2019 Porsche 911 Speedster makes its debut at NYIAS

Porsche’s venerable 911 might be in its 992 iteration, but it isn’t done with the retired 991 just yet, with the production version of the 2019 Porsche 911 Speedster taking the stand at the New York International Auto Show.

Though the production Speedster retains much of the concept’s beautiful proportions, some of the concept’s tasty details, like the bullet-shaped wing mirrors and the centre located bonnet fuel filler cap, got the chop.

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Aesthetic alterations aside, Porsche did follow through on its intent to base the Speedster’s chassis on the 911 GT3. According to Porsche, the Speedster is the first model to be developed by the Porsche Motorsports department.

Underneath its skin, Porsche Motorsports has bestowed the Speedster with the GT3’s 368kW/460Nm 4-litre flat-six as promised, rear-axle steering system, dynamic engine mounts, 20-inch centre lock wheels, and carbon-ceramic discs.

Despite losing the roof – and a portion of its windscreen – the Speedster is far from a boulevard cruiser. For a start the engine has been fitted with individual throttle bodies to give it a response similar to that of the 911 GT3 R race car, its lightened door panels feature storage nets and door pulls, air-conditioning has been relegated to being a no-cost option, and its soft top is completely manually operated save for an electrically-operated latch.

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Other weight saving measures done to the Speedster includes having its front bonnet, fenders, and the rear double bubble deck lid made from carbon fibre, and a 4kg lighter GT Sport six-speed manual transmission in place of Porsche’s standard seven-speed manual. Put together, Porsche says the 911 Speedster tips the scales at 1465kg, for comparison, a 991-gen 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet weighs in at 1520kg.

According to Porsche, the 911 Speedster would get from 0-60mph (0-96km/h) in a manual-equipped 911 GT3-matching 3.8sec and go onto a top whack of 309km/h.

Originally previewed as a concept to celebrate 70 years of Porsche sports cars last year, Porsche will keep to their word of building 1948 examples of the Speedster as a homage to the year of registry of Porsche’s first sports car, the 356 ‘Number 1’. Though the production version might be a year late, with such a package, it is better late than never.