Boxster Speedster sprung!
Classic Porsche nameplate could make a comebackPorsche seems poised to revive its famous Speedster nameplate from the 1950s for a special edition of its Boxster sports car.
A Boxster with "speed humps" behind the seats has been snapped on camera during high-speed testing at Germany's Nurburgring race track.
The power bulges are similar to those used on the most recent, 911-based Porsche Speedster from 1994.
Porsche has only made three Speedsters in its history: the 356-based model 1954 to 1959, a 964 911-based model in 1989 and a 993 911-based model in 1993 and 1994.
If Porsche wants to make the 55th anniversary of the original then it has only until the end of this year to unveil the new model.
Our guess is that Porsche will unveil the car at the Los Angeles motor show in the first week of December given that Southern California had a special significance in the creation of the original Speedster.
According to the history books, the North American importer of Porsche cars in the 1950s requested a special, lightweight version of the 356 for customers on the West Coast "given the fair weather, cruising scene and lots of amateur racing".
The Boxster Speedster is said to have a removable roof instead of its electrically-operated fold-away fabric top. This is said to save around 50kg.
Porsche is also believed to have given the Boxster Speedster more power.
However, it is unclear whether Porsche will squeeze more grunt out of the latest Boxster's 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine, which has 228kW, or fit the 3.6-litre engine from the 911 Carrera, which has 254kW.
The current flagship in the Boxster range, the Boxster S, costs $145,000 plus dealer and registration charges. We're guessing the Boxster Speedster would cost in excess of $160,000, the price of a Cayman S.
Of course, official pricing and timing are yet to be confirmed, but the Carsales Network understands that the Boxster Speedster will be in local showrooms within the next 12 months.
Over its five-year lifecycle, the original 356-based Speedster was powered by a number of engines ranging in size and power, from a 1300cc with 32kW to a 1600cc with 44kW. At the time, the cars weighed only about 760kg.
The 964-based model was powered by a 3.2-litre six-cylinder engine with 173kW which gave the car a 0 to 100km/h time of 6sec.
The 993-based model was powered by a 3.6-litre six-cylinder engine with 184kW which gave the car a 100km/h of 5.7sec.
The new model is expected to be much quicker than this, possibly in the sub-five-second bracket. The current Boxster S, when equipped with Porsche's PDK twin clutch gearbox, completes the 0 to 100km/h dash in 5.3sec and has a top speed of 274km/h.
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