The Porsche 959 and Bill Gates... [PIC]

When Porsche unveiled their technological showpiece, the 959, Bill Gates and Paul Allen had to have one. The two Porsches made it to the Port of Entry and they were impounded. Money and celebrity has its privileges , so Bill Gates went to President Clinton and  got waivers as long as they passed the EPA standards and, of course, they didn't. Porsche would make them compliant and instead of detuning the 2.8 liter twin sequential turbo Boxter 6, Porsche bumped the horsepower from 444 to 517. Gates also took care of his wealthy buddies getting the "show and display" waiver for cars with production numbers under 500 that brought 50 of the 330 odd 959 that were built into the US. So with his political clout, Gates wound up with one of the rarest 1 of 2 959 Comfort series ever made. The first 959 diecast of any 'precision' was Exoto's Motorbox diecast. He subbed the build out to Revell AG and the results were very disappointing with dog leg hinges and worse was the opening for the rear intakes was only a dimple and the first run was not even painted black. When I reviewed the model, Tony Keusseyan countered that an opening on that body was impossible to make. I countered with a photo of a $15 Bburago I had with the openings and never heard back. The following AUTOart model (shown here) is infinitely better done and reveals dimensional and other differences from the Exoto model. The one missing element on the Aa model is the lack of the illuminated "PORSCHE" script in the rear light bar which is not only puzzling but is also featured on the Exoto... so that's one for Tony K. LOL

If anyone wants to see comparison shots, I'll post them.

Here's the Exoto to compare:

Back to the AUTOart:

Here's the Bburago: