Porsche 959: was Bill Gates' saga worth it?

I like the look of the 993 more, but thats just me.

 

Then the obvious thing is to buy a 993 and save yourself $900,000!
I am sure all those that own a 959 are obviously very silly people paying anywhere near that kind of money when a 993 will do, for much, much less...... : )

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

True, a "Canepized" 959 is NOT a true Porsche 959. The car did start as an original 959, but all the modifications and deletion of the main technological features make the car a Porsche 959-derived Porsche. IMVHO.

 

He speaks the truth....

 

959 Komfort #072 sold at Gooding's Montery auction Saturday Aug. 16 for $1.485 million all in. Seems to be a standard Komfort except for the (unfortunately) black painted wheels. This is well above previous prices, even for the Canepa 959 Frankencars. New market, or aberration?

Regarding the original subject of this thread, $500,000 (what Bill Gates might have paid for a new 959 back in the day) represents 0.00001 of his personal fortune today that is north of $50 BILLION. That's the equivalent of someone with $1 million spending ten bucks!

 

Well I think I explained to you a while back that this would happen. I'm not a genius that's for sure, however you don't need a genius to figure out that a landmark car made in very small numbers, and now over 25 years old, was bound to increase in value due to its collectability. Just like wines, some cars mature(in the collector classic sense) at different rates and times. The 959 is just coming into its stride now. Obviously the 25 year mark is significant in that it allows it to come into the US thereby opening a whole new market for the car, without the aid of FrankenCanepa! It is also makes paying for an expensive clutch job much more comforting I think.
Hold on to it Don. It'll help the pension!

 

The Gooding 959, at $1.485 million all in ($1.35 million hammer) is waaayyy above what had been the usual auction price range of $750,000-$875,000 for stock Komfort models (not Canepa modifieds or the factory 959 Sport). It just seems like a big leap all at once.

An acquaintance who follows the 959 market pretty closely had this to say:

<< A 959 sold privately a few weeks ago for far less than the Gooding car. It had a fresh maintenance, all known problems addressed, and every single item that originally came with the car. I am unable to explain the prices at auction for 959s. >>

Looks like the place to be for 959 sellers is the big auctions!

 

Can anyone explain the prices at auction?? Of course not, however I know a number of very high end buyers who will only purchase via auction. They say that they like auctions as it assures them that there are other buyers wanting the same car and so they the feel price brought there and then is what they feel the market price is! Well I guess there is a logic to that. Nonetheless, of course there will be cars being sold below any given auction price privately. Look at 288 GTO's. I know there are cars purchased below what some of the auctions bring. However with limited production cars the trend gets set cumulatively and I would say that for a low mileage 959(under 10k miles) , original, good history, and up to date service etc, is now a solid $950k- 1 million plus. Of course at an auction, frenzy can take over and will take this way over. However, I strongly feel, when you look at what say low mileage Countachs, and very early 911's are bringing(I know these are both diverse examples) I think that these prices for 959's will be thought of as bargains in the next 5 years. Of course time will tell as no one has a crystal ball......

 

I've wondered though, if you have your 959 Canepized, do you get the parts that came out? Are the modifications reversible?

 

I think the 959 is and will be a very collectible car. This one I saw at Amelia Island in the spring auction, I think it brought about $900,000. Seems like it was 1 of 25 made for some reason, maybe you guys know more about it.
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This was a 959 "Vorserie" pre-production car that sold for $687,500. The question I had about it was how much of a complete 959-spec car was it? Were any systems missing? Also, "pre-production" could raise liability issues if the car got into an accident in street use. Perhaps these issues and others held the price back.

 

+1, especially the last bit.

For him what he spend here, is like a student paying a dollar for a $0.99 coffee. I don't think either are losing sleep over it .

 

I believe that other person is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen it rumoured to have quite the collection.

 

+1

I know someone close to PA, and this appears to be correct.
Let's not also forget that the other computer visionary, Steve Jobs, had a white 928, also ahead of the game, and asked his young design colleagues to be influenced by its shape.
Can still see 928 cues running through Apple products today.

 

A friend of mine worked for a company founded by Paul Allen. Vulcan Inc. She has been to his house, he does have a large collection of cars. But his real passion is collecting airplanes, in particular WWII era aircraft. He has an aircraft museum, called Flying Heritage Collection. Believe he does have a 959, but friend said it was mostly normal everyday cars.

Canepa, most of the 959's they offer are un-modified. Since the 959 is now over 25 years, no need to federalize them.

 

Looks like these babies start at $1 mill, and end up closer to $2 mill. More $ for Bill Gates and Paul Allen

 

Interesting note because at the Hillsborough Concourse back when these cars were new they placed Bills 959 nose to nose with a F40 on the center stage.

 

I was semi wrong about Canepa. They did have a non modified 959 for sale. Now they are offering two, one has a modified engine (claiming 600hp), they say their modification was designed with help from Porsche. It was also done to meet California emissions. The second has the suspension modified.

I believe these supposed upgrades hurt the collectability of these cars. If they offer a non modified car again, bet more buyers will step up. As it sits keep modifying and people with a million plus dollars for a car, well they can import from Asia or Europe.

We should all boycott Canepa, until they only offer pure unadulterated examples.