Step into our recurring guide to the letters on gear shifters! We have previously decoded the 'S' on your shifter - along with 'B' and 'L' - and now the spotlight falls on 'G'. Found on the shift knob, it means Gelande, a German term translating to 'terrain.' This gear provides an ultra-low ratio tailored for superior off-road traction.

The name might ring a bell from the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, where 'G-Wagon' derives from 'Geländewagen,' roughly 'cross-country vehicle.' However, the vehicle most linked to this gelande gear is Porsche's revolutionary 959 supercar, introduced in 1985. It included a low 'G' gear honoring its rally racing heritage, aided by a clever regulatory workaround.

The challenge stemmed from stringent noise rules in various countries, which measured sound levels in first gear. The 959 struggled to comply using its standard lowest gear. Designed for top-tier rally competition homologation, its transmission featured an exceptionally low - and noisy - first gear for tackling rough surfaces. Porsche's fix: label that gear 'G,' redesignate the original second as first, and shift the numbering sequence.

Porsche 959: An Ode to Automotive Ingenuity

Swapping the transmission entirely was not viable for the 959. It was engineered to certify Porsche's rally contender for the wild Group B class in the World Rally Championship, requiring shared parts like the gearbox between road and race versions. The powerplant was another carryover - a rear-mounted flat-six from the Porsche 956 endurance racer, victor at Le Mans for three straight years from 1983 to 1985, fueling the 959's stellar road dynamics.

Equally pivotal to its legacy were the 959's cutting-edge technologies. So futuristic was its engineering that piloting it felt like stepping into sci-fi.

Highlights included an electronic multi-mode all-wheel-drive setup with modes for 'Dry,' 'Wet,' 'Ice,' and 'Traction,' plus an electrohydraulic suspension adjustable by 2.4 inches in ride height. It even pioneered production-car tire pressure monitoring.

Yet, for all its allure, Group B rallying's spectacle - and the 959's run - proved brief. Safety concerns ended Group B in 1987, while Porsche produced just 292 road-legal 959s, meeting the 200-unit homologation minimum.