While we are never tired of saying how iconic the Porsche 911 is, there are a few models from the German brand that are just as epic. The Porsche 959 is, undoubtedly, one of them, and what makes this one even more special is that this one is owned by racing driver, Nick Heidfeld. The Porsche 959 was regarded as the most advanced supercar of its time when it debuted back in 1986, and this 1987 example recently benefited from the Porsche Classic treatment.

With just 292 examples made, the Porsche 959 is one of the rarest German supercars ever made. While retaining many traits of the 911 traits from the 911 on which it is based, like the overall design and rear-engine layout, the 959 featured many engineering decisions exclusive to the model, such as the body made of aluminum and Kevlarand a Nomex floor. The 959 also introduced the Porsche-Steuer Kupplung (PSK) all-wheel-drive system, which has torque-vectoring capabilities. It’s also the first rear-engine Porsche to feature water-cooling, although it was just for the head of the engine.

Speaking of the engine, the 959’s 2.9-liter twin-turbo flat-six produced 454 horsepower (336 kilowatts) and 369 pound-feet (500 Nm), which allowed for a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time of 3.6 seconds on to a top speed of 195 mph (315 km/h). However, Nick Heidfeld’s car is the even rarer, Porsche 959 Sport, which had 515 (379 kilowatts), 417 pound-feet (561 Nm) of torque, and an increased top speed to 211 mph (339 km/h). Only 29 examples of the 959 Sport were built.

With just 4,183 km (2,599 miles) on the odometer, Nick Heidfeld’s Porsche 959 Sport is barely broken in. However, cars are meant to be driven, and “storage damage” takes its toll on the car’s components, oftentimes, even more severely than “beating on the car” on a regular basis. According to Head of Factory Restoration at Porsche Classic, Uwe Makrutzki, “The powertrain and chassis have to be overhauled in their entirety; experience has shown that any reduction to the scope of work leads to problems down the road.”

Porsche Classic is a special department that aims to keep legendary models like the 959 on the road by utilizing the original blueprints of the car to maintain and, if need be, recreate any of the 959’s components long after the cars were discontinued. Heidfeld’s white 959 Sport was ready to hit the road in December 2021, after the complete overhaul. The old saying that “a car is only as good as the driver” could not be more accurate here. And while the Porsche 959 Sport is peak German engineering, Nick Heidfeld, with his 183 Grand Prix starts in Formula One over 12 years, is one of few individuals that know how to extract the most out of the German classic.