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Porsche targets Ferrari 458 Italia with 959 replacement

By Tim Beissmann |

Porsche has Ferrari squarely in its sights as it develops an all-new sports car to sit between the 911 and the 918.

Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller told German publication Sueddeutsche Zeitung he was frustrated his brand was giving the Ferrari 458 Italia a free kick in the supercar middle ground without offering any competition.

“It always irritated me that the 911 tops out at 250,000 euros ($340,000) and then the 918 continues starting at 750,000 euros ($1.02 million),” Mr Mueller said.

“In between, Ferrari moseys around relatively comfortably and without any competition. That is where we need to be. There is still space for a larger sports car, one like the 959 that we built in the 1980s.”

He said a spiritual successor to the Porsche 959 would ideally be priced between 250,000 and 400,000 euros ($340,000 to $544,000).

If it makes production, the 959 successor is expected to become the eighth model in Porsche’s expanded vehicle lineup, as the manufacturer targets 200,000 global sales by 2018.

On top of the four current models – 911, Boxster/Cayman, Cayenne and Panamera – the German luxury sports brand is also planning a small mid-engined roadster in the mould of the 550 Spyder, a compact SUV unofficially dubbed the Cajun, and a smaller version of the Panamera.

Although just 337 examples of the Porsche 959 were produced, it is held in the highest regard among Porsche enthusiasts and sports car fans alike.

When it was released in 1986, it was the fastest street-legal production car in the world and could accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 3.7 seconds – making it as quick as the modern-day Porsche 911 Turbo.


 
  • FrugalOne

    *****PRIMO!*****

    Errrrr, no!

    Ferrari are a class above Porker, Porkers are to popular and to common to be compared to Ferrari

  • AndyGF

    Kinda like the Carrera GT, The prettiest and craziest modern Porsche. Will be interesting to see what they come up with?

  • Bryan

    The 959 was a remarkable achievement 20 odd years ago; it will be interesting to see what Porsche can come up with if they really put their mind to competeing with/beating Ferrari with the benefit of an extra two decades of R + D to work with. Personally I think the Carrera GT will be hard to top.

  • UMWHAT

    all they need to do is offer a proper manual transmission and it will be better

  • Vince

    Forget the 458, you’ve let that horse bolt funnily enough :)
    Try for a GT replacement and whatever comes after the 458 cause it will be years before you even get anything close onto the market. Plus MacLaren are also ahead of you.

  • Grr

    Trouble with Porsche – they are stuck in a mould with their designs – very reluctant to step out side the box.

    • UMWHAT

      then it wouldnt be a porsche anymore if they made some edgy hypercar shape like the lambo avantador or whatever your brilliant car designing brain thought up

      • nugsdad

        There is a marketing truism that it is better to make yourself obsolete before someone else does it for you. Porsche needs for the health of their brand to innovate as per Cayenne Panamera and leave the 911 as the iconic model.

  • PoisonEagle

    Wouldn’t they be competing with the 599 or FF then? In any case, if it’s a successor to the 959, it will need to be more technically advanced than the Nissan GT-R and have that timeless, sinister look about it. Carrera GT was a fine achievement but the 959 was sleeker and more awesome.

  • http://Www.jjj.com Tom

    Porsche are so un imaginative! Change it up! Same look across the board for 40 years, (design house circa 1986) hey let’s make a “new model” a 959! Let’s take the same old done and dusted design! Put on some shitty plastic rear for a ‘meaner stance’ some pox fenders and a new front bar, but leave the top half of the car completely unchanged!

    I do like the cayman though :)

    • Homer

      “Un imaginative” and very profitable. People must like them.

  • Rex

    1) Steal a GTR
    2) Pry off Nissan badges with a fork, add Porsche ones.
    3) ?????????????
    4) Profit

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715760895 Charles Dean

    I hate German brands, they’re so hungry for profit.. More then anyone else..

    • AndyGF

      You are just intimidated by them; They exhibit tendencies you dont see in yourself, such as pioneering, innovation & persistence to name a few.

