Porsche Confirms 911 Speedster As the 991 Series' Last Hurrah

Introduced over the summer as a way of showcasing Porsche’s digitized rendering capabilities, the 911 Speedster Concept appeared in the flesh at the Paris Auto Show this week. It won’t remain a concept for much longer. With the 991 Series on its way out, Porsche has decided to make the Speedster its swan song, putting it into limited production early next year.

Styled to evoke nostalgia for the hunch-backed 356, the new Speedster is said to be limited to just 1,948 examples — a reference to the original model’s birth year.

It would have been a colossal surprise, had AutoGuide not previously located a VIN decoder guide that included the model. But we’re still happy to see Porsche running the ball all the way to the end zone.

Based on the 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet, the two-seat Speedster comes with a unique back half and replaces the Carrera’s fenders, hood, and trunk lid with carbon fiber. The windshield is lowered, while the side windows have shrunk. Rain protection is provided via a very small tonneau cover that has to be snapped into place manually. We suppose Porsche felt a traditional convertible would have been too heavy or it simply didn’t want to bother designing one for this particular concept.

Details on the production model are slim. We’d expect it to keep the same overall shape and unique side mirrors, although maybe not the same talbot-style units found on this one. However, the red-tinted running lights and centrally mounted fuel cap might take a hike come production time.

All Porsche is willing to confirm is that the Speedster will go into production with a naturally aspirated flat-six and manual transmission as standard. The concept was said to produce 500 horsepower with a 9,000-rpm redline, but the automaker says the production model should be able to do a little better. With that kind of output, everyone seems to be in agreement that it will probably borrow the mighty 4.0-liter from the GT3.

Expect details to emerge over the next couple of months, followed by a pricing announcement that will leave you shrugging as all hope of driving one evaporates.

[Images: Porsche]