Stave off the winter blues with a very red, very roofless version of one of the best 911 generations of all
Porsche 964 Speedster – front
Look, we get it. The charms of winter have worn thin, January feels like it’s been going on for at least three months, and you’re really fed up with having to lug your big coat around everywhere. But on the other hand, this is apparently the best time of year to buy a convertible – and if you’re going to do that, why not go all out with this 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster?
The Speedster is one of the rarer 911 bodystyles, tending to pop up as a limited-edition model towards the end of a generation’s lifespan. A homage to the gorgeous 356 Speedster of the 1950s, they usually follow a common theme of having a chopped windscreen, a distinctive twin-humped decklid, and a flimsy manual excuse for a convertible roof, with top-off driving being distinctly encouraged.
Porsche 964 Speedster – side
The 964 was the second 911 to get the Speedster treatment. Unveiled in 1992, it was produced towards the end of the 964’s short lifespan, when it was about to be superseded by the 993.
It used the entry-level Carrera as its base, which at the time featured a 3.6-litre air-cooled flat-six making 247bhp. Much of the interior, meanwhile, was borrowed from the stripped-back Carrera RS, with lightweight Recaro bucket seats, fabric door pulls and no stereo fitted as standard.
Porsche 964 Speedster – interior
This was back in the days before Porsche realised it could charge more for a car with fewer bits, so despite its rarity – only 936 are thought to have been built – the Speedster actually cost less new than a regular Carrera Cabriolet. Imagine that happening today.
That brings us to this example we’ve found for auction on Collecting Cars. It’s finished in that most respected of Porsche hues, Guards Red, with an interior featuring some very ’90s flashes of this shade too. Other niceties include the 17-inch Cup style alloys and the optional extras of air-con and a Blaupunkt stereo.
Porsche 964 Speedster – rear
While a tiny number of right-hand drive 964 Speedsters did come to the UK, this one spent most of its life in the US, before being shipped over to Britain a little under a year ago. It’s remarkably low mileage, having covered just 10,576 miles in over 30 years. Sounds to us like a prime opportunity to add to that figure.
There are six days left on the auction as we write this, with bidding already up to £30,250. Yep, the 964 Speedster and Cabriolet have very much swapped roles in the last three decades, with this now the sought-after collector car. Still, we imagine it’ll be a fine thing to experience on a bright, sunny day. And if it was June right now, the bidding would probably be even higher.
The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.
