Seeing a Porsche sell for eight-figure sums is practically unheard of, which is why the $1 million valuation of the Porsche 911 R at some dealers is so ridiculous. There are some exceptions, however. Recently, a 1988 Porsche 959 Sport, widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest sports cars ever made by the manufacturer, went up for sale at an RM Sotheby's Paris auction. We expected it to command a high price, but we never expected it to set a new record. It was estimated that this rare 959 Sport would sell for at least $1.6 million.

It made much, much more that, however, selling for €1.96 million. Using current exchange rates that equates to around $2.08 million and a new world record for the model. It comfortably beats the last 959 sold at auction in Arizona for $935k, and another which sold at an RM auction for $1.21 million in 2015. Staggeringly, this wasn't the most expensive vehicle sold at the Paris auction. That would be a rare Ferrari Dino prototype which sold for €4.4 million ($4.7 million), followed by a Ferrari Daytona Spider for €2.15 million ($2.3 million) and a 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 for €3.9 million ($4.2 million). When it first launched in 1986 the Porsche 959 was untouchable and way ahead of its time, making it a sports car icon of the 1980s.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.8-liter flat-six engine that produced 515 horsepower, the lighter 959 Sport variant, limited to only 29 models, could reach 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds. At the time such statistics seemed utterly bonkers for a production car and still hold up decently well today.