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 characterised by its shortened windscreen and its rear lid. But there is a gap in the model history of the 911. From 1988, when the G-Series ended, Porsche offered a two-seater of this kind, and from 1989 a car based on the Type 964. 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 programme. So, Porsche enthusiast, designer and Speedster collector Luca Trazzi made his dream of a 911 Speedster come true via the Sonderwunsch programme. 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. Together with the experts, he made his dream car a reality. It took more than three years to create his one-off car based on a 911 Carrera Cabriolet (Type 993) from 1994. The two-seater with the characteristic rear lid, which also underwent comprehensive technical modifications, is one of the highlights of this year's Monterey Car Week (9 to 18 August 2024) in California.
The creation process: a customer and designer at the same time
"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 an end customer," says Alexander Fabig, Vice President Individualisation & Classic at Porsche. "This one-off car shows what's possible with our Sonderwunsch programme - based on a classic Porsche 911 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 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 chimed with 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 works 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 car paint was not just developed as a colour 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 harmonise Luca Trazzi's design visions with the Porsche processes and quality standards. After all, our Sonderwunsch credo is 'You dream it. We build it.'"
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