Porsche 959

When looking at the low, sleek lines of the Porsche 959, it’s hard to believe it was spawned from a Group B rally car. Porsche saw Group B as the perfect place to test production car technology, a plan which lead to the development of Porsche’s revolutionary four-wheel-drive system, later used in the production 959. Due to the disbandment of Group B by the FIA in 1986, the Group B 959 never had the chance of compete alongside Lancia Delta S4’s, Audi Quattro’s and Ferrari 288 GTO’s, which would have been quite the sight. The Group B spec 959 later showed considerable rally prowess, placing well in the Paris-Dakar.

Due to the cancellation of Group B, Porsche were able to take time to sculpt the production 959 into one of the greatest supercars ever, a quality product, a clear departure from the usual Group B road cars thrown together quickly to please the FIA’s homologation regulations. Enveloped in the back of the aluminium and Kevlar body sat a 2.8-litre twin-turbocharged flat-6 producing 444hp, enough to push the car to 198mph, making the Porsche 959 the fastest production car in the world. Featuring the computerised 4WD and adjustable suspension system developed in Group B, the 959 was jam packed with high tech features like magnesium wheels, adjustable ride height, run flat tires, tire pressure sensors and a roll cage built into the pillars. So great were the technological advances of the 959, Porsche made a loss of around £200,000 for each of the 345 959’s sold.