1985 Porsche 959 Rally Racer Could Bring $3 Million at Auction
Dakar Rally participant is the only privately owned Porsche 959 Group B in existence.
While looking through the vehicles included in the upcoming RM Sotheby’s Porsche 70th Anniversary Auction in Atlanta, we came across this incredible 1985 959 rally race car. One of just seven purpose-built 959 rally racers and one of the three cars to participate in the Paris-Dakar Rally, this is the only complete example that is still running and privately owned. One was destroyed while racing, the automaker owns five of them and this is the other one, and if you have at least $3-million dollars laying around, it could be yours.
959 Rally Racers
Back in the 1980s, Group B racing was all the rage, with many automakers getting involved in the world of high-performance, production-based rally racing. Porsche had shown interest in getting involved with the Gruppe B Concept in 1983, but when team driver Jacky Ickx showed interest in running the Paris-Dakar Rally in a variant of the 956, the German automaker jumped on the opportunity to get involved.
At first, Ickx and his team campaigned a trio of unique 911 SC RS race cars that featured lightweight body panels, composite windows and a mechanical all-wheel-drive system. In the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally, one of these specially-prepared 911 rally cars won the race with another finishing 6th and the other finishing 17th in the 7,500-mile cross-country race.
After that success in 1984, Porsche rolled out a trio of purpose-built 959 rally race cars, featuring a naturally-aspirated engine, a new chassis and the bodywork of the Gruppe B Concept. The car shown here was one of those three 1985 race cars and it was doing well early in the race, but a ruptured oil line around the halfway point forced this 959 race car to retire. In fact, all three of the Porsche 959 team cars failed to finish in 1985, with one car crashing early in the race and another, driven by Jacky Ickx, crashed while leading the race.
In the 1986 running of the Paris-Dakar rally, the 959 rally cars switched to a turbocharged engine and that move paid off, with two of the cars combining for a 1-2 finish while the third team car finished 6th.
Unfortunately, 1986 was the final year for Group B racing, as the cars were getting too fast and that led to a handful of fatal accidents.
959 Group B Chassis 010015
As mentioned above, the car shown here is 1985 Porsche 959 Group B race car chassis number 010015. It was one of the three cars to compete in the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally and it failed to finish as a result of the faulty oil line. It was driven by 1984 winners Dominique Lemoyne and René Metge, and after the disappointing results in the 1985 Dakar race, it was retired from competition. At some point, this 959 was sold into a private collection and at some point, it ended up in a collection in Virginia.
While in the possession of the unnamed collector in Virginia, this Porsche 959 Group B car participated in the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2004, 2005 and 2006, where it was driven by Jacky Ickx and his daughter. In 2008, this car won its class at the famous Quail Motorsports Gathering in Carmel Valley, California.
Today, the car is powered by an era-correct 3.2-liter Boxer engine that has been prepared for vintage racing events, but it comes with the racing engine used by the 1985. It wears the Rothmans livery from the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally and as the auction listing points out, the owner of this car will be welcome at pretty much any vintage racing event or auto show in the world.
This Porsche is arguably one of the most unique collectables from the German automaker, but owning such a rare car won’t come cheap. The RM Sotheby’s website lists the expected price range of this car to be in the area of $3,000,000 to $3,400,000, but if you are crazy-rich, you can bid on this car when it goes on sale on October 27th at the Porsche 70th Anniversary Auction at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
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