959 Prototype

What was billed as one of four existing prototypes for the Porsche 959, and one of only two that can move under their own power, sold at the Barrett-Jackson January auction for $440,000 including buyer's premium. The critical question I had on this car was how much of a "959" was it? That is, did it have all of the advanced engineering systems--variable torque split, variable ride height, variable shock stiffness, etc.--that wound up in the 959 production car, or were some things left out or only partially done? The catalog description did not address this question. I contacted Porsche Stuttgart for information but didn't get anywhere. I hope the new owner did their homework.
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Auction catalog listing for the 959 Prototype copied below. Per the catalog, the car has a 1986 Turbo chassis and VIN, and does not have the special hollow rims or run-flat Bridgestone tires. Porsche Stuttgart said they could not help with any information even after I sent them the VIN and Prototype Code.

Another issue with a "prototype" is the legality of getting it registered for road use. I dug into that a bit and felt it was a gray area that could present some serious liability issues to the owner and insurer if there was a claim resulting from an accident. If this car is bound for static display in a collection, that is not a problem.

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Lot Number: 5011 Auction: SCOTTSDALE 2013 Status: AVAILABLE Sale Type: NO RESERVE Price: Year: 1986 Make: PORSCHE Model: 959 Style: PROTOTYPE VIN: WPOZZZ93ZFS010067

Code V1KOM (EX: BB-PW481) testing car. One of two running prototypes and one of only four survivors. The Porsche 959 is one of the greatest sports cars ever to be assembled and touch the black asphalt which covers the roads on which the 959 is an undisputed champion. The 959 is one of if not the greatest Porsche ever assembled and is just as rare as its title as a world class sports car. In October of 1983, Porsche A.G. announced they will produce 200 Street Version 959s and will sell them to the lucky 200 new owners who are on the Porsche's VIP list. For three years Porsche engineers studied and worked on the 959s prototypes and designs. The street version of the 959 debuted at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show as a 1986 model, these were pre-production model carrying the Porsche 930 Turbo chassis numbers. In 1985, Helmut Bott, head of the 959 development, had taken 29 of 1986 model 930 Turbo chassis from the Porsche factory to turn them into the 959 pre-production prototypes and these were called Code F, N and V. These 29 prototypes were the latest prototypes and they were used for various final tests, media coverage, crush tests and road tests.



This car is one of the 7 V-series prototypes and it was used as the chassis, ABS development car which was seen at the famous high speed testing facilities like Nardo, Italy and Minerva, France. Sadly most of the 29 prototype 959s were destroyed and scrapped by the Porsche factory after the 959 project had ended, this particular prototype became one of only four surviving and also one of only two running prototypes in existence still wearing its original pre-production Dunlops with its original prototype light weight wheels. All production 959s were delivered with Bridgestone RE71s with production type wheels. With Porsche factory no-longer releasing any prototype automobiles to the public, this is a very rare chance in owning a prototype Porsche. Not only is it a prototype Porsche, it doesn't get any better than owning the 959 prototype.

 

IIRC, all of the 959s I have information on do have "ZZZ" in the 4-5-6 locations in the VIN, as does my 1988 #167. The auction listing for the prototype said it had a 1986 930 VIN. I don't know if a 930 VIN should have "ZZZ" or not.