If a company today built a car that could achieve 198 mph and accelerate from 0–60 mph in only 3.6 seconds, it would be something incredible and carry tremendous bragging rights. One imagines that the engineers at Porsche would simply take one look at it, yawn, and go back to work. After all, they turned out a car that could do all that over a quarter century ago. It was called the 959, and it turned the sports car world on its head.

Originally developed for the short-lived Group B rally program, the 959 boasted space shuttle levels of technological sophistication never before seen on a racing car. The body construction incorporated DuPont Kevlar aramid fibers, a polyurethane nose cap, and aluminum doors and front lid, for Formula One-like toughness and lightness. The suspension boasted three adjustable ride-height settings, as well as three dampening settings for the shock absorbers. The sophisticated antilock braking system was controlled by high-speed microprocessors, augmented by run-flat Bridgestone tires. The engine featured six individually water-cooled cylinder heads, twin sequential turbochargers, and intercooling, sending 450 horsepower at 6,500 rpm to all four wheels through an electronically controlled all-wheel drive system.

All of this resulted in performance that, as the old saying goes, shocked friends and terrified enemies.

First, though, one had to acquire a 959, which was not easy. Even at $300,000 each, the factory had a waiting list and lost money on every one of the 283 built, earning the model its nickname of “Porsche’s Gift to Its Favorite Customers.” It was such a desirable acquisition that even United States collectors, who could not legally import the cars, sought to do so anyway, leading to a “grey market” for 959s in the United States. The “Show and Display” law of 1999, championed by 959 owners Bill Gates and Paul Allen, finally allowed the cars to be legally imported.

Naturally, the executives at the Porsche factory had no such difficulties. In fact, they were able to access the pleasure of 959 ownership before the general public, with cars like this ‘Vorserie,’ or pre-series-production, model built after the original prototypes. They utilized the finalized 959 specification to varying degrees, but they preceded the start of official public production. While the car was finished in road going “Komfort” trim, as one would expect of something used to whisk a suited gentleman down the autobahn to Weissach, this car is not fitted with the hydraulic self-leveling rear suspension, which was a later innovation, and not one that is universally admired. According to the 959 Registry, only 21 ‘Vorseries’ were made, all produced in 1985. It would be two years before the production cars would follow.

Following its time spent in the Porsche executive fleet, this 959 was titled and road-registered prior to being sold privately by the factory. This 959 has had only two registered owners since, most recently spending time in the esteemed collection of the president of the Porsche Club of Spain. It has been driven only 5,000 kilometers from new, with many of those miles likely covered in its original use, and it has the “factory fresh” appearance to match, including outstanding original Zermatt Silver paint and a grey-piped black leather interior. Few 959s remain in such well-preserved, impressively original condition.

Even more crucially, the car boasts an exclusive and comprehensive service history from Porsche Weissach and other official facilities, with the most recent major service completed in June 2013, at Porsche of Dusseldorf, Germany (an authorized 959 service facility), and it has only accrued road testing miles since. Receipts for this work are available for inspection. Featured in Porsche 959 by Jurgen Lewandowski, the car is authenticated by a letter from the Porsche factory, which accompanies it, along with all the extras that a 959 buyer should expect, including its tool roll, jack, and fitted car cover. Importantly, after being recently imported from Germany, the car will be offered with a valid U.S. title. Mr. Gates and Mr. Allen never had it so easy.

Supercars tend to come and go, and there are remarkably few that remain as astonishingly cutting-edge and desirable years after their introduction. The Porsche 959, loaded with technological advances worthy of NASA, is one that has achieved such honors. It remains as desirable today as it was when new, and the car shown here stands among the cream of the crop, with virtually unbeatable provenance as one of the earliest 959s surviving; it is a pre-production car that was formerly in the service of the men who saw it built. We can only assume that, a quarter century after they drove it to work, they are still smiling.