RAKISH PROFILE: This 2011 Porsche Speedster combines classic looks with thoroughly modern sophistication
October 2, 2017
Posted by Barrett-Jackson
Written by independent automotive journalist Steve Statham
A 2011 Porsche Speedster (Lot #745) in Carrara White will be crossing the block at the 10th Annual Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Auction, Oct. 19-21, 2017.
Almost every car company, if it survives long enough, will produce at least one special car that becomes an icon for the brand. The name, or the styling, will resurface periodically and influence the direction of the company decades after the original first appeared. Run through a mental checklist of just about every manufacturer and you’ll come up with at least one car that fits that description.
For Porsche, the Speedster fills that role. Based on the Porsche 356, the Speedster was introduced in the U.S. in late 1954. It featured a cut-down, raked, removable windshield, and was stripped to the bare essentials – side curtains, bucket seats with fixed backrests, minimal instrumentation and a very basic folding top. It was aimed at those who wanted an open-air sports car for the street that was also suitable for weekend racing, or at least projecting the image of a weekend racer. The Speedster was perfectly named and proved quite popular, particularly in Southern California.
Porsche has revived the Speedster name periodically on special edition 911 models, and some of them are very special indeed. One such is the 2011 Carrara White 911 Speedster convertible (Lot #745) offered for sale at Barrett-Jackson’s Las Vegas Auction on October 19-21.
In homage to the original Speedster, Porsche only built 356 Speedsters of this generation, approximately 100 of which were built for sale in the U.S. The cars came with a numbered dash plaque and numbering on the door sill plate. This is number 49 of those 356.
“The conception of the current Speedster comes from Porsche Exclusive – the department specializing in individualization of all Porsche cars and limited production models like the 911 Speedster,” Porsche noted in its initial Speedster press release. “The 2011 Speedster heralds the 25th anniversary of Porsche Exclusive … and once again, demonstrates the small-series competence of Porsche Exclusive after the European success of the 2010 911 Sport Classic.”
Like the original Speedster, the 2011 edition featured a raked and cut-down black-framed windshield, resulting in a profile almost 2.5 inches lower than a standard Cabriolet. There’s a double-bubble rear fairing behind the cockpit, and the manually operated top fits snugly beneath it. The Speedster also adopted the slightly wider body from the AWD Carrera 4.
If the shape of the Speedster is influenced by earlier times, the powertrain is purely modern. The Speedster is powered by a water-cooled, 3.8-liter, direct-injection flat-6 rated at 408hp at 7,300 rpm. It is backed by the sole transmission offered in the Speedster, Porsche’s paddle-shift PDK 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. Also standard in the Speedster was a limited-slip differential lock. In Porsche’s press release announcing the Speedster, the company said the car had a top track speed of 190 mph.
Porsche has long been admired for its suspension tuning, and this Speedster utilizes the best of the company’s techno wizardry, including the Porsche Active Suspension Management and the Sport Chrono package complete with dash-mounted stop watch. Tucked behind the black Fuchs-style wheels are carbon-ceramic disc brakes.
The 2011 Speedster was only available in two colors, but this example has special paint and a striking black and white custom interior sporting embroidered Speedster headrest logos and body-color leather dash and door-handle trim.
This new-generation Speedster is definitely not stripped down like its 1950s counterpart. Among its comforts are a Bose CD/DVD entertainment system with navigation and Bluetooth connectivity, power windows, seats and locks, climate control, cruise control and steering wheel-mounted sound system and communication controls.
“All previous Speedster models are rare collector’s items and offer perhaps the purest driving experience of all open-top 911s,” wrote Car and Driver upon the car’s introduction. “They lack the awesome power of the Turbos and the extreme agility of the GT3s, but their unique design makes the driver feel more at one with the elements than any other 911.”
The 2011 edition was the fourth Porsche model to carry the Speedster name. We have a feeling that if you could transport this Speedster back in time to Southern California circa 1954, people would still recognize it for what it was.
Icons are like that.
For up-to-date information on this vehicle, click HERE. To view all the vehicles on the Las Vegas docket, click HERE.