1989 Porsche 911 'Wide Body' Speedster

Description

The Speedster name is synonymous with Porsche, the original 356 model introducing a generation of sports car enthusiasts to the Zuffenhausen marque, particularly the American market it was originally conceived for. Essentially a stripped down, no frills version of the 356, the Speedster was a sports car in its purest form. It took Porsche almost thirty years to revive the Speedster name, in what would prove to be the final variant of the original 911 model before the revised 964 was unveiled later in 1989. The 356's successor was hailed as a masterpiece from its debut in 1963 and has gone on to become an enduring motoring legend. Retaining the rear-engined layout of its predecessor and an air-cooled, horizontally-opposed engine - albeit with six cylinders instead of four - the rest of the 911 was entirely new, with monocoque construction and timeless styling that has become one the most widely recognised sports car shapes ever created. The 911 may have remained outwardly similar for the next twenty-five years but underneath a great many technical developments ensured the Porsche kept pace with its rivals. In 1984, the 911SC gave way to the Carrera 3.2 with a larger, more powerful engine using the latest Bosch Motoronic 2 DME engine management system and LE-Jetronic fuel injection. Other changes included a power brake booster and bigger discs while externally, the Carrera had a new front air dam (with integrated fog lights). Porsche replaced the old Type 915 transmission with the Getrag G50 five-speed box in 1987. The Speedster featured a cut-down frameless windscreen and plastic hatch covering the rear compartment, plus a folding roof complete with fairings in case of inclement weather and could be ordered in either narrow or wide-body configurations. Uprated Turbo suspension, brakes and wheels were also standard equipment, while the seating position was also altered thanks to the rails being lowered by 20mm. Speedster production was limited to just 2,103 in wide-body guise for all markets. This rarity, combined with the raw driving experience afforded by the Speedster configuration, have kept Speedster values high and they remain one of the most collectible models made by Porsche in the 1980s.