Porsche 993 Speedster: The 911 That Skipped Mainstream Production

What defines a Porsche Speedster?

The Speedster body style is defined by its short, steeply-raked windshield. It is the quintessential "wind in your hair” type of car. Unlike a traditional convertible, the Speedster features no roof to speak of. The closest a Porsche Speedster got to having a roof was a tonneau cover, stored behind the seats. The deployment of the tonneau cover was equally as tricky as setting up a tent, which is why you will rarely see s Porsche Speedster with the "top” on.

The first Porsche Speedster wasn’t a 911, but a 356. It was built in 1948, in Gmünd, Austria, but a production 356 Speedster did not happen until 1954. This was Ferry Porsche’s idea of breaking into the American sports car market. European exotic car importer, Max Hoffman, was instrumental in this endeavor. He believed that Porsche could make it big in the U.S., by offering a lightweight, simple, open-top sports car. He was right. The Speedster philosophy would, eventually, be featured on a couple of 911 generations, but there would be a 35-year period without any Porsche Speedster.

Why Porsche didn’t put a 993 Speedster into series production

The first Porsche 911 Speedster came out in 1989 as a send-off to the G-series 911. It was 154 pounds lighter than the equivalent 911 Cabriolet thanks to not being equipped with an electric folding roof, and 2,056 units were made. It was followed by the 964 Speedster and just 936 examples were produced. Most were built in 1993 with some later variants being built in 1994. As for the 993, Porsche never officially built a Speedster due to financial difficulties. In the 1990s, the German sports car manufacturer was on the brink of bankruptcy, which eventually, led to Volkswagen-Audi Group acquiring the brand.

Porsche did build a one-off 993 Speedster

Only one example of the 993-generation Porsche 911 started life as a Speedster. It was produced from the ground up as a 1996 model year specimen and was specially built for Ferdinand Alexander Porsche ("Butzi Porsche”) – the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche. It was built for his 50th birthday, in 1995. Butzi Porsche, who designed the original 911 back in the ’60s is widely considered the father of the iconic sports car and he drove this particular car until his passing in 2012, putting just 2,085 km (1,295 miles) on the odometer. The car was in essence a parts bin special as it actually was based on the 993 Cabriolet, and the parts needed were sourced from the Porsche 964 Speedster.

Highlights

• Narrow 993 body

• Aventura (Aventurine) green exterior finish

• 964 Speedster windshield and rear clamshell

• Dark brown, RS interior with bucket seats

• Walnut dashboard trim

• 17-inch Carrera wheels

Three 993 Speedster conversions exist (that we know of)

The second time Porsche built a 993 Speedster was in 2001. In 1998, American actor, Jerry Seinfeld, took delivery of a brand-new Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet. Three years later, the car returned to Porsche to be converted into a Speedster, using the same Porsche 964 Speedster parts. There are a couple of differences, between Jerry Seinfeld’s and Alexander “Butzi” Porsche’s 993 Speedsters. Seinfeld’s Porsche 993 Speedster S came with the following features:

• Wide 993 body

• Silver exterior finish

• Black RS interior with leather seats

• 18-inch 993 Turbo wheels

• Six-speed manual transmission

• All-wheel drive

The third 993 Speedster (seen above) in existence comes courtesy of a private individual. It began life as a 1995 Cabriolet and represents a more modern take on the Speedster formula. The car features a carbon-fiber interior, race bucket seats, and a wide body finished in bright orange. Once again, the Speedster parts came from a 964. Each 911 Speedster is highly sought-after, similar to Porsche models that feature the iconic Mezger engine.

The 993 Speedster is becoming trendy

An air-cooled Porsche 911 Speedster sounds like a car that ticks all the right boxes for a purist. Companies like Gunterwerks specializing in resto-modding and reimagining air-cooled 911s are capitalizing on that. So far, the 2022 Gunterwerks 911 Speedster is the only example of a reimagined 993 Speedster. With a wet weight of just 2,535 pounds and 435, air-cooled horsepower, Gunterwerks has turned the classic 993 Speedster into a carbon-fiber, wide-bodied canyon carver. Other companies that deal with reimagined Porsche 911s have yet to show us anything similar, and I can’t help but wonder, whether Singer’s lineup will soon include an air-cooled Speedster.