mAxllululul DR VER mAxlmum

By Leon Mandel

way up one side of the oppo- hese civilized hills have seen mic, rackety rit" bant. rum. abruprly on its uacks like a manY December mornings as window' this one' but tov in the F.A.o. Schwarz crisj and sunnY as feel' store mirches alongside rhe fence for l0o few dawns that have in lo and Dirches mindlessly downward again such a dramatic surPrise. rhe same beat and sound all moming long' It is an earlv winter Monday at Weissach' This manjacal puppel is so hypnotic I fail a olace \ here the shamans of con_ to notice the car. coct their magic safe lrom searching eyes' Fail to notice the car! How is it possible The sround hire is bare. brown and hard' a device its creator said is en_ onlv wilh the sturd) tufts of sea- to overlook ".,r".'.d dowed with "... the closest apprcxlmatton sonal srowtir that shrug off moming frosts to racing cal Derformance ever seen in a ,nd nilshnime lreezes. The ice of darkness realization of the iltentions of Professor .eries or-oduction car"1 To overlook likely i' ,r,,'noo beginning to relinquish its hold Bott, Po6che head of research and the most covered performance piece in rhe Helmuth or"er a *indin[. lwo-lane road from Tiefen- and Peter Schul/' former so distracted that the meanest' develoDmenl. u .ountty lane really' world. To be rhe basis for a bronn. lt is lu.t angriest, fastest' cnairman. to use the 9l t as lined here nastiest. sleekest, toughest, product I'lled with twists and surprises' sils limited production precursor to the costliest, rarest automobile in tie world and there with stone fonces. comPany . whilelv and serenely in the Suabian sun- futue of the Tesr track gate guards are the same all But it is ,o, t 911. Atmost none of the of shine. unseen? orer the wortd- The1 are rhe commandos slamDinPs, pres\ing\. forgings castings' The answel is: I am not a believer' the Rent-a-CoP corps nans anj pieies. tools or dies ol the 9l I are The orthodoxy of the follo\\ers of wei\- ''pemembir. ' I have been cautioned' anvwhere involved in its building' Almoll rach demandr thi mosl exacting understand- ''vou do not :ee $hal your eyes )how you unLelievabtv, il shares only engine place- ing. requiring an abtolute dedicalion Theirs here." I know the drill. number of cylinders with the 9l I ' i."an omate-*orship. The text of e\eryday menr and So. as I \land by lhe breal in the Armco The 959 is. however, clearly that car's posDel int cate enough and has always look aiross the staflllnish strip is 95q rs the car that keep' barriers and Before me now is sDiritual heir. The Weissach, I neither see the aitn.urt to follow and minds of of test track at "l lhal gospel as it i5 re- the 911 alive in lhe heans qM my elbow nor do I hear the the cenlerDiece of fronFengined orotol\De al The Litany Porscheohiles and hotds the vehicle tiny vealed to ioday's con$egation breach Lnmuilieo hoorse shriek of lhe reads car heretics at bay in lheir quest to oi the 959 is eliborate Thi\ is how il in the distance that shatters the postdawn Porsche's philosophical gates Not only The car designated 959 is the sheet metal peace of this swale. It makes its metrono- AUTOWIEK FEBRUARY 1, 1988 l8 ..€

