gaby1088

how does the first new speedster come to boston when series number 000/356 was in my local porsche dealer show room a couple of weeks ago? I would figure 000 would be the first!

curve lover

Gaby-- Hope I can help:
#000 is a pre-production prototype, not the first customer car.

A PCNA Manager talked to me recently about #000. In addition to appearances at high-tier auto shows like Los Angeles, it was displayed at three U.S. dealers. At the time we chatted, he said it's back in Europe.

The "First Porsche 911 Speedster comes to Boston" article refers to a car produced for the U.S. market. Only ~100 will be shipped to American shores.

BTW, the same dealer that took delivery of the black GT2 RS with the yellow roll cage also had this:

JPP

Just noting from a U.K. dealer brochure for the new Speedster that they list only two 993 Speedsters ever built by Porsche Exclusive, Butzi's in 1995 and Jerry Seinfeld's in 2000 (Mark Porsche's build and any of the others mentioned by Adrian Streather are conspicuously absent here ..) at an internal 'Retrofit Only' cost of DM100,000 back in the day. In 1998 dollars (1.76 Deutchmark's to the Dollar) that would be $57,000 just for parts and labor to convert a car, so if the base Cab was $73,000 back then, adding in for inflation, the $204,000 price tag of the new car doesn't seem that far off ...

curve lover

^^ Great observations, public math , & analysis!

Miami's February display of #000, by RLer fer2367:

curve lover

curve lover

curve lover

Currently on display at the factory's museum:

timothymoffat

I believe there were several "000" 997 Speedsters produced. Display models, press models etc.

curve lover

Timmy-- Sounds great ... more Speedsters!
It's directly against what PCNA source told me, & there's always more for me to learn about Speedsters, so let me ask:

Any references?

Same would be asked if an expert said there multiples of Butzi's, & a Porsche rep had previously said otherwise...

timothymoffat

I seem to remember seeing more than one car in all the magazine stories a few months back. "S-GO 1113" was most commonly featured but I seem to remember at least one more. I'll check later. If it's like the other numbered limited edition models of late, the factory display/demo cars are numbered "000" and are technically prototypes. GT2RS and SportClassic are two such examples. Going back to the Carrera GT, Porsche did the same thing. The factory supplied press cars, as many as five of them, all had "0000" on the centre console.

JPP

^^^ That picture of Butzi's car on the museum turntable?? ... stolen .... :-)

curve lover

^^ JPP, klepto!
Color me impressed by the Moffat cranium!

If I'm reading this correctly, you're looking at two of the three 000s made

timothymoffat

S-VK 1356, S-GO 1018 (Car in press release/brochure shots), S-GO 1113, S-GO 1114. Maybe 4? Maybe more?

JPP

I know that other manufacturers create these 'Test' units that don't carry real 'Vin' numbers because they are destroyed by the factory afterward .. Do you think that could possibly be the case here ... Seriously, that thought just made me soo sad ...

timothymoffat

Almost certainly. The recent 997 GT2RS is another example. Most of the cars featured in magazine articles last fall and winter, at least 5 cars, fall outside the 500 customer cars I believe. When the Carrera GT was current, Porsche again had several "0000" cars for various press events as well as customer demos and driving instruction. I believe these cars are technically prototypes and as such are retained by the manufacturer for various purposes.

I don't think it's anything sinister as all manufacturers seem to be "guilty" of such activity. Announcing any "limited edition" model with an exact number of copies usually refers to the number of cars that will be sold to the public. These "extra" cars are quite common on low production models.

When it is sinister is when a manufacturer announces it will build a certain number of production cars yet builds more......and denies it. Ferrari Enzo anyone?