The Real Reason America Banned The Porsche 959

The Porsche 959 was also famous for giving Bill Gates some headaches. Gates ordered one only to see it impounded by U.S. customs because the car was illegal to import. It took Gates 13 years, but eventually, he got his 959 thanks to an exemption in import laws called “Show and Display”, peer Hot Cars. Under the “Show and Display” clause, a car that had not passed crash, emissions, or other tests, could be imported if it was in the public interest to show or display it. The question is: why did the Porsche 959 never pass the U.S. safety tests?

In reality, the 959 did not actually fail the U.S. tests, but never took them. Hot Cars explains that Porsche lost about $500,000 for each 959 sold, due to the complexity of the car. The exchange rate between the U.S. and the German currency of the time was also unfavorable. Additionally, Porsche only made a couple of hundred 959s, each a very expensive machine. The NHTSA tests to approve a car for the U.S. require 4 cars to be crashed, and Porsche, who had already decided to focus on the European market, did not want to sacrifice four cars.

Porsche only produced 292 Porsche 959s, and only 29 units of those were 959 Sport versions. The Sport version added an additional 65 horsepower thanks to its modified turbochargers, increased boost pressure, adjusted ignition, and fuel injection. “In a test conducted by the specialist magazine Auto, Motor & Sport, the 959 S achieved a top speed of 339 km/h,” Porsche says.