What: 1989 Porsche 959
Color: Unknown Red
VIN: N/A
Mileage: 61,700 km, 38,338
Price: CHF 2’098’500
CarFax: N/A
Window Sticker: N/A
Location: Porrentruy, Switzerland
Link: Lamborghini Porrentruy
Alright, this one’s a bit of a mystery. A semi-thorough Googling searching this car doesn’t reveal any details while the Lamborghini dealership that has it in inventory also offers no online description. Perhaps by the time you read this they will have provided us some details. If you’re reading this and no further details are offered though, that means we were unable to learn more about this highly unusual Porsche 959 as of this time.
Here’s what we can glean from the photos. The car appears to be red and may be Guards Red based on other known 959s. If it’s Guards Red, that would definitely make it rare given Porsche’s most ubiquitous red wasn’t the standard red offering, which would have bene Ruby Red.
There’s a whole lot more going on here though than red paint. Given there were so few 959s, color-matched wheels and red interior also would have been special wishes.
The seats are also worth a mention, color-matched Recaro Pole Positions. Porsche wasn’t installing Pole Positions in their cars until the 964 era, though the earliest 964s were leaving the factory at about the same time and it all would have been interchangeable. Based on the leather fitment around the harness holes on the bolsters though, it’s probably more likely this car was redone and that interior reupholstered at some point.
The car has no roll cage, so it appears to be based on a 959 Komfort.
Given it’s a 959, we reached out to Bruce Canepa at Canepa Design. Bruce is literally the author of the Show and Display rule that he got passed when importing cars for Paul Allen and Bill Gates. Today, his firm in Scotts Valley is responsible for the incredible 959 SC commissioned reimagined cars. The world of Porsche 959s isn’t that big, so we figured Bruce would know the car.
What we learned is that we’re nearly certain the car didn’t leave the factory this way, especially with the later 964-era Recaro seats. Bruce also confirmed that this car is not one of the 123 959s to date that have gone through his shop, so he’d never actually seen it in person even though several clients had approached him about the car. Whether or not the changes were done by Porsche themselves at Werk 1 Bruce wasn’t able to confirm, nor whether or not the changes were done in period.
Thanks to Bruce Canepa for further insight into the car.
Do you know more about this car? If so, please share it below in the comments or drop us a line.
