Porsche 959

Brand: AutoArt Millennium
Material: Diecast
Type: Opening Parts (4)
Scale: 1:18
Model: Porsche 959 (1986)
Limited Edition: No
Release RRP: £99

Straight out of the box..

Landing in the windowed box version of the Autoart millennium box, you will know what your getting as soon as its out of its postage box. With a solid plastic frame to keep the box rigid, which can be removed (carefully) to use the base of the model as plinth for display the model out of the box.

As an 80’s Kid the the Porsche 959, Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari F40 were my dream cars and I had the obligatory Posters on the wall that were so popular in the 80’s

In detail the exterior.

Porsche? Yes comes under my list of super cars I will have space for 5 to be exact, the first was this lovely Porsche 959 by AutoArt. Its one of my favourite Porsches all all time, a 911 on steroids which has just spent 48hrs in Gold’s Gym beefing itself up before it goes out to cruise the neon streets! The front of the 959 has had its aerodynamics improved by flattening the 911’s lights down to be more blended in to the front wings, whilst still retaining the 911’s look.

The lens detail is excellent on the model, the indicators are tucked in just below the front wings. the lower half of the front bumper has two mesh grilles which are proper mesh. The number plate has the Porsche lettering on it and the Porsche badge sits above on the bonnet, the bonnet opens and has the fuel cap detail moulded in. One of the more confusing parts on the 959 is that it has one mirror and I’ll be honest here it messes up my OCD for the cars symmetry!

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The side aspect of the 959 is where you can see its 911 inspired design, the wideness of the body is cleverly masked by its smooth flowing body, the wings and rear quarters of the car bulge out from any other angle than an orthographic perspective. the door handle even has lock detail and the windows and frames are perfect

Its from this side view we start to see the 959 needed some extra work when it came to cooling its 444bhp 2.7 litre engine, with a cooling duct on the rear quarter to suck high volumes of cool air in and even vents in the front and rear bumpers!

Round the back this 911 has a huge imposing rear end! from certain angles it looks massively over sized!
The big moulded rear wing helps keep the rear end planted on the road and a small black raised lip on the boot adds more downforce to the car.

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Below that is one continuous light cluster with indicators, reverse lights and brake lights, although hard to capture the Porsche logo wording is in the main width of the reflector, the surround of the cluster has a nice black surround. Again more vents on the rear of the bumper, 6 to be exact and in between those the exhaust tips sit in two exit holes.

In detail the interior space.

Lets start at the front with the opening features, the front boot (frunk) opens up and has some nice metal hinges which look tidy when open, the front internal space is flocked to simulate carpet and you have the nice petrol and filler neck in the top right corner. The internals of the frunk lid also include the lock catches, which is a nice detail.

Opening up the cabin reveals the classic 911 style dash and a very sharply moulded dash giving excellent details to recesses and bevels, paint or printed details on switch gear is really clear. Carpeted effect floor which is come to be expected of a quality model, sitting on the top is the 959’s bucket seats with a fabric effect, with the excellent grey multi toned colours in the design of the seat. its a 2+2 so it has rear seats, but if it’s anything like my Mitsubishi FTO or my Audi TT they are not practical!

The rear engine cover has some great touches, the upper part on the cover has two cooling fans which when closed sits over the engine, the engine even though tightly packed in the bay is still very detailed, with pulleys, drive belts, leads and piping all included. You’ll also find the miniscule printed engine warning and information labels with tiny text on them dotted around the bay. As with the front compartment nice metal hinges are in play and give extra space over thicker dog leg hinges for more detail.

The five spoke wheels are nice and have a very small Porsche centre logo in black, behind the wheels is a big Porsche branded calliper with cross drilled brake discs. Tyre tread is detailed but not branded.

Verdict?

A must have for me, previously in my old collection I started off with a Tonka-Politsal 959, then ended up with a nice sliver one from Exoto Motorbox. So when I restarted collecting in 2019 it was one of the first non-JDM cars I went looking for and at the time Minichamps or AutoArt was on my hitlist, as I had already owned the other two I would like a different brand for my Porsche 959.

A great model, of course its an AutoArt from when I consider them being at the top of their game, I’m sure it would have been £100 or less when released, now its considerably more but if you can get it for as close as the RRP then do try, as always research, networking with other collectors and patience are key if you have a budget to work within. This 959 is worth hunting down and you wont be disappointed, I don’t have experience with the Minichamps version, if you do let me know in the comments.