Ace of Base: 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera

Take a guess as to how many variants of the 911 there are currently on sale today. We’ll give you a minute.

Nope, more than that. Yep — more than that, too. Including versions of the brand new model, no fewer than thirty models of 911 present themselves to customers who fire up the pricing tool. Earlier this week, Porsche rolled out the least-expensive trim of the new 911 so far. Simply called the Carrera, it starts at just a few stacks under a hundred grand.

Porsche is known for ladling option packages onto its cars like your Canadian author ladles gravy onto his poutine, so actually finding a no-options 911 would be akin to finding a unicorn or a jar of moonbeams. A base 911 is surely one of the rarest cars … in the world.

Stickering at $97,400 plus freight, the new 911 Carrera is offered in four no-charge colors including the fabulous Guards Red and an eye-popping Racing Yellow. Note that Miami Blue, the shade shown in all the buff books, pads the bill by an alarming $3,270.

That new little nubbin of a gear selector controls an eight-speed PDK bolted to a 3.0L turbocharged flat six (yes, Virginia, it isn’t just the Turbo that has a turbo) making 379 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque. It’s rear-drive, of course, since it is absent of a ‘4’ appended to its name. Porsche is currently saying “stay tuned” for news of a manual transmission.

Expect a 0-60mph run in about four seconds flat. Ace of Base customers will be leaving a couple of tenths on the shelf by not selecting the $2,720 Sport Chrono package. At least Porsche isn’t decontenting the base 911, as it is equipped with the brand’s active damping system and iron brakes the diameter of the entire wheel on my car in college. Those are four-pot pistons, compared to the six-point clampers of the Carrera S. A staggered tire setup is standard, sized 235/40ZR19 up front and 295/35ZR20 at the rear.

While this base Carrera has jumped $6,400 in price, largely thanks to its newfound level of standard kit, it remains $15,800 cheaper than the S. Ace of Base posts like this are flights of fancy, of course, but sometimes it is nice to see how the other half lives. Besides, if a person did manage to find themselves a no-options 911, they’d be holding the keys to a very rare car indeed.

[Image: Porsche]

Not every base model has aced it. The ones which have? They help make the automotive landscape a lot better. Any others you can think of, B&B? Let us know in the comments and feel free to eviscerate our selections.

The model above is shown with American options and priced in American Dollars. Your dealer may sell for less.