Porsche 911 Speedster Concept: Open, Puristic And More Than 500 Hp

Stuttgart. The most beautiful gift for the 70th birthday of his sports car, Porsche prepares itself: The 911 Speedster Concept is the roadworthy study of a particularly open and exciting sports car. He hits the bridge from the Porsche 356 "Nr. 1 "Roadster, which received its operating license on June 8, 1948, into the present. With its purist conception and historically correct design, the 911 Speedster Concept reflects the brand essence of the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer in precise clarity. He puts the pure driving experience in the foreground. The drive technology under the two-color shell of the concept study comes from the current GT models. It was developed at the Porsche Motorsport Center, where the 911 GT2 RS and most recently the GT3 RS were created. The 911 Speedster Concept celebrated its world premiere as part of the official celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Porsche Sports Car in Zuffenhausen. The concept study gives an outlook on a possible production model, which could be presented in 2019. A decision will be made in the coming months.

OneShift Editorial Team

13 Jun 2018

Among the characteristic details of the 911 Speedster Concept is the shortened window frame with lowered cowl and correspondingly smaller side windows. It gives the sports car study an even squatter profile with a very low fly line, which immediately recalls historical models such as the Porsche 356 1500 Speedster. Behind the front seats is a special rear cover made of carbon fiber. It clad a rollover protection structure and is characterized by a Doppelhutze, as they belong to the 911 Speedster of 1988 to the tradition of this sports car type. Between the humps set two black sediment lamellae aerodynamic accents, added to a transparent wind deflector made of Plexiglas engraved with "70 years Porsche" logo.

Fully committed to the historic original, the 911 Speedster Concept also has a lightweight tonneau cover instead of a soft top. It protects the interior of the parked vehicle from rain and is fastened with eight so-called Tenax buttons. The interior continues the lightweight concept of the Speedster philosophy. Navigation and radio system eliminated as well as the air conditioning. The full bucket seats are made of carbon. With the light brown aniline leather "Cognac 356" their leather upholstery takes on classic role models.

The wide body of the concept vehicle is borrowed from the 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet. Mudguard, bonnet and rear cover here but made of lightweight carbon fiber composite material. The livery in the classic shades GT silver and white quotes the early racing cars from Porsche - as well as many lovingly crafted details, starting from the central and centrally located in the bonnet filler cap in the style of the 50s on mirrors in classic "Talbot" - Shape up to the special design of the main headlights. With clear and frosted surfaces, their covers hint at a cross, reminiscent of a peculiarity from Porsche's early motorsport years. At that time, the original headlamps were masked to protect against chipping and splintering glass before racing.

Underneath the body, the 911 Speedster Concept uses state-of-the-art components. The chassis comes in principle from the 911 GT3, the shamrocks of the imposing 21-inch rims in Fuchs design are highly polished. For the first time, these wheels present themselves with a central lock. The exhaust system with titanium tailpipes and the powertrain including manual six-speed manual gearbox contribute to the GT developers. The six-cylinder boxer engine of this minimalist concept study delivers over 500 hp and reaches speeds of up to 9,000 rpm.

The history of Porsche's Speedster models starts in the USA

Speedster variants of its sports car models, which combine an open driving pleasure with particularly pronounced driving dynamics, belong since 1952 to the company history of Porsche. The forefather is the 356 1500 America Roadster, whose aluminum bodywork was made by hand. He weighed 60 kilograms less than the 356 Coupe and reached with the 70-hp four-cylinder boxer engine for the then time impressive speed of 175 km / h. With door panels, emergency folding top and lightweight bucket seats, the exclusive, only 16-time sports car designed for the US market embodied key Speedster features.

By 2010, eight series and special models were created with the nickname Speedster. A highlight was reached in 1957 with the 356 A 1500 GS Carrera GT Speedster. In 1988, the first 911 Speedster followed. The 356 copies of the 911 Series 997 Speedster from the year 2010.

"70 years Porsche s

ports car" - special exhibition and numerous activities

In a special exhibition in the Porsche Museum, the company now presents numerous stories and milestones, with which Porsche development of the sports car since 1948 significantly shaped and continues to this day. The focus is on outstanding Porsche developments of the past seven decades.

In addition, the sports car manufacturer honors the anniversary in 2018 with numerous activities around the world. Tomorrow, 9th June, Porsche invites fans to the "Sports Car Together Day" at all its sales locations around the world. At the weekend of 16 and 17 June Porsche receives its workforce, Zuffenhäuser and interested parties for a public celebration in and around the plant in Zuffenhausen.

At the "Festival of Speed" in Goodwood, England, the jubilee will be celebrated from the 12th to the 15th of July as well as the "Racing Reunion" in California from the 27th to the 30th of September. The finale is the "Sound Night", which will be held for the first time at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart on October 13th.

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