E

!p i does it have a four-wheel drive, unlike the its inferiors from a perch of technological highly competent diver of wide experience 911, "... the 959 features new axles, new marvels made up of: a 2.85 liter. four- whose great strength lies in his technical judgment damping and ride-height control systems, a valve, quadruple overhead cam engine, with proficiency. This was a I shared new antilock brake system, a new .tfi-speed water-cooled, three-chambered heads that, for many years; the times of Holbert's sea- gearbox, water-cooled four-valve cylinder with the assistance of twin intercooled, se- soning during which he drove in the Trans- heads, a load-dependent limited slip differ- quential turbos, makes 450 hp at 6500 rpm. Am, IMSA and NASCAR. In 1980, when I ential on the back axle, electronically con- This, in short, is the maximum car. spent a year with the Can-Am, and in 1981, trolled frontlrear axle torque split ..." and when I retumed for most of the summer. I more and more, in the rhapsodic words of I nd no\, on thi\ ice-brighl moming in discovered once again how witless it is to Professor Bott. AD"..rnber at the wizardi' lair in weis- accept stereotypes. Particularly at Riverside Oh, yes indeed. This wholly new car sach, a white 959 crouches bY mY side, in that second year, I saw a raw, deter- surely does bristle with hardware and soft- awaiting only a worthy driver. That is not to mined, tough side of Holbert he almost ware enough to preoccupy a wal lover for a be me. An old friend is on his way fiom the never gets crcdit for. century of gaming, or more importantly, to airport. is coming to Suddenly, a blue Rent-an-Opel wheels up induce a fanatic to part with about play. Maximum driver, maximum car. What and out steps our driver, gloriously outfitted $302,700 F.O.B. Warrington, Pa., if he hath Bott wrought? We are about to find out. in a red- white and black Porsche Motor- could buy one of the 26 coming to fte U.S., As part of his baggage, Holbert willy- sport jacket. He wears no hat, his shoes are which he cannot. It looks disdainfully upon nilly carries the reputation for being a not Gucci/Simpson/Air Jordan winkle- AUTOWEEK FEBRUARY 1, 1988 Dickers. but the same kind o[ loafers he 'misht Dut on lo work in tlle office over a *"Ztend.'rlere's a big grin on his face *trl"t tt the atrcady taut skin tight' ffr" iofU"n"t"tt"" presence has grown so much latelv. and his reputation as a taskmaster a"a"in, ,o close to the surface that any i. filled with the same kind ard """"r"i",oralw of .ituppr"ttension as exists aLloul ii. aiuinn, thai he is cool. aloof' not far from beins barcly civil so it is forever a .u-.i." ui meeting to rediscover thar tii'rnunn"t "u.ttis unerly relaxed aid his voice often easv. Wfrat't aot" il a not sure how oi iow oublicly he shows this)' Holberl is a ffior"rnn"rrrrtrr"n"""n,,"o"",*ou"tdloradditlonalphotography drolleries Thus car's reaclions to his *rn who sees'the world's of l:04 6 8Y lhe seeins. absorbing the as a liberal con- TAG Formula One car wheel his foot's ti" t o-ot, which he uses a .ior"'."nt. of rt-" tt"ering n.r to ,1" ntst tumoff start-/finish' each versational condiment, is wry' ,i.J*" the throttle' each shift' swooping left-hander' Holbert ;;;.;;;;." the car and settle in Holbert ;.ir" itt-", 'soueeze of the brake. We ease into 'i"t'tir" qiick enough thal I feel good idea to fasten sJs *.i"i is surprisingly fast' lhe sec- sussesls it mighl be a smile on his The first lap Our we go' out il; ;;. Thd is L enormous on the speeds nse ln mi-shoulder and lap straps " I say' sur- ond faster. From then as the test f^ce] "You re smiling already At least it feels that onto a circuit that's legendary so quietly' ;;il;h*c increments. o-Jr-.a . tt"ut myseli speaking so when we arc track for Mark Donohue's development his wav until the fifth lap or noat .ir.iuy. the smile fixed on race- ,1".. ,ft" brutish 917/30 and on which [ioir.rt going as fast as t have ever been on a i. at work. concentrating' feelinS' Niki Lauda"f set the record in his Mclaten- ir"".-ffa

Ihe ltalian Gonnection- n

he Porsche 959 is the far edge of street car cum race car cum tech_ noid's delight. It is Hel- muth Bott's ultimate achievoment. WhY should such a man have built such a cat? Two rcasons at least are offerei for Public consider- ation. Safety and tbe Cisi. tatia (say "Cheez-italia")' Safety, says Professor Bott, Porsche head of re- search and development, made it all but necessary for Porsche to enginegr the 959 to be the wimer of the Performalce Excess Award practice. and without a by- of ihe decade. influence on the wolder- ins cunenl with the outer cent creafure's conventioo. they created a "tjnless oDe experiments was to be a Crand ,"".r.-r.l"a ,,i performance' il- respect i.*"f,". rt" Cisitalia '*aier-cootea, flat 12 of 1493 cc limits of vehicte 'nit- I 5 liters lt two-vave ( ls lm- lar,o,ft" 1949 formula' cams that made of soeed and lateral acceleraton' industn- *r1I'ou"a-pr. overhead at lower was commissioned by an ltaliaD rpm The engne poriibl" to improve safety of build- ,sout'385 btrp al 10.600 ,ii" r"-"4 n".o ouaio desirous under normal sDeeds," he saYS. by malch- i.,"r"i.-i.ni t""t axli -'aoJ its ine oresris.e for his new marque "'t,r," to the rear ,ru. iorsche successful in "ni"to.iort cfucumstances, its power went l-rr?'ttt" racers from Alfa con- mission? only, but the car had a cockplt elected e.*ari and Maserati' Lacking the wheels "This seems to me to be the closest iJr""., ai"".a the driver to elcage. Pe knowledee within his own. still-fo$ng i.iii"i onve aonroximation to racing car performance out front wheels On-demand four-wheel car"' Bon a,rtomobile company. Dusio sought lili .."n in u t".i". production which was in a 1949 race car! the Ponche design departmest '" ks ( 1580 lb) assefls. il. ciilt"ii" weighed 718 located in Gmund' Austna tserry Iurpen Lewandowski. in his stun ng stilt por"otiiol top speed of-300 and Karl Rabe were told mooey to U..t ?U.rt the 959. Porsche 959:-Art & Porsche ^na'i"-a--uf.ot ffaO .irt r. Just as it was ready was no obiecl. -ran lhe car Edition, tells us aboul Bon's lascrna- ,1""- Dusio out o[ money Car 'It'e twi took Dusio ar his word lgoor- I i"" *irft O" Cisitalia and that magnifi- l FEBRUARY T, 19E8 i AUTOWEEK of us would think of as responsibility seems observing me tic. I found that out the hard way." track. I am outside myself on hold when he gets in a car' out We are going blindingly fasl. Holbrn is to be Dlaced observing Holbet. Holbert is reading spin. he is a into his rhvthm. and it comes lo me I am As a iesult of his Speedway the car's- behavior; which has by now be- with the watching no mechanistic. emotionless man more credited with luck than come an extension of his own He has not which is his certainly, the sugical uncanny talent for car control ddven the 959 very much, he says, only to driver. A technician, to de_ tru€ strength . Bott home one day, a drive correctness of his movements is there follow Professor This morning. I am seeing in Holberl not gave him tect but det?c, is the opemtive word because Holbert will remember as one that mastery ex- over by a kind of joyfulness' iust the irnmense technical [ a whole new dimension of respect for the it is covered moming in this leg- Decled but something well beyond. A $eal scholarly. lale-soish genius whose Holbert's driving this sentle, car is' pianist has a genius for fully exploiting his the car so vividly expresses' endary olace in this extraordinary lersonality He is a confident instrument but he has more. His empathy "He scared me trying to keep up, says well,'it's almosr lusty disdaining even a prc- with the music it produces invokes the emo- Holbert later, with surlrise slill in his voice master of his craft, by its pleasues' tion in that music and so evokes its feelings he's talking to me and to the car tEose of being unaffected Now, ac- in us as we listen to him play. Holbert and he's using the same tn my day. I have ridden with some and to himself cleady understands the rigorous technical I'm scared to death comolished drivers. Dan Gumey I remem- word. "Normally, Dono- demands of this insfument. Because he is body parts working as her is olavful. when I tlink of Mark here," he says, his so much the master of what he does, his to them' hue thi word "mischievous" leaps to mind thouph the car were connected go the bounda.ries within indi- was full of surprises, most of them on driving can beyond 'Th6se poles?" he nods his head to He is Revson was, as which the rest of us live and inlo what slicks that line this lighl. lwist- the edge of lunacy. Peter cate stfiped almost art. Holbert's driving is a seque[ce blacktop. set down you'd expect. almost sedate. I never re- inp. defiantlv cambered movements filled with shadings and sub- on the member driving even a lap at close to race of iniide banking which drops away act that can only be with him during which he was any- tleties and nuances; an side at lust the moment he ir bu- soeeds driver's close to being thought of as Perfomance: The Dance at siest, reveatint dramatic views of the thine but serious. I come were remired by "irrepressible' when I thinl of rhe Edee. nearbv vallev. "l used ro think rhey The car' It whose sense of what most Ah.-the instrument. The 959 steel. Then i found out they were just plas- Dannv Sullivan

