Porsche 911 Speedster revived, hardcore Maserati GranTurismo and funky Citroen ...

[Wouter Melissen]

A day after Lotus revived the Elite, Porsche have now announced the fourth generation Speedster. In honour of the original 356 Speedster introduced in 1954, production of the 997 based Speedster is limited to just 356 examples. What distinguishes the Speedster from the 'regular' Cabriolet is a 60 mm lower windscreen and the double bubble cover for the simple foldaway roof. Like the Carrera GTS, the latest addition to the Porsche line-up features a 3.8 litre flat six engine that produces just over 400 bhp. Available in 'Pure Blue' or 'Carrera White', the very exclusive Speedster will arrive at showrooms in December.
The Maserati display in Paris will feature the GranTurismo MC Stradale. As the name suggests, this is a road going version of the GranTurismo MC racer built for the popular GT4 class. The very hardcore Maserati has a tweaked version of the V8 engine, good for 450 bhp.
Local favourites Citroen have teamed up with clothing brand Lacoste to create a funky concept car for the 'Salon'. Simply dubbed the Lacoste Concept, it is a small cross-over vehicle that seems best at home on or near the beach. The only really relevant element of the design exercise is its three cylinder petrol engine but the press release unfortunately does not include technical details.

Enjoy the links:

2010 Citron Lacoste Concept - Images, Specifications and Information

2011 Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale - Images, Specifications and Information

2010 Porsche 997 Speedster - Images, Specifications and Information

[pimento]

Next up: the Porsche 911 Carerra 3. It's halfway between a 2 and a 4.

[Cobrafan427]

that Porsche looks like Quasimodo

[250gto boy]

That Maserati is stunning

[LHamilton_w]

The 997-2 Speedster is for the 25th Anniversary of Porsche Exclusive, if I'm not mistaken. IMO its a complement to the 997-2 SC, as it's also a limited edition. Both are throwbacks to Porsches of yesterday; at least that is how I view those two.

The Carrera GTS, on the other hand, was probably introduced just so Porsche could...well I really don't know.

[Kitdy]

There are 20 variants of the 911 available for sale.

[pimento]

There are 20 variants of the 911 available for sale.

Oh, was the 991 GT2 limited? It's not on there, only the RS.

[Kitdy]

Oh, was the 991 GT2 limited? It's not on there, only the RS.

I didn't see it for sale on Porsche's Canadian or American websites. I think they just sell the RS now.

[f6fhellcat13]

I really don't like convertible 911s. They butcher the car's proportions and probably screw with the driving experience quite a bit too.
For the price of this you could buy a proper Porsche convertible (that strangely-roofed Boxter edition) or a proper ye olde Porsche 356 Speedster.

[clutch-monkey]

I really don't like convertible 911s. They butcher the car's proportions and probably screw with the driving experience quite a bit too.
For the price of this you could buy a proper Porsche convertible (that strangely-roofed Boxter edition) or a proper ye olde Porsche 356 Speedster.

everything in this post is correct
911 convertibles have earned the nickname "hump backed whales" lol.

[pimento]

Also, the windscreen is too tall and too non-removable for a speedster.

[digitalcraft]

Yeah the Porsche is pretty standard faire. The front looks great, the back they just sort of wrap around the engine, round off, cough and hope nobody looks at it for too long.

[csl177]

^^^ It's the schweinshaxe syndrome.