Aw yeah, love the rally 959.

 

Last August I saw one of the other Dakar 959s

 

Nick Faldo had a 959. The car was mildly famous as his girlfriend took a golf club to it when he broke up with her. About 10k worth of damage if I recall correctly!

 

Many moons ago (well, duh!), Porsche brought the 959 concept/prototype Down Under so we could all drool over it. Interesting to see the small details that were changed before it went into production - the wheels being the most obvious:


I also spent last night in the company of a large private collection of rare and/or expensive automobiles, including a 959 which the owner recently added to his stable. Chassis# 900020; no pics.

 

That's all? She couldn't have been swinging it too hard!

 

Two different cars with the same race number. Someone somewhere is being liberal with the truth.

EDIT: Never mind - same number but different years.

 

@Cadillac

They are not 959’s

Sorry this is one of those car nerd things that drive me nuts.

While the 959 and 288GTO where designed for group B it was not group B rally but group B road that used the same formula. For a few reasons this series never happened. It’s a misnomer and widely misreported that they where developed for rally.

The actual race car that won was a 953 in 1984 which had 959 inspired body work and related 4x4 system but at its heart was a 901(911) chassis and engine.

The 1985 cars where even more closely related to the 959 but still not based on the 959 chassis.

 

Interesting, because according to the official Dakar history (archived here - takes a while to retrieve), the '84 cars were indeed 911s, but the '85 and '86 cars are described as 959s.

 

Porsche says otherwise and calls the 85 car a 953 which is well documented.

 

Evo-licious

 

Another from the Petersen Auto Museum.

Like Tesla, Plymouth also had a problem with their first self driving automobile.

 

Wanted to buy a new VW Up! Gti, but deterred by long waiting time and can't-be-bothered attitude of local retailers. So I have bought a late example of its predecessor, which happens to have a better engine, (larger capacity/normally aspirated), more charismatic styling, features lightweight panels, better seats, no not-turnoffable-ECS and more practical wheel/tyre sizes. The Up! is very clever and efficient in many ways (I also have a 'High' model) but the Lupo Gti is rare, more engaging to drive and has a very cheeky rear-end!

 

What a sweet ride! Not available in the U.S., unfortunately.

 

Look what I came across.

 

Not going make it up this year, but Gooding & Company always puts on a very nice auction with plenty of quality cars.

 

Gets expensive the more things you do. When I go up I tend to just do the Historics at the track. And some of the free shows during the week.

 

Still not keen on Jags, but the E-Type was impressive when launched. Stumbled upon this one this morning: