Porsche 911 Speedster Debuts at Paris Motor Show

Luxury Cars: Porsche's new 911 Speedster will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show in early October. The 911 Speedster is shaped significantly different from other variants of the 911. As a tribute to the first Porsche to bear the name, the Speedster 356, only 356 units will be manufactured. One-hundred of those bubbled-top beauties are tabbed for the U.S.

The 911 Speedster has a 3.8-liter flat six engine that delivers 408 horsepower, which is 23 more horses than the 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. However, it gets the very same EPA-rated 19 mpg city/27 mpg highway. The seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmission is the only transmission available for this car. It does zero to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and a top-track speed of 190 mph.

The original Speedster came out in 1953; the second generation was on the roads in 1988; and the third era was 1993-94. The fourth-generation 911 Carrera Speedster will be available in the U.S. in early 2011. Its MSRP will be $204,000.

Fortunately, it is not necessary to be able to correctly pronounce the formal name of the 911 Speedster's transmission before buying one.