Porsche 959 – Last post of the year of the Porsche
This the Tamiya 1/24 kit of the Porsche 959, my last post from last year's Porsche collection. I don't normally model road cars and decided to try to do something a little different with this kit. The interior is a typical 1980s colour mixture, the seats have three different colours, but, none of this was visible on the completed model. To try and throw some light on this I decided to open the passenger side door. Major surgery was needed to achieve this, not just the outer door had to be cut, but also the glazing, part of th floor and interior trim. However, the inside was still pitch dark so I additionally gave the car the benefit of a metal sliding sunroof, but it didn't make much difference. Other than those modifications the car was built OOB and finished with Tamiya aerosol can paint. Tamiya do include some engine detail but I forgot to photograph it before closing the engine cover, sorry about that.
On to the real thing, according to Wikipedia the Porsche 959 was manufactured from 1986 to 1993, first as a Group B rally car and later as a road legal production car designed to satisfy FIA homoglation regulations.
When it was introduced the twin turbo 959 was the world's fastest street legal production car, boasting a top speed of 195 mph (314 kph). During production it was hailed as the most technically advanced road going sports car ever built and was probably the forerunner of all future supercars. It was one of the first high performance vehicles with all wheel drive. In total 337 cars were built including 37 prototypes and pre-production models.
The "Gates 959" is an infamous 959 owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who bought his example before the model had US Government approval. The car was stored for 13 years by the Customs Service at the port of San Francisco until regulations were changed to allow "Autos of Interest" to be imported with limitations on their use. Gates helped pass the "Show or Display" law.
As usual, thanks for looking. George
6 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Tom Bebout said on January 19, 2018
Nicely done George, I always enjoy looking at you racing car posts. This good looking road car is no exception as well. Nice touch opening the door and adding the sun roof.
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Thanks, Tom, not sure that I got the result I was after but it was worth a try.
Johannes Gerl said on January 19, 2018
Great job, George.
Can’t help pointing you guys on this: http://grandretro.com/2018/01/a-grand-piano-porcelain-dalmatians-and-the-porsche-group-b-show-car-1983/
Josh Patterson said on January 19, 2018
I was just going to mention that!
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Thanks, Johannes, by the way, those T-shirts haven't arrived yet.
Michel Verschuere said on January 19, 2018
Very nice, this one is definitely for display!
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Thanks, Michel, the trouble is that having the door open means it takes up more room in my display cabinet.
Craig Abrahamson said on January 19, 2018
I figured that was you when I saw the headline photo, George...nice job. 🙂
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but thanks, as always, for your kind comments, always appreciated.
David A. Thomas said on January 19, 2018
Anyone who does that kind of surgery has my respect!
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
That's much appreciated, unfortunately just because I have a nice Swann Morton scalpel doesn't mean that I'm a good surgeon
Jeff Bailey said on January 19, 2018
Beautiful, George!
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Cheers, Jeff, thanks for looking.
Greg Kittinger said on January 19, 2018
Great build, and some nice history on the vehicle.
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Glad you appreciated it, Greg, there's plenty more information available, Wikipedia is a good starting point.
Julian Shawyer said on January 19, 2018
Nice touch opening the door George. Very effective.
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
It was something I'd been meaning to try sometime and this kit was reasonably cheap so it was worth attempting, but it didn't turn out as easy as I was hoping.
Robert Royes said on January 19, 2018
Very nice! the seats look great!
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Cheers, Robert, they have a weird colour scheme, but, I guess that's the 1980s for you.
Anthony Conway said on January 20, 2018
Nice job on that George.
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
Thank you very much, Anthony.
John Healy said on January 20, 2018
13 years in Customs! And some of us complain about Customs holding model kits for a week or two! Nice Car, George.
George Williams said on January 21, 2018
I guess US Customs had a very early version of Windows!
Alan Li said on April 19, 2021
Nice build George...I have the same kit, was rattle-can-sprayed black and went straight back to the box for almost 20 years...somehow I lost the mojo to finish it off way back. I think I should take it out and re-do the paint as I do love 959.
Question: how do you do the silver body paint? What paint did you use?
George Williams said on May 3, 2021
Hi, thanks for looking, I agree the 959 is a great car. I used a Tamiya spray can, can’t remember if it was silver or aluminum, probably silver, hope this helps and I’m looking forward to seeing your black version