Canepa Are Offering An 800-HP Porsche 959
The Porsche 959 is an icon of 1980s motoring. Beautiful, fast, and with pinpoint handling, it was, and remains, one of Porsche’s best. If the 450 horsepower that the original car developed seems a little lacking, Canepa have the fix for you. The company, who played a huge part in getting the 959 into the US, are uprating the Porsches that pass through their loving hands up to 800, calling it the 959SC.
Their restoration and modification of the 959 begins by completely stripping the car, right down to the tub. Parts are catalogued, the suspension components are powder coated to improve longevity, while other parts are given brand new coats of zinc. Every inch of the car’s body is repainted, and the old hydraulic fluid filler cap on the driver’s side is removed, made unnecessary by Canepa’s modified setup. The wheels have seen an upgrade too, with the 959SC featuring custom 18″ magnesium wheels.
The parts responsible for delivering that 75 percent higher horsepower are many and varied, including a new header, new exhaust system, Borg-Warner turbo, a new engine management system, fuel system upgrades, modified clutch, and a more powerful ignition system. The 959 was already fast. The original’s 0-60 is around 3.7 seconds, and it topped out at 197 mph. I’d love to see the figures on Canepa’s 959SC.
The interior is gorgeous too: the old carpets and leather are removed, measured, and remade in-house, in a wide range of colors. There’s also a Porsche Classic Radio Navigation System newly-installed in the dash, designed to look unobtrusive in the company’s classics. Only 50 of the Porsche 959SC are going to be made, and there’s no price listed, but for those lucky few who are going to drive away in one, it looks like they’ll be getting one hell of a supercar.
