Since 1954, Speedster variants have been part of the Porsche
company history. They combine open driving pleasure with
particularly expressive driving dynamics. The car is characterized
by a two-seat layout, a unique cowl and shortened windshield. But
there is a gap in the model history of the 911. Porsche offered 911
Speedster variants of the G-Series (second generation) and Type 964
(third generation), but with the exception of two one-offs and,
much later, a model rebuilt as part of a factory restoration, there
was no Speedster from the fourth generation of the 911, the Type
993, in the regular model program. So, Porsche enthusiast, designer
and Speedster collector Luca Trazzi realized his dream of a Type
993 911 Speedster with help from the Sonderwunsch program. The
result is a one-off car based entirely on the personal vision of
the designer.
“At the start I looked around but couldn’t find
the car of my dreams. So, I decided to build it myself.” Luca
Trazzi has made this legendary statement from Ferry Porsche his
own. And the successful designer from Milan didn’t just dream – he,
too, took action. A 993-generation 911 Speedster was missing from
the Porsche enthusiast’s extensive Speedster collection.
Luca Trazzi turned to the Sonderwunsch team at
Porsche to realize his project. With their help, he made his dream
car a reality. It took more than three years to create his one-off
car based on a 1994 911 Carrera Cabriolet (Type 993). The
two-seater with the characteristic rear cowl makes its world
premiere this year at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.
The creation process: a customer and designer
working together
“As a young boy, I fell head over heels in love
with the puristic Porsche Speedster. I had to work very hard to be
able to afford my first Porsche, a Speedster 1600 Super from 1955.
Ever since, I’ve managed to live my passion, or more precisely, my
Speedster-mania,” says Luca Trazzi. “My dream was to complete my
collection with a 911 Speedster of Type 993. Out of passion, I
designed what this model might look like. I wanted the project to
unify the stylistic elements of all previous Speedster models.
Because although this body version has always continued to develop
throughout its history, it preserved the elegance of its
predecessors and stayed true to its beginnings.”
“In this form, and with this vast range of
modifications, the 911 Speedster is our first Factory One-Off for a
customer,” says Alexander Fabig, Vice President Individualization
& Classic at Porsche. “This one-off car shows what’s possible
with our Sonderwunsch program – based on a classic Porsche 911
(Type 993) from 1994.” The project team even built a true to scale
design model of the Speedster.
“Having a designer as a customer was an exciting
experience for me. Because Luca and I speak the same language, our
collaboration was creative and focused,” says Grant Larson,
Director of Special Projects Design. “He was also intensively
involved in the project with very specific suggestions.”
The project began with a visit to the company
archive to take a deep dive into the history of the Speedster and
generate additional ideas. Luca Trazzi arrived at this first
meeting with his own project book full of drafts and sketches and
with a very clear and defined project idea on how he wanted to
create his individual Speedster. This matched the philosophy
of the Factory One-Off, namely that before the one-off car is
finished, the focus is on the joint, creative car development
process. The customer becomes an active part of the project team,
closely following the implementation of their idea from the
perspective of a project manager.
During the project, Luca Trazzi visited Porsche
multiple times, making good use of the company ID issued to him for
the project. Among other things, he witnessed his Speedster taking
a bath in the cathodic dip-painting at the factory paint shop. This
procedure is otherwise reserved for new cars undergoing the regular
production process. Then began the complete manual coating cycle.
The luminous yellow paint was not just developed as a color
specifically for the customer – its name was also very personal,
coming as it did from the customer’s own dog, Otto. During a
meeting, the designer spontaneously named the paint after his
four-legged companion, and ‘Otto Yellow’ was born.
“The rear lid with its concave and convex forms
required a lot of work in the design, conception and production
phases,” recalls Philipp Setter, Manager Sonderwunsch Customer
Consulting. “But even here we managed to harmonize Luca Trazzi’s
design visions with the Porsche processes and quality standards.
After all, our Sonderwunsch credo is ‘You dream it. We build
it.’”
Exterior and interior: Stylistic Speedster
elements reinterpreted
The rear cover and the windshield follow design
cues from existing Porsche Speedster models. They are bordered only
by a thin black frame that intensifies their effect. Further
striking exterior features include the black, conical exterior
mirrors in the classic design of sports cars from the 1960s and the
four-point daytime running light of modern Porsche models. Trazzi
redesigned the bodywork line for the rear lid.