      The western world needs people like that, we need a lot more people like that…

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715760895 Charles Dean

        Yeah right, German products (not just cars) are the most overrated POS rubbish on the planet.. They seem to have convinced the world that ‘Made in Germany’ is good, but it clearly isn’t.. A Makitta or Hitachi drill is far superior, stronger and more durable then the garbage Bosch drills..

        Lexus are by far superior to BMW, Mercedes, Audi..

        • Phil

          As for Bosch, have you ever wondered why Japanese cars have Bosch components in them?

          • AndyGF

            Not so much the petrols, but some of the diesel jap cars use the previous generation Bosch Diesel Injection Systems.
            In fact, because Nissan is owned by Renault, they have licenses to use the latest Bosch DI in engines like their new 3.0 V6 Diesel, and lo-and-behold, its much more powerful and has better fuel consumption.

        • Phil

          So you say German brands are big rip offs.

          Then you say Lexus are far superior. I trust you mean that Lexus are far superior at being even bigger rip offs?

          After all, it’s Lexus who brought us the:
          $76,500+ Toyota Camry (badged as Lexus ES300)
          $149,500+ Toyota Landcruiser (badged as Lexus LX570)
          $82,900+ Toyota Klugar (badged as Lexus RX350)
          $97,810+ Toyota Aristos (badged as Lexus GS300)

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715760895 Charles Dean

        And look at national Patents.. USA & Japan are at the top by far, then Germany is third.. Innovation you say?..

        • Phil

          Ah, petenting…denieing others the use of your design for the purpose of making your own profits.

        • AndyGF

          The easier something is to copy, the more patents you have to file to keep it your own… Computer software for example, makes up a huge number of those patients you are talking about. (big whoop)

          China knocks off low-tech japanese products all day long, hell, most of the time its a Japanese or US company paying the factory in china by day to make their branded products, and by night, they are making knock offs. They are their own worst enemies and its the reason why the western world is straining under its own weight…

          There is a lot to admire about the German people, workforce and attitude towards the future. We could all learn a thing or two from the Germans.

    • Phil

      Charles, do you really think Porsche would’ve made much money, if any, on the 959? They’d have spent $Millions in development/design costs, then they only sold 337 of them?

      Most manufactuers lose money on their supercars.
      VW says that each Bugatti Veyron they make has ends up costing them about A$10 million each, yet they only sell for A$2.5 million…

  • Mark

    You never want to destroy the 911. Tradition is what made Porsche what it is today. You can always create different variations but you have to remain true to the brand.

    While they only made 337 of the 959 Porsche….It was not a street legal car in the United States. The demand is always there for a supercar. Maybe now with new blood in the directors chair we will start to see a wider variety of the cherished name.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1715760895 Charles Dean

    Renualt does not own Nissan, it’s an alliance.. Also Chrysler owns Mercedes-Benz, if that’s what you mean?..

    • AndyGF

      Sorry, MB split from Chrysler many many years ago, and it was Daimler (german) who thought they could worm their way into the US market by buying the (bailed out by the US govt twice already) Chrysler, not the other way round.

      Nissan was running at a huge loss when Renault brought them… Who do you think brought who? ‘Alliance’ is just the word the PR department decided on to keep the brands identities in tacked.

  • Car Fanatic

    Yet again Charles proves he knows nothing.

    Let me give you the heads up Chucky boy.

    Renault has a 44% stake in Nissan and voting rights. Nissan has a 15% stake in Renault but no voting rights, so in this alliance there is only one winner, Renault.

    Now Chrysler have nothing to do with MB any more and are currently controlled by Fiat.

    Now to the Germans, they invented the Wankel Engine ( Mazda obviously think it’s good), the printing press ( Murdoch’s not complaining) they invented the car ( you drive one funnily enough), MP3 player, Aspirin, Christmas tree ( everybody loves Xmas), the Bunsen burner, fax machine, Radar, etc etc. I could go on all day.