Porsche 911 Speedster spied again

A prototype believed to be the Porsche 911 Speedster has been spied at the Nurburgring in Germany this week, indicating a GT3-based drop-top 911 is headed into production.

Earlier this month Porsche revealed the 911 Speedster concept, created to celebrate the brand's 70th anniversary. It's based on a Carrera 4 Cabriolet, but uses the powertrain and mechanical package from the 911 GT3 track hero.

In typical motorsport Porsche fashion, the Speedster concept went without its navigation and air conditioning systems to save weight, and did away with a regular folding fabric roof.

Under the skin was the same 4.0-litre flat six as the 911 GT3, tuned to deliver 'over 370kW' of power – the 'standard' GT3 makes 368kW by comparison.

The concept was also fitted with an old-school six-speed manual transmission – no dual-clutch PDK here – titanium exhaust pipes, and Fuchs-style 21-inch alloy wheels.

While Porsche hasn't officially announced whether the 911 Speedster is going into production, this undisguised prototype certainly indicates such a model isn't far off being production ready should it get the green light.

If the Speedster does make it to market, we reckon it'll be built in super limited numbers to preserve the model's exclusivity – perhaps 70 units in acknowledgement of the 70th anniversary, or 356 vehicles to commemorate the original 356 Speedster.

Stay tuned to CarAdvice for all the latest, and click through to the galleries section for more images.

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