The 18-inch light alloy wheels in Turbo design
are painted black, with the pinstripe in contrasting yellow. The
black stone chip protection sheets in front of the rear wheels are
functional design elements and striking features from other
Speedster generations. They harmonize with the black door handles
and the air intakes in the front spoiler. The Factory One-Off has a
sporty look, with the Sonderwunsch experts taking the front
spoiler, side skirts and rear quarter panels of the 911 Turbo (Type
993) as inspiration. The design of the indicators, taillights and
light strip has been reinterpreted.
The interior is dominated by black leather with
decorative stitching in yellow. The headrests feature an
embroidered Speedster logo. The seat centers, which bear a
checkered design in yellow and black, provide a visual highlight
for the interior. It is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, with every
check being tailored and sewn by hand. The same pattern appears in
the leather-upholstered front luggage compartment, on the car
cover, and on a matching touring bag. Carbon fiber elements on the
dashboard, center console, handbrake, and gear lever further
individualize the interior. The seatbacks are also made of carbon
fiber. For the first time in a Type 993 Porsche 911, the carbon
door sill trims are illuminated – in ‘Otto Yellow’, of course – and
carry an individual logo.
State-of-the-art infotainment with navigation
and Apple CarPlay is on board in the form of the Porsche Classic
Communication Management (PCCM). These retrofitted devices extend
the digital world to vintage and contemporary cars of the brand.
The start screen is also personalized.
The switches for the power windows also
underline the attention to detail, with the symbols redesigned to
show the typical Speedster silhouette. A gilded ‘One-off’ badge on
the dashboard bears witness to the car’s uniqueness.
The drivetrain: more power
The engine, chassis, steering and brake system
are from the 911 Carrera RS (Type 993). At that time, the
air-cooled six-cylinder boxer was the most powerful engine from
Porsche, with a displacement of 3.8 liters generating around 300
hp.
To date, there are precisely two units of the
911 Carrera Speedster based on the 993 generation. The first was
developed in 1995 by the Exclusive department especially for
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. The car is green with 17-inch light
alloy wheels and a Tiptronic gearbox and is based on the Carrera
body. This unit found its way back to the factory museum, on loan
from the family. A second 911 Speedster (Type 993) – a silver
Turbo-width 4S model with 18-inch wheels - was built in 2001 for a
private customer based on one of the last 993 Cabriolets from
1998.
The Speedster presented here not only has a
different origin story but is also differentiated from its
predecessors by its unique design and its technical components.
Following its premiere during Monterey Car Week, the car will
return to Europe for final customer delivery.
The Factory One-Off: the most exclusive
format of the Sonderwunsch program
Porsche is reinterpreting its legendary
Sonderwunsch program from the late 1970s to enable individualized,
one-off cars co-designed by the customer and realized
professionally by Porsche. This individualization option is
possible for street legal Porsche cars from any model year.
Depending on the car, the work itself is carried out by either
Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur or Porsche Classic experts.
There are three decisive milestones in the
process of building a Sonderwunsch Factory One-Off as the ultimate
format. The process begins with the customer’s idea, which they
communicate to a Sonderwunsch customer consultant via their Porsche
Center. If Porsche considers the idea to be feasible after an
initial assessment, the customer attends a project meeting. In the
concept phase, specifications are drawn up in collaboration with
designers and experts from various departments within the company.
In the end, the customer decides whether they will or won’t proceed
with the project.
In the third phase, the components are
developed, and the car is built. The design, engineering and
development departments work closely with the mechanics, body
builders and paint specialists at the relevant Porsche production
facilities. If required, specialists from the Development Center in
Weissach or other areas of the company can also be called upon, and
test facilities such as engine dynos can be used. The dream car
takes shape through manual craftsmanship with the constant
involvement of the customer.
About Luca Trazzi
Luca Trazzi, an architect and industrial
designer, was born in Verona in 1962. Awarded the Carlo Scarpa
prize at a young age, he worked for 15 years alongside Aldo Rossi,
of whom he was a close collaborator and assistant. Today he works
in Milan and China. He is also one of the founders of
designboom.com and designs for the most prestigious international
brands. Luca Trazzi loves to draw objects that do not follow
fashion. “Objects that are easy to use, to understand, beautiful to
look at. Objects with simple, captivating shapes, lines that never
go out of fashion”, explains Luca Trazzi. “Attention to detail is
the characteristic that can be seen in my work. In parallel with
design, I interpret places in an artistic way, through
installations that represent the 'staging', almost in an open-air
theatre, or my visions and thoughts.”
- 911 Speedster built as a Sonderwunsch Factory One-Off
- 911 Speedster built as a Sonderwunsch Factory One-Off
Frank Wiesmann
Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
+1.404.539.5031
Frank.Wiesmann@porsche.us
Luke Vandezande
Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
+1.470.363.5001
luke.vandezande@porsche.us