Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40: The supercars that the Group B gave birth
The Porsche 959 and the Ferrari F40, was two of the most iconic supercars of the 80’s. But, did you know that the original development for both cars, was the rally Group B? Since it was banned, both manufacters didn’t wasted all the job they did, and gave us two marvelous supercars.
Ferrari F40: The ultimate 288 GTO
The Ferrari F40 is maybe the most iconic supercar ever made by the Maranello manufactes, despite having a V8 Turbo engine instead a N/A V12. But this car was the result of the developement of the ultimate 288 GTO to face it’s Group B rivals: The 288 GTO Evoluzione. The 288 GTO was made for the rally Group B, and 272 units were made to race it. As just them and Porsche were the only entries on their class, they abandoned the idea of racing and the car was adapted to be street-legal. Due the sucess of the Porsche 959, Ferrari decided to develop their next supercar, using the 288 GTO as base car. There was born the 288 GTO Evoluzione
The car recived a new wide body kit, and the engine was upgraded with attaching 2 turbos to it. Now the 288 got 650 HP, 950 kg and a estimated maximum speed of… 370km/h! In 1987, with a detuned engine of 470 HP, and a 1100 kg weight, the F40 was born. That was the last car that Enzo Ferrari gave his approvement and the last ‘old school’ Ferrari before the electronic era. 1315 units were made and the production ceased in 1992. A GT version was made in 1994, racing in the BPR International series and JGTC with a moderate sucess.
Porsche 959: The hyper 911
And here is the biggest rival of the italian car: The Porsche 959. For many considered ‘The ultimate Porsche’ was the maximum technologic expression from the Stuttgart manufacter. They made this car originally for the rally Group B (Fun fact: The original name for this car was ‘Gruppe B’) in 1981. But in 1984, three units were adapted to race the Paris-Dakar, racing in 1985 and winning in 1986 with Rene Metge. But was in 1986 when the street version was ready. Cappable of a max speed of 336 km/h and a 0-100 of 3.7 seconds thanks to a 444 HP Boxer engine (derived from the legendary 935 of Le Mans), the innovative PSK (Porsche-Steuer Kupplung) all-wheel drive system, and advanced electronic features. Quickly this car became a sucess… excepting in the United States. The ‘Gates 959’ was bought by Bill Gates in 1987, but by the EPA regulations, the car was illegal, being stored at the Port of San Fransisco until 2001, when the ‘Show and Display’ law was approbed. Oh, and a ‘961’ version to race in Le Mans was made, finish 7th at the overall qualyfing.
Comments
I’m open to any feedback guys :)
Umm, there’s another article somewhere on CT which says that there is a big misconception regarding Group B rally racing, as there is another FIA road racing series which existed by the name of Group B.
Nice article anyway! Really enjoyed it! Keep up the good work! :’)
Is nice article. Didn’t know they were meant to be group b cars. Guess that’s two more reasons to thank group b :)
Great article, both great cars but I’d take the F40
Great article! Some pics of the rally ferrari and porschs would be nice here ;)
cough TopGear cough cough F40 vs. 959 cough cough cough Hamster cough cough
These cars were neve intended for rallying.
They were meant to be Group B road racing cars, but that category never took off.
Group C sportscars were far more lucrative and actually cheaper to make, as they did not require homologation of a street car.
The 959’s track sister, the 961, and the 288 GTO Evoluzione were the only entries.
Porsche’s 961 is the only one that actually raced, but as a prototype. Because of the low attendance the category was cancelled.