1980s Supercar Powertest | Top Gear

in 1986 porsche launched the greatest supercar the world had ever seen the 959 and then a year later ferrari responded with the greatest supercar the world had ever seen the f40 oh my word would you just look at that I can't recall ever seeing these two together on television before so let's get cracking beginning with this wretched stay professional when the 959 first came along in 1986 it was the most advanced and most high-tech car ever made I'm not talking about the upmarket clickless my surroundings of aircon electric seats and so on no it's cleverer stuff than that for example it had adjustable suspension and a complex four-wheel drive system you can split the power between the front and back wheels not just according to how much grip you had but how you were cornering how much T forcing a banana oh god this is beautiful you can just feel I mean I've driven I've owned 911s from this period and this thing just feels so much more and the tech fest didn't stop there the 959 came with a million things we'd never seen before tire pressure sensors for example and magnesium wheels with hollow spokes no wonder bill gates bought one and while we're on the subject of Billy Microsoft he was one of the few people back then and who could have afforded to pay the proper price for one of these things because in the 80s Porsche asked 150,000 pounds for a 959 but it actually cost them three hundred thousand pounds to make it was so advanced and the famous owners included my style hero Don Johnson and the young Boris Becker who maxed his 959 on the Italian autostrada which must have been Michael the 959 was fast really fast thanks to its 444 brake horsepower to put nine liter flat six turbocharged engine in fact the top speed was 197 miles an hour which in 1986 made it the fastest production car in the world from the turbos come on however its reign as the speed King was short-lived thanks to this the 201 mile an hour ferrari f40 Oh it's the wrong that gets me not 200 201 is that when kids say everything you say plus one so we know that Ferrari has a higher top speed than the Porsche but what about acceleration you know I feel a drag race coming on now I am as you know a big fan of Porsches and it's not that I think that 959 is gonna lose or anything just there's a cold day I think it's best if I stay here in this car the one that's 250 kilograms lighter and has got 478 brake horsepower instead of them 444 both these cars twins Herman both 2.9 it's gonna be close for say he's going to Enzo would not like that result I'll be honest couple my gear changes could have been slicker dial out my iffy gear changes though and these two would cross the line neck-and-neck and that's odd because they are very different where the 959 is all high-tech and luxury the f40 has string for door handles no carpets and wind-up windows what you get in this car is a twin-turbo v8 some windscreen wipers and that's about it it was the first car to be made entirely of carbon fiber which was only just starting to happen in form in a walk the lightness and the stiffness of it I lied to that colossal power made it a bit of a hyper go-kart through the corner as a Porsche fan it pains me to say this but in the corners the f40 is far more exciting Oh steering wheel is alive ha these Scioscia god I'm sorry to keep squeaking and making noises and it is disturbing you I apologize it is don't drive your hero's not this time I could've imagined better as a kid looking at pictures of it choosing between these two is like choosing between shirt or trousers it's pointless but I will say this we simply wouldn't be where we are now without because these two cars are I believe incredibly important it's this pair that took road cars to and beyond the 200mph area before them you had Countach ease and testarossa's and in evolutionary terms they were like man first making it into space with these two it was man they really are that important you you

Channel: Top Gear

Views: 4,202,976

Rating: 4.91748 out of 5

Keywords: BBC, Top Gear, Porche 959, Ferrari F40, 1980s cars

Id: 7mFleLfedrU

Length: 7min 56sec (476 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 20 2011