This Porsche 911 GT3 Cabriolet Is Probably The New Speedster

Sightings Of A New Mule Spark Speculation

Porsche is busy on every front. It’s working on an electric Cayenne, an even more hardcore take on the Taycan, and according to new spy shots, a drop-top GT3. First reported by Road & Track, Instagram user @flachtstory has shared images of a development mule that appears to be a convertible version of the 911 GT3 with S/T fenders. But Porsche has never made a GT3 Cabrio, and it’s unlikely to start now. Instead, this appears to be a new 911 Speedster, one of the least-used nameplates in the automaker’s history.

911 Speedsters dispense with an electronically controlled folding soft-top in favor of a fabric roof under a pair of sculpted nacelles behind the occupants, which, in the most modern 991.2 Speedster, had to be partly manually detached to stow or use the roof. Assuming that a complicated roof will again be part of the Speedster’s character, the mule in the Instagram post below is likely a relatively early prototype.

Speedster Will Certainly Be Rare

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A post shared by Vince | FlachtStory — THE Porsche owner community (@flachtstory)

Every Speedster to date has been produced in highly limited numbers. The abovementioned 997 was limited to just 356 units, a nod to Porsche’s first production model and the car that debuted the Speedster suffix for Porsche, and the most recent 991 Speedster was limited to 1,948 units, a reference to the 356 “No. 1” Roadster from 1948. The 993 Speedster wasn’t even supposed to happen, and only three were ever made, each at different times and for different reasons.

With that in mind, we can be certain that a 992.2-based Speedster will carry a hefty asking price and be seen less often than snow in the Bahamas. It will also be pretty hardcore for a convertible. The 991 Speedster was based on the GT3, with elements of the 911 R from two years earlier, and since the S/T is the 992’s take on a 911 R, it looks like a similar strategy is being employed here.

Same Ingredients, New Flavor

The prospect of a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated engine that the driver can experience without the buffer of a roof is supremely exciting, but when the last batch of 911 Speedsters arrived at the end of the 911’s cycle, why is a development mule already on the road now? Some speculate that Porsche’s financial troubles may be forcing it to consider pushing out a high-profit, low-volume special edition earlier than normal. While that may well be true, another factor is that tightening emissions regulations in Europe make high-performance engines that are free of turbocharging and electrification nearly impossible to legally produce.

The 992.2 GT3 needed GT3 RS camshafts, special filters, and to accept a decrease in torque – all to maintain a 502-hp peak without breaking the law. Therefore, Porsche may have had to choose between launching a Speedster before the end of the 992 cycle or not launching one at all. That being said, if this is a 992.2 Speedster, it has a considerable way to go, and we shouldn’t expect Porsche to make any announcements for a few weeks at least. If we had to bet, this will launch in time for summer 2026.