STUD or DUD: Does The New Porsche 911 Speedster Attract You With Its Lovely Lady Lumps?

I haven't had much nice to say about the same ol 911 styling lately but for some reason I love this.
I guess its because with the rear seats covered with the speedster humps it looks a lot less like a bathtub on wheels. It almost looks similar to the Carrera GT. Unfortunately $200k for that look? Common it should be a $10k option and I would buy it. Sweet.

Didn't like the original speedster and don't like this one.

Damn, it seems Porsche is running out of gas with the 911 product extensions. How about (finally) producing a high potency Cayman? If Porsche isnt paying attention, it's going to loose its core identity while simultaneously masking the problem with high profits from brand dilutive models (such as the Cayenne). If Nissan were to create a less video-game centric GTR, or a better and less obese Z, for example, you have to wonder where Porsche will be in a few years. The Porsche world is ripe for the sports car equivalent of the LS400 shaming the S-series into submission in 1989.

This looks sorta rediculous but hey Im glad to see Porsche is consistant while other sports car makers keep their heritage by staying true to the formula that made them popular Porsche does so by constantly resorting to the past to recreate the 911....its at least good to see the new Mustang had some influence on the interior and exterior of this odd uhm speedster....

So what exactly those 'double bubble humps' do other than making it looks like a beetle? It's not like the engine is in the middle or some thing.

Not the VW one, the real one.

No Porsche... Same As Old Porsche, just now with more lumps.

New Porsche that is...

Sorry but NO. TOO MANY versions of the 911 if you ask me. The brand is becoming less and less special by the day by its overload of choices. Looking to see if the next 911 will follow the same story.

I would like to see it in person in order to give it a honest opinion. At first glance it looks great. The article is wrong on the first year Speedster (1953)! In fact most Porsche enthusiasts believe that Speedsters were made from 1955 - 1958. The first year of the Speedster was 1954. They only made 200 in this first year of production. I personally owned a 1954 Speedster with a vin #80168, which makes it the #168 produced out of the first 200. James Dean owned an early 1954 Speedster with a 1500S engine in which he raced quite often. He than got the power bug and traded it in for a Porsche 550 Spyder at Competition Motors in Los Angeles. The rest of the story is history! Please remember that not many people liked the design of the original Speedster when first introduced either. Now, most everybody loves this car and its eternal design.

Lady lumps, no - more like Hunchback.
That is one ugly ass car.

This is actually the incarnation of the Speedster, and I have not liked any of them. The design is a little too lumpy for me and just does not flow. Here is a picture of the second incarnation;
http://993c4s.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/seinfeld-1994-porsche-speedster-passengerside.jpg

Just like the original,and the 1989 version this is another Porsche work of art.

Too many haters out there. Strangely enough I like the speedster. I wouldn't trade it in for my turbo but it's a cool looking special edition type of car. I don't hate Porsche's look as it's always been their look from the beginning so you can't hate on that. There are plenty of Porsche fans in hiding because of so many people hating the look. Well the real car enthusiasts will always be there. That's what separates them from the fanboys who just talk smack on a website all day when in fact they can be out experiencing all the world's great cars from all the world's automakers.

I've seen some people hate on the Zonda R. Well who can say they've even driven one to truly hate it?.

I like lady lumps

Styling that can gag a maggot...

Got even uglier. Only Porsche can do this. Another example is old Cayenne----> new Cayenne.

JUGNU

Whenever Porsche is coming out with a new model (the upcoming 991 which will show up in the US in Spring 2012), the interest in the previous model (in this case, the 997) begins to wane. The newly styled Cayenne and Panamera are what people are buying, not the 997. So, they are emptying out their parts bin and coming up with these special 997 models like the GTS (and even the turbo S) and now the Speedster. Porsche has also "value priced" some of their options by offering packages on the standard Carreras. These are all terrific cars, but they are all about getting breathing soem life into the 997 models as we all await the 991 (which will undoubtedly be even more terrific).

911 Cabrio + Bangle Butt + Panamera Rear Quarter + Speedster humps = Automotive abortion

Well-You have to hand it to Porsche. Talking about getting the most variations from one model.They are the King of this. In reality Porsche has been capitalizing on the water cooled 911 range since 1999. This is just more of the same. At 200 grand the profit per car must be staggering,even at 356 units.By the way "freeagent" Porsche (is) producing a high potency Cayman. It will be based on the same philosophy as the Boxster Spyder. It is clear that Porsche also now intends to shuffle it's line up in price per model. The 911 is going to get way more expensive (new 991 series for 2011). It's a larger car and so is the Boxster Cayman. The entry level Porsche is going to be the Bluesport platform and it will be probably the same price as the current Boxster,just in a slightly smaller package. The Boxster/Cayman series is essentially moving up in price range where the 911 was.As far as looks of the Speedster-to me the hump is too high and it looks like an add on. It does not have the delicacy of design of the original and frankly I like the air cooled 994 series better then this latest version. Personally the Boxter Spyder in this case looks nicer to me and it's an absolute steal at 61 grand.However,Porsche will sell every one of them.

yes, mini22, these models are moving up slightly to make room for the new entry model, but the question is whether Porsche will allow a high-end Cayman to out perform a Carrera or Carrera S, or instead force it to remain below those specs

Another 911... *sighs*

freeagent-You already know the answer to your comment. Porsche will not allow the high end Cayman to out perform the Carrera or Carrera S at least not for very long. They will bump it's HP up to 330 at most and they will lighten the weight by 150 lbs just like in the Boxster S.Because Porsche is in the process of changing the 911 to the 991 series.So perhaps for a short time that Cayman Club Sport(or what ever their going to call it)might eclipse the standard Carrera. (In reality the PDK Cayman is pretty close to the Carrera now). But realize that Porsche's marketing department will probably give the Carrera the performance edge anyway.The Boxster/Cayman already out handle the 911 now. But that makes little difference in sales figures. But you know that Porsche is real big on heirarchy of it's models.

$200K is highway robbery, horrible. A $10-$15K "option" I can understand, but $200K for a "collector's item" is just ridiculous