While flicking through the flood of Staedtler REG reissue pics on X, I decided to pull out my 925 95 to do a shoot with a Tomica of my all-time favorite Porsche, the 959.
Growing up, I wasn’t fond of the 911’s un-aerodynamic headlights. I kept wondering why Porsche couldn’t make the car sleeker? And when the 928 appeared, it was just a touch too different – the streamlined rear canopy was cool but the front had seemingly erased the 911’s DNA. Same for the 924 and 944.
I actually tried drawing my ‘vision’ of how a sleeker 911 could look like! The headlights would be raked back slightly but retain the general silhouette. I looked at the Ferrari 308 and threw in a side intake just for fun – not understanding their necessity for a mid-engine design. Lastly I drew a rounded rear aero spoiler. Yeah… they should just make one like this!
Imagine my excitement in 1987 when pictures and news of the 959 was unveiled in my dad’s car magazines! Holey moley, my imaginary design actually came pretty close to the real thing! I won’t bore you with the many technical achievements of the 959, but it was truly an engineering wonder with its differential drivetrain, a thinking man’s supercar that wasn’t just about aesthetics or crazy power output.
Finding the perfect miniature 959 was not easy but this oldie Tomica had some nice details that called out to the kid in me. Surprisingly, the main hook for me was the totally unrealistic molding of the numbers ‘959’ on the front and rear fenders. Secondly, for my purposes, the red plastic interior was a really good match for the ISO color coded button on my 0.9mm Staedtler 925 95. I actually have a second mini 959, a more realistic portrayal that I will explore in the future with a different pencil.
