History On Wheels

The Porsche 959 was living and expensive proof that the 911 had a future beyond the ’80s. Dieter Losskarn ticked his personal bucket list after spending an exhilarating day in one of the most important cars ever made

IN THE MIDEIGHTIES THE ICONIC 911 WAS DOOMED. Porsche was producing 924s, 944s and 928s, all of them with engines in the front. The days of the 911 were counted, but customers were still buying them. The Porsche CEO at the time, Peter Schutz, didn’t like the idea that the 911 was set to be succeeded by the V8-powered 928. Legend goes that he went to the office of Porsche engineer Professor Helmuth Bott, where he noticed a chart on the wall that depicted the ongoing development trends of the top three lines: 928, 944 and 911. With the first two options, the graph showed a continuous rise in production, but the line for the 911 stopped in 1981.

He grabbed a marker offBott’s desk and continued the 911 line across the page, onto the wall, and out the door. When he came back in, Bott stood there grinning. ‘Do we understand each other?’ he asked. And they did. Bott was convinced that the 911 was the brand’s DNA and he and his team started creating a car that turned out to be 20 years ahead of its time.