Own a piece of history that didn’t really happen. RM Sotheby’s has a drop-top Porsche 959 that is a one-of-a-kind work of art. This 1987 Porsche 959 is a solid car that started out as a Komfort model, one of only two trim levels for this high-end supercar. The Sport was the second trim level. The 959 Komfort came with silver metallic paint and two-tone upholstery made of black leather and beige cashmere. The Porsche was originally gifted to Jürgen Lässig, a racer who secured second place at the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans and later claimed victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona. However, less than a year later, Lässig sold the Porsche after it was damaged in a crash on the autobahn. At the time of the accident, the car had only a few thousand kilometers on the odometer. The talented Porsche driver Karl-Heinz “Charlie” Feustel suggested building a Porsche 959 “Speedster” for the new owner. According to a story in Sports Car International in 1990, the convertible modification was a labor of love that took over 4,000 hours to finish. The main goal of the project was to make the changes look like they were always there. After that, blue leather was used to cover the inside of the 959 Speedster, and the outside was painted Grand Prix White. The one-of-a-kind Porsche was shown at the Frankfurt and Essen car shows in 1989. When he offered to sell the car, Feustel allegedly asked for about $1.2 million. In 1989, yes. That’s about $3.1 million today when inflation is taken into account. Someone bought it. The Porsche was bought by a German collector who had owned it until the owner who was consigning it bought it in 2008. The exact sale price is unknown. Feustel thought his art was worth more than what it’s being sold for now, but it’s still not cheap. The 959 Speedster will be sold at RM Sotheby’s Milan next month. It has a soft top that can be opened and closed electrically, a hard top that can be taken off, an interchangeable “Speedster” windshield, extra door mirrors, and owner’s manuals. Also, the car’s odometer only reads 8,304 kilometers, which is 5,159 miles. The Porsche 959 Speedster is valued between 1.1 million and 1.5 million euros, which translates to approximately 1.25 million to 1.71 million dollars. Considering the outstanding craftsmanship of this one-of-a-kind vehicle, the price is seen as well justified.
