Porsche stunned the automotive world when it unveiled the 959 at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Identified internally as the Type 961, this new machine was to be the German automaker’s entry into the cutting-edge FIA Group B international rally championship arena, a no-holds-barred rally of the old school where practically any technology was permissible.

This no-limits policy encouraged a long list of automakers to create incredibly powerful and extremely fast vehicles, all of which required production of at least 200 street-legal examples on which these rally specials could be based.

The 959’s chassis was set on the same 89.4-inch wheelbase as the 911 Carrera with the cabin’s center section, including its stamped floorplan, nearly identical to the 911.

The front trunk lid and doors were aluminum; the extended nose section with almost flush headlamps was molded of polyurethane, and the remainder of the shell from fiberglass-reinforced Kevlar.

Extensive ducting and venting in the n...