1994 Porsche 964 Speedster

Tony’s Take: I recently did a deep dive on the 1989 Porsche Speedster. Unbeknownst to its original buyers, that model turned out to be the first of no less than three humpback throwbacks to the Porsche 356 Speedster.

The ’94 Speedster was based on the new-at-the-time 964 chassis. This time ’round, Porsche made it one flavor (save 16 special order Turbo-look cars). The ’94 Speedster also had a mostly useless, manually operated rag top, simplified door panels and a lower windscreen.

1989 G-Model Speedster vs. 1994 964 Speedster

The ’94’s powered by a 3.6-liter churning out 247 bhp @ 6100 rpm – 25 hp more than the C2 Cab (thanks to a Porsche chipped ECU).

It’s often stated that the Speedster combined a swanning-around-town C2 Cab with the “hardcore” RS, but the RS was almost a full second quicker to 60 and the Speedster had a much softer suspension. In fact, the Speedster was fractionally slower than a standard Carrera.

So, a Quasimodo style statement in a vehicle without the full practicality of a C2 Cab or the performance and handling of the RS, and none of the widebody drama of a Turbo (except for those 16 Porsche Exclusive Turbo-look Speedsters). No surprise, then, that Porsche only built 936 964 Speedsters out of a planned production run of 3000.

Porsche 964 Speedster – previous transactions

The limited run increased the ’94 Speedster’s collector car value – to a point. While many if not most post-G-model Porsches have appreciated as much as 50 percent since 2018, this second homage to the legendary 356 Speedster is still bumping along where they were pre-Pandemic. The market has spoken.

This Speedster emerged from the Porsche factory painted in ‘Ferrari Gelb’ (yes, Ferrari yellow). Since that fateful day, it’s accumulated 22k miles. Broad Arrow reckons it’ll hammer for $200k – $250k. I say they’re right about right. Downside: not a fan favorite come resale.