Jacky Ickx’s 1985 Paris-Dakar Porsche 959 for sale

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 22.07.2020

Just six of seven development 959 rally cars survive, and three are owned by Porsche. A rare chance to purchase an extremely special vehicle

Amongst today’s broad church of aircooled Porsches 911 enthusiasts, one of the increasingly fashionable ways of standing out at the local cars & coffee is the ‘safari-style’ car. We can certainly understand it, there’s something jarring and appealing about the purposeful rear-engined coupe juxtaposed by lift-kits and all-terrain tyres.

But if you want the real deal, this is it. A genuine Porsche Paris-Dakar development 959, chassis #014, raced by Jacky Ickx and Claude Brasseur in the 1985 Paris-Dakar rally.

READ NEXT: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE PORSCHE 959

The number 185 vehicle could be yours, and is currently being offered for sale by London-based Joe Macari Performance Cars. The price is listed as ‘POA’, however its sister-car (chassis number #015) was sold by RM Sotheby’s in October 2018 for a whopping US$5.95 million (AU$8.3 million) to give you some sort of idea of how big a cheque you’ll need.

The gruelling Paris-Dakar Rally was a focal point for Porsche’s factory-backed motorsports program from 1984 up until Group Bs disbandment in 1987 – coming 1^st, 6^th and 17^th in 1984 with three four-wheel drive 911 SC RS’ at their 1984 debut.

The following year, Porsche returned; taking much of the same 3.2lt naturally-aspirated Carrera engine AWD underpinnings, and packaging them in these three new 959 bodies.

READ NEXT: 1970 PORSCHE 911T REVIEW

It was this car, naturally-aspirated engine at the back, that held the overall lead throughout much of the 1985 Paris-Dakar, until it struck a buried rock late in the 8^th stage and was unfortunately forced to retire. Its two other sister cars also failed to finish.

This car then remained dormant in the Porsche factory museum until 2014, when it was purchased by an American collector who promptly had the front end repaired by Florida Porsche specialists, Gunnar Racing.

To the owner’s credit, the 959 wasn’t immediately relegated to a life of idle display, and was driven and exhibited at a number of Californian Porsche events including the 2015 and 2018 Rennsport Reunions, Luftgekuhlt 2018, as well as being a centrepiece display within the Peterson Museum’s 70^th anniversary ‘Porsche Effect’ exhibition.

Just six of the seven Paris-Dakar 959s survive today, and while this may not be one of the most desirable 1-2 finishing cars of 1986 – it does represent one of just three of those incredibly sought-after 959s currently in public hands. The remaining three are housed within Porsche’s own collection.

If you’re after the cream of the crop for Porsche 959 collecting – this is likely as close as you’ll get.

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