The mervels lyinE under lh€ sl€ck skin of rhe 959 recill ihe grand leap in t€chnology embodied In the Cl3ltalla' FiBi the €rolne: 2'85 liter llal-alx' ouadruol€ ovgftead Gams with a lour' ,-.ive. iater+oorca, trse'chamber€d head .nd twin iurbos' gonerating 450 hP' iower qel3 ro ute wheels vla a six'spesd ! iransmission and the Porsche Control Clutch. a d,evice that usea micrc DrocassoB to balancs power between € f,ront and rear axles ln Etios |tom 20:80 to 5,0;50 accordlng to lour computer Droorams. each chipp€d to deal with 4 lo;ffic problems of adhesion and then came much as dared to try and design such d€Dendert on the road's composltion wgnt to South America ground (Po$che owns a complex piece of automotive ma- ."h Comaa wlih tho back, eventually, to Europe "onaition. or Dunlop grande chinerv. " b made lhroush B dgeslone it now), Uut'it trever saw a all wlth When the word went out on Jan 2l' oentoc run-Ri tires which shar€ wheela. All four seta 1983. 959 proiect leader Manfred Ban- hollow magnesium kwandowski quotes Bott. who marvels lo monitored to ensurs they a-progenitor to a new lifle for are clnatantly at the desim creativiry of the Cisitalia' as tle to create reve.l lheir Dreasut€ secrsts to the echoes of thal earlier rhJ " ... 959 is (its) legitimale Porsche, there were drivsr. a Daltnershio enabled by aural savine dspart- *r.".i"o.." Adds Bott: "lt was so far mandate to the ina visuit cocrpn warning signals' The ... compromises and half-mea- marlmum ahead of its time that if only a little more ment: " ilr€ Datches sre kePt ln out ftom the begimbg.'' ground via tY,in control money had been available, ii could haYe sures were ruled coniact wlth the ''The designers were whesls which accommodato been winning mces for years to cor e' says [-€walldowski. arms on all quesdons only: what the car'3 posture and attllude in any one With a mid-engine. a supercharger and an concerned with two can we ol the thie-positlon rid6 heights and drive. it was the most is the best way of doing this, and oDtional four-wheel thl€o shock absorber setlinga advanced car of its day At do it even better?'' techrologically L.M. the dme when it was buih, nobody else so -

AUTOWEEK FEBRUARY 1, 1988 rhough quie(ly impressed. says it.is the inhal- is quietly. elflcienlly. remorselessly tastest he has ever been in a productlon car ins'the ioad surface " Feel the sequenlial ttte time is not outrageously off off ana Out tuitosl" Holbert asks. as we accelerale Ma* Donohue's time in the 917/30' u ao-a, ao PurPosefully we seem to be 'Let s ihoving tle entire world behind us I am elated. Whv? When I climbed into we come see what the brakes do " Down I rh" oadded ; of this car. I may have "It al- itraieht but brulally from 250 kph been unconsciously disappointed by its tracki so well," says Holbert manelling' tvu*it" intirior. More room in the i;it it car's cornering 'consis&ncy' -o.i is just so consisient around a comer' Holbert likes iloiu"i. r tuia ,o rnvself thinking lhis hrand iust hunkers down " hua totu"o ui teast one problem I had steals into his voice "l-et's find si i " w" huna turned so manY laPs I can t Donohue. " "r Good heavens, another we can gel to whatever it is -itt it. foreu"a.. anymore. Ilolbert has become a out how close thinking, looking count them was husding, I radio, I recall is quiel for two or tkee If I had thought Hotben "iatorate Nothing re- little Densive; he intent Hol- into the middle of the dash. I can see another side to him now: the circuiis then says softly. "ln this car rn^ttoUt" tt".", it seemed to me, but then ben. the Drofessional al work. the compeli- aooreciate a whole new tlreshold " what was I expecting? ln fact not much' tor with iust a hint of lhe glow of the fire in -Mv 'i ask him what the laP record is He suorise has come from Holberl's his be[;. One fortv'four flat. Maybe not first doesn't know but race-driver's mischief' pe.formance My second from the One time, but Holbert, deeply brar,lra perhaps contracted from his late friefld Mark For-olu

