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2019 Porsche 911 Speedster unveiled, Australian availability confirmed

Stuttgart's new 374kW drop-top is essentially a GT3 sans roof, and it's limited to just 1948 units.


Porsche has revealed its hotly anticipated 911 Speedster, a limited-edition model built to as a salute to the now superseded 991.2 generation 911.

The Speedster is as close to a convertible GT3 as we’ll ever get, and only 1948 examples will be produced – in honour of the first Porsche 356 registered in June of that year.

Styling-wise, the Speedster looks nearly identical to the concepts unveiled last year, which paid homage to the multitude of previous 356 and 911 Speedsters released over the last 65 years.

Up front, it looks nearly identical to the 911 GT3 with which it shares its powertrain, with the shorter windscreen being the only exception. Around the rear, the production car gets the same double-bubble decklid design as the concepts, which houses a lightweight manually-controlled fabric roof.

Other styling elements include the 20-inch centre lock wheels with a Guards Red lip, GT3-sourced rear bumper and retro-inspired Speedster badging.

Mounted in the rear of the car is the 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six engine from the 991.2 GT3, which revs to 9000rpm and is fitted with individual throttle bodies from the GT3 R race car. It produces 374kW of power and 469Nm of torque, sent to the rear wheels through the GT3’s six-speed manual transmission.

Thanks to carbon fibre front fenders, rear decklid and front bootlid, the Speedster weighs just 1465kg – that allows it to sprint from zero to 60mph (97km/h) in just 3.8 seconds, towards a 309km/h top speed.

It gets the full list of Porsche’s performance features as standard, which include rear-axle steering, adaptive dampers, variable exhaust system, Sport Chrono package, dynamic engine mounts and carbon ceramic brakes.

Porsche’s quest for weight reduction continues inside the cabin. The conventional handles have been swapped for fabric pulls, while the door bins have been replaced in favour of fabric storage nets. Even the air conditioning system has been omitted to save crucial kilograms – however, it can be optioned back in at no cost to the customer.

With the right option boxes ticked, the dashboard, shift boot and steering wheel are adorned in red stitching, while the door pulls are finished in red. Other elements include a red centre marker on the steering wheel, Speedster branding in the seat headrests and carbon fibre sill plates and shift knob.

Speedster owners will also have the option of purchasing the ‘911 Speedster Chronograph’ watch, which sports a carbon fibre dial and a strap made from the same material as the car’s seats.

The 2019 Porsche 911 Speedster will make its public debut at the New York motor show this week.


Australia

Porsche Australia says full pricing and launch details for the 911 Speedster will be announced in May. In the US, the car will be priced from $274,500, which equates to AU$380,000 at current exchange rates.

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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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