500,000 Porche 959 Damaged When A Double Axle Trailer Came Loose And The Safety Chains Broke And Hit A Tree

In 1971 J. Standard Baker Quoted " Drivers Towing Trailers Are Four (4) Times As Unsafe As Those In Cars Alone!

This Porsche 959 Was Part of a Bizarre Crash Between a Trailer and a Tree

Slight front-end damage, bungee-cord bumper support included.

August 22, 2018 AT 10:01 AM By Alexander Stoklosa Photos By Mecum Auctions 30 Comments

UPDATE 8/22/18: Mecum Auctions has filled us in on what exactly happened to this bruised 959. Apparently, while the Porsche was being transported in an enclosed car trailer, that trailer "detached" from the tow vehicle on the freeway. See below for more details.

Looks aren’t everything, but when it comes to cars, functionality is appreciated. So, you’ll be thrilled to know that this damaged 1987 Porsche 959 Komfort that Mecum Auctions plans to sell during Monterey Car Week 2018 does, in fact, work. Sort of. With the assistance of a dolly fitted where its missing right-front wheel should be, the rare ’80s Porsche supercar can putter around in a small circle at low speeds. We offer as proof a video (below) of the car accomplishing the feat.

Are there positives to be found? Of course! The front bumper is still attached, thanks to a super-high-tech fabric-wrapped elastic material fitted with lightweight metal hooks at each end. The widget fits in nicely among the 959’s cutting-edge (for its time) Kevlar and composite body components. The odometer confirms a life of leisure for this 197-mph, twin-turbocharged all-wheel-drive monster, which has covered only 3657 miles since new. The 444-hp flat-six seems to run (again, based on Mecum’s brief video), having been spared major damage during the trailer incident by being, ahem, in the car’s tail. And we’re digging the silver-over-burgundy color scheme.

Given classic Porsche prices of late and the fact that this 959 is one of only 294 Komfort models ever produced, Mecum’s pre-auction estimate of $450,000 to $550,000 seems reasonable, despite the open question of what the car will cost to repair. A different 959 Komfort recently sold at RM Sotheby’s Monaco auction for just shy of $1 million, while another (already registered here in the United States) gaveled for just under $1.2 million in Arizona this year. Fixing this damaged example won’t be cheap, but it almost certainly will be worth it.

UPDATE 8/22/18: Mecum Auctions has filled us in on what exactly happened to this bruised 959. Apparently, while the Porsche was being transported in an enclosed car trailer, that trailer "detached" from the tow vehicle on the freeway. See below for more details.

Looks aren’t everything, but when it comes to cars, functionality is appreciated. So, you’ll be thrilled to know that this damaged 1987 Porsche 959 Komfort that Mecum Auctions plans to sell during Monterey Car Week 2018 does, in fact, work. Sort of. With the assistance of a dolly fitted where its missing right-front wheel should be, the rare ’80s Porsche supercar can putter around in a small circle at low speeds. We offer as proof a video (below) of the car accomplishing the feat.

Nowhere in Mecum’s pre-auction listing for the 959 is any mention made of why the car’s face is rearranged from its factory spec. The car seems to have met a tree or some similarly narrow, vertically oriented object. As it turns out, that's exactly what happened, only with a twist: A Mecum representative confirmed to us that the 959 was riding in a trailer down the interstate when that trailer broke free from its tow vehicle, careening off the road and colliding with a tree.

While the trailer appears to have been destroyed, the Porsche fared slightly better; the impact freeing its right-front wheel from its moors and damaging the suspension and steering. Note how, in the video of the car moving under its own power, the left-front wheel is turned to the left, while the right-side steering knuckle and brake rotor stay pointed straight ahead. Ominous.

Why did the double axle trailer in violation of Federal Law..come off the hitch?

Question....

Safety Chains used? Or did they fail?
Where was the breakaway cable?

Why did the hitch fail?

Class II hitch?

Class III Hitch?

What failed....do we have defective hitches....Yes we do! We have the evidence.

A 500,000 Car ....damaged...Why did The Trailer come Off The Hitch? If Car And Driver Never Covered This Story...we would not know! Over 80% of all loose trailers...and death's are not covered by the News Media....So our numbers are even more stunning...Do we have your attention now? I have never been in a Porche..this car could support our cause for 7 years! in 2018 over 500 will die.....when a loose trailer does not hit a tree......but hits your family on the highway....and lives are lost......we simply ask..."Why did the trailer come off the hitch?" Nobody wants to answer our questions...https://www.caranddriver.com/news/1987-porsche-959-for-sale-front-end-damage#backfires

Nowhere in Mecum’s pre-auction listing for the 959 is any mention made of why the car’s face is rearranged from its factory spec. The car seems to have met a tree or some similarly narrow, vertically oriented object. As it turns out, that's exactly what happened, only with a twist: A Mecum representative confirmed to us that the 959 was riding in a trailer down the interstate when that trailer broke free from its tow vehicle, careening off the road and colliding with a tree.