959 Autoweek
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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 Porsche 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 Stuttgart airport. Al Holbert is coming to Suddenly, a blue Rent-an-Opel wheels up induce a sports car 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.