Porsche (POAHY) is an interesting sports car maker whose legendary models and nameplates go together with its interesting roster of famous owners.
Recently, a Porsche 911 Targa owned by 90's TV icon Jerry Seinfeld sold for $164,000 at an online auction, but another legendary Porsche with a more peculiar former owner is about to hit the auction block.
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Crossing the auction block during Broad Arrow Auctions' upcoming event is a very special Porsche 959 with a very interesting backstory.
Though the backstory of the Porsche 959 on its own grants it enough merit to be coveted by enthusiasts and exotic car collectors, this special green Porsche had a very unusual owner.
According to the listing on the Broad Arrow catalog, the documents accompanying this 1988 Porsche 959 shows that the original owners of the super Porsche was none other than the Nissan Motor Company (NSANF) .
1988 Porsche 959 SC Reimagined by Canepa
Broad Arrow Auctions
As per Broad Arrow, Nissan got the car after it attempted to order a 959 through a Porsche dealership and went through a convoluted buying process involving a Belgian national after the order was rejected by Porsche themselves.
There was a good, legitimate reason for Porsche to reject the order. Once Nissan engineers in Yokohama got the car, they reportedly studied and copied key elements from the 959's all wheel drive system to use in their own legendary sports car - the coveted Nissan Skyline GT-R.
Thanks for the clever engineering 'borrowed' from the Stuttgart powerhouse, the GT-R became a household name beyond the borders of Japan through racing, video games and movies like "The Fast and The Furious." A modern version of the car - the Nissan GT-R, is still sold by Nissan to this day.
Nissan
Nissan's decision to buy a 959 was not coincidental. Simply put, it was the best car that any manufacturer offered in its day.
When it was released in 1986, the Porsche 959 achieved a top speed that neared 200 miles per hour. Its body was made of aluminum and kevlar and featured a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system, a 444 horsepower, twin-turbocharged engine and advanced tech like the first tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).
Initially built to race in Group B rallying, it was the brand's most extreme and most advanced model it produced at the time - which in turn, also attracted some very famous owners including Bill Gates and Boris Becker.
Broad Arrow Auctions
In a 2011 interview on Top Gear, the former world No. 1 tennis player talked about the dangerous antics he did with the super fast Porsche after he acquired it when he was just 19 years old.
"I drove it rather fast. I wanted to show that I'm a man, and not a teenager," Becker admitted to Jeremy Clarkson. "Me and my best friend Patrick at the time, said 'why don't we together drive from Frankfurt to Monte Carlo?' There's this highway from Milan to Genoa, three lanes, where we maybe give it a go."
"That's exactly what happened. So I went 326 [kilometers per hour] [~200 miles per hour] on a highway - that's three times the speed limit allowed in Italy."
The interior of the 1988 Porsche 959 SC Reimagined by Canepa
Broad Arrow Auctions
With capabilities like that, it is no wonder why Nissan decided to take a closer look. However, what it did was not a no-no in the auto industry, as automakers regularly buy the competition to compare against their own work.
General Motors, for instance tested Ferraris at its test tracks to be used as a benchmark for various models of the Corvette.
Additionally, Honda project leader Nick Robinson told Automotive News in 2016 that when Porsche found out one of its 911 GT3's were being used as a test car for the Acura NSX, they left a note reading "Good luck Honda from Porsche. See you on the other side" under the engine cover after a necessary service.
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According to the auction house, after the car's life at Nissan, it was sold to one of the Skyline GT-R's engineers and was never registered in Japan. The car fell into the hands of restoration house Canepa, who gave the car a through work-around, including a new paint job and a newly modified engine making upwards of 800 horsepower.
Broad Arrow Auctions estimates that this car - Lot 220, the 1988 Porsche 959 SC Reimagined by Canepa will fetch an estimated $3,250,000 - $3,750,000 when it hits the auction block at the Amelia Auction on March 1 and 2.
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