In the last years of production of the Porsche 911 G model, the very last version of the G model body was launched together with the Porsche 911 Speedster as a tribute to the original Speedster model from the mid-1950s.
1989 was also the year where Porsche celebrated their 25th anniversary of the 911 model.
The Speedster was supplied with the same 3.2 l Carrera engine with 231 hp as from the standard G model. It took several years to have the Speedster model fully developed. Porsche had pottered with the idea for several years - the first time in both 1983 and 1986 when they made show models of a rawer and more open Speedster edition. But finally production started and in 1988 a series-produced Speedster that was ”ready for the street” was launched. It had a slightly lower and more angled window, two front seats, a simple Speedster tonneau cover/top as protection from the rain and with a Speedster fiberglass to protect the area behind the seats when driving.
The car was supplied with a 5-speed G50 gearbox. Porsche also tried to make the car as light as possible, and it was approx. 250 kg lighter than the Cabriolet version.
When the Speedster was launched, it was of course primarily intended for the Ame-
rican market with its optimum weather conditions. It looked different from the 911 G body that had now been on the market for years, but it was also expensive: the price was 65.000 USD in 1989.
There was a financial crisis in the US in the year of its launch, so Porsche felt a bit nervous whether an extra expensive 911 G edition could be sold, but the Speedster was so different and carried the iconic name that they actually sold 2.104 specimens, and this was enough call it a success, but at the same time getting enough specimens to make it desirable as a collector’s car today.
History
The very first production of the 911 Speedster was in the narrow ”edition” like the G model, but after a short time there was a strong desire especially from the American market that the raw Speedster should also have the Turbo-look ”wide-body” configuration . Therefore, only 171 were produced with the ”narrow” G-model body and the rest were sold as Turbo-look. My car is the Turbo-look model, and when talking valuation, the ”narrow” one is actually even more expensive than the Turbo model, as there are simply fewer of them produced.
My Speedster was produced on January 6, 1989, and supplied with colour code A1 piano black, black leatherette interior and black top (triple black).
This model was supplied with the extremely rare black Strosek hardtop designed by Porsche (approx. 20 specimens produced).
I bought the car in January 2021, where it had been imported from the US as a stainless original specimen with matching numbers.