Behind the scenes at the 959

5 B c

the 959-you will rccognize the sae the sophistication of the over to icture this. A room about the size of a whetr You and insEumentation- into the 959 and see famitiar cabin layout halt. Amund it, hardware that goes stages ln small school assembly logether' Among the most itrteresting service the care with which it is Put 10 car hoists-a bit like the the asseribly process is the apPearance of is easy to understand why this car is bavs al vour local Chevy or Ford dealer' it the suts of the car just before they are 'Except crcating such a fuol. that on each hoist sits a 959' matel to fie body sheu. sittiog naked otr a Immidiatelv noticeable in the 959 hall Ten in various states ol assem- bie vellow trolley the powertrain, replete is the distinci lack of urgency about the bly. each likely lo cost ils owrer atfeast a irc 450 hp flat-six and atmosphere. Mechanics and engr- *iri t*io-trito nrrarter of a million dolla$ (more lI lt rs a working lorque tube that carries power about fiom station to statlon' massive Jomoetition version bound for the U S ) neels stroll front wheels. look muscu- panel. adjusling that fitling' forwad to the ca$-worlh at least securing this a tal|k Compo- Altosether some 226 productton lar enouqb to do seryice in -million-will 959 This is not lile any normal 560 be created in the nents of-the sophisticated twin-shock sus- line. where speed mafters "assemblv hall." an anonymous building ,*o.ion ,vtt nt nnd the prodigious vented Most of a-959 bodv is sp€cially made tucked awav in the middle of Porsche's (based on Porsche's Fl stop- from a mixture of mateials including iisc brakis rambling Zutfenhausen planl. lt's hard to sit exposed in all their mechanical aluminum. Kevlar and fiberglass' oers) 'it tetieve lhat such a magnificent car could steel, 'gio.i cerman engineering at is cell of the 9l I is carlied . mi. have such an ordinary birthplace Yet iiniy'rtt" i*", AUTOWEEK FEBRUARY 1, 1988 brilliance of the car, which has been almost as subtle. Now we have turned an abso- lutely stunning lap time in what is no more, no less than a passenger car. As we slow to exit the track, Holbert tums with a giant grin on his face. "l,et's take this thing out on the autobahn," he says in dehance of what he has been told. Hell, everything he's done up to now has defied his orders. No racing speeds, he has be€n instructed. Drive well within the car's limits, was his man- date. You don't tell a racer that, particularly one who loves his work as much as Holbert does. Now his blood is up. He wants to take Holbert nods pleasandy but wilh appro- whiff, however faint, of hot brakes. The the car out on the still-slippery two-lane and priate cotrdescension to the gate guad and idle is smooth, all instrument readings nor- then the autobahn and do something he'll launches on the road to Tiefenbro t. The mal. We snake do*n the twolane as gently never be able on the roads at home. Drive it car. which should be breathing hard, is not as if we were delivering loose e8gs in a on the public highway. showing any sign of heaving flanks. No paper sack. It's a little hard to bfing myself

The 959 build Proceas lakes roughly two wseks fuom siart to linish. Flat-8ix engine and 4wd drivotaln ars prspared 0ett) belore belng mated wlth body (above). Under- vlew (far right) reveals complexily ol 959 hardware

