Autoweek archives: Driving the ‘other' Porsche 959

For this selection of the Autoweek archives, we go back to May 1986 to join Roger Bell on his experience with the Paris-Dakar-winning competition Porsche 959 of Jacky Ickx.

According to Bell, “It was a decisive result . . . a 1-2 finish that left Porsche resting on its laurels, nothing left to prove.”

The 1986 race was a far different result from that of the previous year, when three Porsches failed to finish the rally.

Bell paints a picture of the competition features of the race car from the inside out.

Of particular note is the car's “rally-mode” torque split transmission that would allow the driver to select up to 100 percent of the power to go to the front or rear wheels, with any combination in between.

For more details, the full article is available for download.

Click here to download the article in .pdf (15.7 MB)

Click here to download the article in .jpg (3.4 MB)

By David Arnouts