New Porsche 911 Speedster to Debut at Frankfurt Auto Show, Rumor Claims
Could this be the return of Porsche’s iconic old-school roadster?
When Porsche pulled the wraps off the 911 GT2 RS earlier this summer, many people assumed the 700-horsepower track monster would be the swan song for the 991 era of Porsche's most popular model. But a new report from CAR Magazine points to the current 911 generation going out with a different sort of bang: a new version of the Porsche 911 Speedster, rumored to debut at next month's Frankfurt Motor Show.
The "Speedster" name hearkens all the way back to the first production P-Car, the 1954 Porsche 356 Speedster. Initially devised as a stripped-down, lower-cost convertible model, the car has become one of the most collectible Porsches out there, while the nameplate has been regularly brought back for special edition, retro-styled roadsters in successive generations of the Porsche 911.
Porsche last unveiled a Speedster model in 2010 at the tail end of the 997-generation production run, producing 356 copies (get it?) of the manual-topped convertible, complete with the chopped windshield and distinctive rear hump. They sold for around $200,000 apiece, despite not offering much more than less-exclusive 911 models aside from the old-school kit. (Hey, nostalgia ain't cheap.)
So if the rumors are true and Porsche is indeed planning on a 991.2-generation Speedster, look for it to continue in the same visual tradition—with hopefully a few more mechanical upgrades hiding beneath. (And maybe the six-speed stick brought back to such acclaim in the Porsche 911 R and the new 991.2-gen 911 GT3.) The Frankfurt Motor Show kicks off on September 12, so we'll know for sure in about a month.
Pictured: 997-generation Porsche 911 Speedster