soon discover, though, is that the car shows its age on fast corners. Where you can keep your right foot planted in a 997 Turbo, safe in the knowledge that the car knows what it's doing and won't let you down, the 959 feels too soft, too spongy, too wallowy to really trust that the nose will turn in when you really need it, despite four-wheel drive and all that computing power. It feels more GT than out-and-out supercar.
The 959 is still hailed as the most sophisticated sports car ever built and the fact that Porsche made a colossal loss on each of the 200 built and sold simply adds to the mystique. Its magic becomes clear as the day progresses. Any male over the age of 30 who passes us while we do the photography stops and comes over to gawp. The new car they're not bothered with. The 997 Turbo looks too ordinary-which it certainly is not.
In the 1980s, the 959 was the future according to Porsche. It was a laboratory on wheels. Time has moved on, though, and the 997 Turbo does make a better case for itself as a flexible, everyday car. I even managed to slowly drive through town at speeds as low as 28 mph in sixth gear. Just imagine: 28 to 197 mph in one gear.
959: Gates' Way to the States
Quick, name someone who really does have it all, someone for whom money will never be short, someone who could have whatever he wanted. It's likely that you will have uttered 'Bill' and 'Gates'. But the 959 was to prove that money can't buy everything, even if you're one of the world's wealthiest individuals.
In the 959 owner's handbook, there's a couple of small paragraphs explaining that the car was definitely not for sale in America. Due to the limited production run, Porsche couldn't justify meeting the emissions regulations of the time, and wasn't prepared to sacrifice four 959s for crash testing, so the company's biggest market was denied its ultimate car. Bill Gates had other plans. Though Porsche had built 30 'US-spec' 959s, when the first eight examples landed on American soil, the EPA and DOT had them sent back to Europe-except one, kept by its owner on the strict condition that it was to be a museum piece only. Gates and his business partner, Paul Allen, both bought 959s and these too were seized upon arrival and spent many years under lock and key. Occasionally you'll see one for sale in America (prices can reach over $900,000) but the authorities still hunt them down and some owners have been fined in the region of $50,000 (as well as having their cars impounded), if they're found guilty of driving them on the road.
Gates campaigned for the rules to be relaxed so he could finally take possession of his car, helping push through the 'show and display' law. Allen gave up the fight and had his 959 shipped to Europe, where he still enjoys it to this day.