Porsche's much-vaunted 959, the German carmaker's first supercar, and some will argue the best supercar ever to wear the legendary Porsche badge on its nose. Needless to say, it's a true icon that surely cannot get any better, or can it?
Ar this point Bruce Canepa not only has ideas of improving the breed but has done so successfully for a number of wealthy gearheads, starting with a mild makeover of Porsche's legend, upping the performance ante, not just once but several times. Anyone with deep enough pockets can have a thoroughly modern take on one of the rarest supercars on the planet. Rather than cut, bond and explode the 959s classic lines, Canepa keeps appearances as near to stock as possible, the process, after all, starting with an exclusive $1 million-plus supercar deserving of some respect.
The question is, just how good is one of the fastest '80s supercars when given a makeover? Even without thinking about it, Canepa's 959 restomod is stunning, a customized supercar classic we'd love to own.
9 Rarifying The Breed
Arguably the first true hypercar, Porsche's 959 redefined just how fast road-legal cars could be, providing of course you had a spare $300,000 sitting around. Then there was a question over availability, although it's largely a hotted-up 911, Porsche would never mass produce the 959 preferring to keep numbers low, in all just 292 examples were built and sold to customers.
Rarity hasn't deterred Canepa in its 30+ year-long quest to improve on the 959, gently coercing the chassis, body, and drivetrain adding subtle updates that even ardent Porsche fans will struggle to spot. The question of should you modify an icon quickly fading away when you slide behind the wheel, Canepa has achieved the unimaginable, making Porsches 959 rarer and better than ever.
8 Back To Bare Metal, Full Concours Rebuild
The process begins with a labor-intensive 500+ hour strip down, every nut, bolt, and component removed. Once back to bare metal, priming and painting the 959s chassis can begin, unlike the original, Canepa adopt an overall matte finish, in the same hue as the exterior bodywork.
At this point, owners can let their imaginations run riot, choosing any one of Porsche's Offical 150+ colors, or creating their custom paint scheme resulting in a Concours quality finish guaranteed to turn heads.
7 Porsche's Flat Six In All Its Hidden Glory
Pop open the trunk on Porsche's 959, or any 911 for that matter, and what little of the flat-six turbocharged engine is on show is unlikely to blow you away. However, don't be too hasty, remember this 444 hp hypercar battled successfully with weight distribution over its rear axle.
Engine sans body, Porsche's 2.85-liter flat-six is deceptively small, forced induction making up the shortfall in displacement. It's here that Canepa begins the transformation process, featuring a larger, more modern parallel BorgWarner turbo set-up incorporating internal wastegates allied with a host of race-car materials and technology, power output increases to 800 hp in the current spec.
6 Uprated Stopping Power
More power and more performance also require much greater stopping power. While the calipers might say Porsche, the Canepa 959 uses an altogether more potent Penske-sourced set-up.
Consisting of a set of semi-floating rotors, cryo-treated for improved durability without braking loss, the pads themselves are another Canepa upgrade item to ensure the 959 goes stops just as well as it goes, handy when you're behind the wheel of a 220+ mph supercar.
5 Lowered Ride
Standing alone, it's hard to tell the Canepa 959 rides a full inch lower than Porsche's best efforts. However, lowering the ride is not purely a cosmetic touch, beneath the arches, some modern suspension trickery also shaves weight while improving ride comfort.
Factory fresh, the 959 uses an unusual dual-Coilover setup allowing suspension adjustments on the move, electric motors, and hydraulics responsible for a +1.2/-1.2 inch variance depending on terrain. To be completely honest, who takes their 959 off-road? Canepa instead opts for a lower ride height, Penske valved shocks, and titanium coil-overs reduce the ride height while stripping away unnecessary weight.
4 Subtly Tweaked Interior
A true test of any restomod, we challenge any Porsche aficionado to spot the differences between Porsche and Canepa. In truth, 400 man-hours of carefully crafted, hand-stitched leather adorn the entire cockpit, tool pouches, and owner's handbook undergoing the same treatment. Color is naturally down to each customer's taste.
The devil is in the details, dig deeper, and it becomes apparent that a few modern touches are to be had. Tucked away on the center console, Porsche's navigation system blends modern with retro. However, our favorite is a driver switchable dual-exhaust system, one stab of a console-mounted button unleashing the Canepa's full 800 hp soundtrack.
3 Spot The External Differences
With all the changes under the skin, you'd be forgiven for thinking or expecting some external appendages, a bigger wing, or a deeper splitter perhaps? None of those are present, leaving the 959s near-perfect lines unspoiled by unnecessary bolts-ons.
The changes are there, hidden in plain view. Switching to a larger set of 18-inch magnesium alloys, a scaled-up version of Porsches original five-spoke design dressed in Michelin's latest and stickiest Cup 2 rubber. Spotting the only other change becomes apparent after nightfall, revised headlamp internals blazing away with the ferocity of a modern supercar.
2 How Does It Stack Up Against Porsche's Efforts?
Comparing the old with the new, Canepas tweaked 959 boasts more power, better brakes, and suspension allied with modern rubber, giving it the edge over the original in terms of speed and handling. Bruce Canepa himself claimed a 0 to sixty time of 2.5-seconds, a full second quicker than standard. What about Porsche's other supercars? Despite giving away an age difference of 35 years and 94 horses, the Canepa is a close-run match for Porsches 918 Spyder, losing out by the smallest of margins.
Delving deep into the spec sheets reveals why at launch Porsche claimed the 918 Spyder had a curb weight of 3600 lbs, batteries, and engine responsible for a huge chunk of its bulk. Similarly, the 959 on its debut weighed in at 3200 lbs, a featherweight figure Canepa has shaved a further 200lbs form.
1 How Much, And Is It Worth It?
Picking up an original, unmolested Porsche 959 isn't cheap, auction listings regularly in the $1.2-1.4 million range, hardly surprising, as at the time, no other production car had cracked 200 mph. Of course, Ferrari's F40 quickly crashed the party.
Opting for the full Canepa experience doesn't come cheap, prices "starting" at $2 million before you visit the custom options list, if you can dream it you can certainly own it. Are these eye-watering prices worth it? Looking at ownership from the rarity side, just 50 Canepa SC's are going to be built, each boasting almost twice the horsepower in a lighter body. Suddenly, the 959's original top speed looks a little subdued by comparison.