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That power was 450 bhp at 6500 rpm and 369 lb.-ft. of torque at 5500 rpm from only 2.8 liters. Porsche's flat-6 had been through competition development for the 935/936/956/962 race cars and now had an air-cooled block and water-cooled heads. For the 959, the 4-cam, 4-valve-per-cylinder engine was fitted with two sequential intercooled turbos. The first boosted to 4300 rpm when the other came in, producing acceleration as smooth as it was dramatic. How about 0–60 mph in 3.6 seconds with a top speed of 195 mph...22 years ago?

These days, electronic controls hum throughout exotic cars, but back then things weren't as automatic. Settle into the 959 seat and you have a sense of vintage spacecraft — and of systems over which you have control, but with automatic backup. You feel less like a driver than a commander.

In addition to the lever for the 4-mode traction system is a dash switch that sets ride height on the 959 street version's upper and lower A-arm suspension...4.7 in. to 5.9 in. to 7.0 in. But an onboard computer makes certain you are no higher than 5.9 above 49.7 mph or 4.7 when topping 99.5 mph. This last speed is when the computer also firms the shocks to hard, another switch allowing the driver to select soft or medium below that speed.

There's that systems approach again, along with features considered common today but advanced then: ABS for the cross-drilled Brembo brakes, run-flat tires and tire-pressure monitoring.

All this tickled our technical fancies then, but the 959's exterior design closed the deal. How the car seems affixed to the road, those wide doorsills, the laid-back headlights, the vent detailing and the broad rear fenders rolling back into that sensuous engine cover. The basic 911 shape was resculpted not just to emphasize the 959's muscles, but to give a claimed zero lift. To keep weight down, the front fenders, rear quarters, roof and that engine cover are Kevlar, the doors and hood aluminum.

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