finest. It is also very rare engircering; one completed. The recipients have come to enmrst the task to local mechanics. of the reasotrs that Porsche declitres to the factory on Stuttgart's northern out- Po6che admits the 959 took loflger than build more 959s is tllat the crucial suppli- skins where they have been given a com- expected to reach customers' hatds be- ers-Bosch for ftrel injection, KKK for Fehensive iBtroduction to their cars befotu cause engineers eocountered urcxpected turbos, Mahle for pislons and the Gelmad driving off into the suDset. The head of Foblems witi some of its leading edge Americatr firm WABCO for the superso- Porsche's research and development de- lechnology. As the delays multiplied there phisticated ABS system (it's too expeDsive partment, Helmuth Bott, and the chief of was talk in some quarters that PoNche had for lesser cars)---{ould rot contemplata the 959 project, Manft€d Bantle, a modest bitteo off more than it could chew. But the manufacturing atrother small ruD of parts Swabian eogineer who rcadity downplays company persisted, and at one point even for such a car. I.ow volume deals like this his immense achievement in bringing the sent out expensive models of the 959 to do rct make big money for these firms; it 959 to life, are on hand to explain the car appease waiting buyem.. was the kudos of beitrg associaled vrith the to the rew ownels. And the small team of Now, at last, 959s are emerging from 959 pioject that attracted them. expefis respoasible fol assembling the 959 Zuffenhausetr, aDd for the buyers who A 959 takes about two weeks fiom the will be kept toBether for servicing dre ca$; have yet to receive their cals the wait is day it is started to the day it is ready for many owoers are expected to bring their coming to an end. the customer. So fax about 60 have beel ca$ to the factory for sorvice rather than Joha McCormick

AUTOWEEK FEBRUARY I, T988 to realize the magnitude of what this car has Karlsruhe autobahn looms and we are on it. even a hinl of abruptness. No loss of bal- ma[aged to accomplish within the last five This is not one of the new roads. It is just ance. No pitching forward in the seat. Just minutes. It's gone faster than a greased two lanes in each direction. Traffic is on the the iNistert, frm hand of deceleration and weasel on a viciously demanding track, heavy side today, the inevitable trucks lum- suddenty we are tkee lengths behind the stopped from 150 mph in race-car distance, bering along on the right. In this country- litde box, ambling along at l0o kph, just and is now potterilg along as though it were side their wallow and pitch seem to mirror another car moving at an idiotically slow trying to coddle the sensibilities of an the topographical elevations of the land- pace in the fast lane. octogenarian suffering from congenital car scape. They are like ships in a long and Minnow-quick, the box dives in ahead of sickness. heavy sea- the truck. It has taken it exactly the same We amble though the center of town, a From the moment we entered the auto- time to dafi out, pass and dive back, as it t]?ically qooked, crowded, cobbled market bahr, Holbet has had the car on fulI throt- has taken us to catch it up ard scrub off 200 street, lined with carts and bicycles and de. If he had not put me so in regard of his kph. We pass and I look over casually to see shawled women. In and around them stand ability on the track, I might just be ucom- a young wom:m who is stadng at the road workmen leaning on their shovels or cm- fortable in tmffic at these speeds. Uncom- ahead, frozen in tenor. She has seen us in dling lunch, some even tending to barrows fortable, helt, petrified. "Look," he says, her rearview mirror. I wonder idly how, or mounds of earth. The 959 is as happy nodding downward at the speedometer, when she arrives at her deslination, she is here as on the Can-Am track at Weissach. It "300 Ks." Just as I realize that's aknost ever going to manage to uofix her hands neither bucks nor barks. "Let's see some- 190 mph, a tiny little box of a car, 2CV- from the steering wheel. thing," says Holbert as the road out of town sized, bounces out from behind a truck An inmense, catastrophic wreck on the opens. Putting the car in sixth, he points to rushing backwards towards us, blocking our other side of the road, the side on which we the tach which is reading 1000 rpm. Then lane completely. "Ohshitohdear," I hear will have to retum, has traffic backed up he puts his foot in it. As smoothly as though someone say. It is me. But my voice sounds beyond the rise of the far hill, so we dive it were powered by steam, the 959 gathers like no voice I've heard from my mouth off at a handy exit. Holb€fi knows these momentum, never hesitating on its way up, before. Holbert is absolutely expressioDless roads well. "I'm lost," he says within five up, up . .. until the entralce to the Stuttgart- as the brakes haul the car down without minutes. It makes absotutely no differe[ce.

