While for millennials the Porsche 918 Spyder may be the ultimate road-going Porsche, the iconic 959 is still regarded by many as Weissach engineers’ finest hour.
Introduced in the mid-1980s, the 959 was powered by a 2.8-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six engine pumping out 444 hp and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque, which made it the fastest street-legal production car of the time. Curious to see what all the fuss is about, Jay Leno decided to check out a stunning 959 for the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.
Considering all the iconic vehicles which have been featured on the show over the years, we’re surprised that he hasn’t had a 959 before. Perhaps to make up for the lack of 959 content, Leno was handed the keys to a bright red example, a radical departure from the plain shade of white featured across most 959s.
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The 959 can sprint to 60 mph (96 km/h) in a blistering 3.8 seconds and goes on to an impressive 197 mph (317 km/h) top speed. These figures are still impressive to this day, but back in the 1980s, they were simply extraordinary and perfectly show just how well-versed Porsche was in making extreme, yet perfectly usable, supercars all those decades ago.
Picking upa 959 new would typically set buyers back roughly $200,000; today, used examples routinely fetch in excess of $1 million, which reflects its status in the automotive universe. Not only has the 959 proved to be a timeless exotic with blistering performance, but it has also become a hugely desirable car for collectors.