News
Porsche restores Paris-Dakar 959
Thursday, 2 February 2023 at 14:30:00 UTC
By
Al Suttie
Second-placed Dakar 959 recommissioned
Porsche carried out a sympathetic recommissioning of the 959 that came second in the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally driven by Jacky Ickx and Clause Brasseur.
The car will make its public debut after the rebuild at Retro Classics in Stuttgart on 23-26 February.
The car had not been touched since it was stored by the factory after the rally, but Porsche’s classic division says it was a relatively straightforward process to bring the 18,000km car back to working order.
As part of the work to recommission the car, it has been kept in the similar state to when it completed the rally. Porsche’s Head of Museum Workshop Kuno Werner said: ‘By keeping the damage from then we can tell the story authentically and preserve it.’
The car has since been tested by Jacky Ickx and he declared: ‘Memories came back to me immediately. It’s fantastic to be part of the car’s story again.’