Porsche 911 Speedster Concept – a modern classic

Porsche is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its sports cars this year and has created a very special birthday present to itself. This is the 911 Speedster Concept, which the automaker says “forges a link between the very first” 356 ‘No.1’ Roadster and today’s Porsches. On June 8, 1948, the 356 with the chassis number ‘356-001’ received its road certification, paving the way for the modern Porsche we know today.

Despite being called a concept, the 911 Speedster looks close to production ready – a theory further supported by recent spyshots of prototypes making their rounds. Porsche have yet to confirm if the concept will be made into a model that customers will actually be able to buy, but if they do, expect to pay a pretty penny or two in 2019.

Nostalgia is the name of the game here, and the 911 Speedster has many design cues integrated into its 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet donor body. The wings, front bonnet and rear cover are all new and made of a lightweight carbon-fibre composite material.

These new components give the concept a very low fly line that is reminiscent of the 356 1500 Speedster. The new rear cover encompasses the car’s rollover protection structure and “double bubble,” which is a throwback to the 1988 911 Speedster. Linking the two humps is a black trim piece that meets with a transparent Plexiglas wind deflector that has the ’70 years of Porsche’ logo engraved on it.

Elsewhere, there’s a 50s-style central fuel tank cap is positioned in the middle of the front bonnet and Talbot shape for the side mirrors. The headlamps are also bespoke to produce a cross-like effect as a reminder of Porsche’s involvement in racing. At the time, headlamps were taped to protect them against stone chipping and the glass from shattering.

Gold-plated Speedster lettering is also applied on the B-pillars as well as the rear, and the whole car is finished in the traditional colours of GT Silver and White like it was on early racing cars. A set of 21-inch Fuchs design wheels help create a purposeful stance.

Just like the 356, there is no mechanically operated folding roof here in case the weather decides not to play nice. Instead, a tonneau cover is the only protection from the elements, and requires you to deal with eight Tenax fasteners to keep it in place.

Porsche says this is important in keeping with the lightweight principles of the Speedster philosophy, and so, the navigation, radio and air-conditioning systems are also omitted here. Carbon-fibre bucket seats further support this effort, while light brown Aniline leather in Cognac 356 is another feature from the car’s classic predecessors.

While the design is purposefully sentimental, the 911 Speedster Concept is very much a modern sports car underneath. The chassis comes straight from the 911 GT3 along with its engine – a 4.0 litre flat-six engine that makes 500 hp and revs to 9,000 rpm. Curiously, the car referenced by Porsche was a prototype that adopted a mid-engine layout, but future iterations of the 356 were rear-engined.

Trivia aside, the engine is paired with a six-speed manual transmission as well as a titanium exhaust system. No word on performance, but in a car like this, those figures are hopelessly irrelevant.

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