Autobahn accident claims

; magine owning a 959 for one day and The accidert happened on a lighdy traY- (fortunately the occupafis wele uninjured). I then crashinp it. That's exactlv whal eled autobahn betwe€n Stuttgart and Lake Then the 959 veered towards fte autobahn I happened ro'Porsche ,pon, .""a, Constance, in West Germany. Lassig, ob- crash banier, forced its way undemcath, Jurgen Lassig when he took his "u,959, one viously used to higb speeds io racing rcUed and careered into a ditch. of the first to be produced, out for a high Porsches, was seeing what his 198 mph Although tnssig waE undoubtedly very speed run on an autobahn. street Po$che could do when an 80 lucky to have survived such a high sp€ed Lassig, a 45-year-old fiDaocial analyst pulled out alld into his path. Apparendy a accident, he now holds the dubious honor from Reutlingel near Stuttgart who nces car ahead of the Audi was exiting the auto- of beiog the filst 959 owner to crash Porsche 962Cs as a pdvateer (he was a bahn ad the Audi driver moved over to his car. Not all is lost- however. Lassig driver in the second-placed car at last pass without noticing lhe fast-closiog had made sure his precious Porsche was year's LeMans 24 hours), mimculously Porsche behind him. adequately insued and the car, which had survived the accident without a scratch. lassig catled on atl of the 959's braking covercd just 500 miles, is going back to His passenger, who suffered a broken ability---the Porsche left 2oGfoot-long skid zuffenhausen, where its undamaged drive- shoulder, was perhaps eveo luckier judg- marks-but it was not enough. His car train will be urited with a new body. ing by the way the car's roof was crushed. struck the Audi which spun and crashed - .Iohn Mccomick AIITOWEEK FEBRUARY I. I988 We have discovered a few back roads with mixed surfaces, some have patches of ice on them. some have hollows filled with water. Holbert, delighted, begins to use the lever that shifts programs for distributing power helween the axle\. Whalever he is doing. only he can appreciale. When we see ice ahead, he switches the program but I don't notice a thing when the car gets there. No slipping, no sliding, in fact, no drama what- soever. Another immense accomplishment that superb engineering has reduced from the astonishing to the mundane. Sooner than I would want it is over. It could have taken all day and it would have been sooner than I would have wanted. Holbert feels the same way. We enter the gates of Weissach, and putter down to the racing department called "Falkland" for Peter Falk, Porsche's racing chief. feeling any longer. lt has been years slnce practitionq in its arts. The intensity of the I climb out of the car absolutely elated. I such primal chords have been struck inside feelings at the tips of my senses will fade, tbel very slightly intoxicated but at the same me; the mind bypassed but Ieft to observe, although not quickly, not even soon; but time I feel as though every sense were shar- while feelings have been so exquisitely they will leave an imprint. pened. The air is cleaner and purer. the spring played and the soul so stired. So it requires reminding at this transcen- to my step livelier, the sounds of far-off The thought arrives whole in my mind dent moment that I will not be a convert, I engines on the tmck seem almost melodic. that I have been to visit a place where there will not. I've spent my life resisting, and If I were willing, I would admit to myself is great power to affect human responses, an besides. I can't afford it. I have been touched by a kind of automotive almost mystical place. I have been taken Not a convert, then, but no longer an spirituality I did not think myself capable of there by an extraordinarily accomplished unbeliever. I

more of the cars and he's not sure "that's all bad." But they will have had to buy from one of the people already locked into a car or have gone through the sorting pmcess which required a $60,000 nonre- fundable deposit, Sure e:lough, there were 26 buyers out there and they were allo- cated cars on a strict first-come, first- served basis*the last two actually decided by lhe hour of the same day on which both their orders arrived. . The first cals, roll bar and all, no ad- iustable ride height, no adjustable shocks (deleted for reasons of weight on the U.S, version, which is, after all, intended to bo a mce c:u) will arrive prcbably in early May. They will be delivered without a waranty but owners will not be "buying a pig in a poke." The only 959 owne$ out of luck will be people who have acquired gray market cats. For them Po6che says it will not provide pans. There is a My o[ opinion that says no car is worlh the price of a 959. Not as a car and not as an iflvestment. As for the lalter. a 959 has already been advertised in west Germany at $500,000 and another in Tokyo at $1.5 million. Is this ca., any car, worth tbal kind of money? Listen to Pto' fessor Bott: "The Porsche 959 is a car about which people have very definite opinio1ls, One either accepts it or rejecls it completely. "What to some people is part of the 'good things in life; is seen by others as totally superfluous." L.M.

AIiToWI]F]K FF]I]RIJARY I, I9IIII