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The Porsche 911 Speedster first appeared in 1989 as an homage to the 356 Speedster of the Fifties. Since then, it has returned for the 964, 993, 997, and 991 generations of the rear-engine sports car. That last Speedster was a particular highlight, essentially a GT3 convertible, and it proved to be a hit with customers, selling all 1948 planned examples in swift fashion. Now, Porsche will reportedly soon release a 992 Speedster that continues in the vein of its predecessor.

© Porsche
The 992 Speedster will make its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the U.K.'s Car magazine reports. The November event is one of Porsche's favorite venues for important new models (last year, the company brought out the 911 Dakar). Like the 991, the 992 Speedster will apparently share its 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six with the 911 GT3, and receive a cut-down windshield and a large rear clamshell with aerodynamic hoops behind the seats. Unlike the 991 and every other Porsche Speedster, Car says the 992 will have a power-operated top, and additional luggage space behind the seats.

Traditionally, a Porsche Speedster is a stripped-back lightweight, and in the case of the 911, that means doing away with the power top mechanism. A power soft top might not be the purist's choice here, but the Speedster's manual tops are finicky at best. Owners might welcome the convenience at the expense of weight.

It's easy to see why Porsche is making another Speedster. Enthusiasts trip over themselves to buy any special-edition 911 that comes down the pike, so this is easy profit for Porsche. Plus, this is Porsche's 75th year, so all the more reason to do more special editions.

The last Speedster carried a $275,000 MSRP, and we wouldn't be surprised to see this one crest the $300,000 mark. What is almost certain is that Porsche enthusiasts will put down whatever it costs to get one.

I wonder if there is more of a market for a "stripped down" vehicle, a sports car with no AC etc. and very light weight, per above.  I wonder how much one could strip from a car to save weight, power windows?  I don't think the manual mechanisms exist any more for new cars.  Power seats?  They have to be fairly heavy.  Take out the fancy stereo system.  Use smaller diameter wheels.

That is a pretty dramatic styling change of course, and it worked.

The Chevrolet 265 V8 was first introduced in 1955 and was the first small block V8 ever produced by GM. The 265 was designed for the most part to save the Corvette from being chopped due to the fact that only 700 Corvettes were sold for the 1955 model year. People were looking for something stronger than the Chevy 235 which was only good for 150 horsepower. So in just a little less than 4 months the 265 went from the drawing board to a production engine. This impressive little small block V8 produced between 162 and 195 horsepower depending on the carburetor setup and greatly helped revive the numbers of sells for the Corvette.

Although the 265 Chevy V8 did a lot for the evolution of the small block engines it was chopped for the 1957 production year and replaced by the popular Chevy 283 V8 small block. One major drawback that the 265 V8 had was that it was produced with nothing built into the block to assist with the filtration of oil. There was an oil filter that was added during production on the housing for the thermostat but it was not adequate enough to give the engine any long term durability.

Chevy 265 V8 Engine Specs, Horsepower, Problems : Engine Facts.com

Yeah, I think to build a light(er) weight Corvette, you'd need to take out the AC to start and think about smaller wheels.  Maybe with more use of lighter materials you could chip off 100 pounds, probably not worth the bother, with limited market.

Power seats?  Might be another 15 lbs.  Take out the radio and speakers?  Ten lbs?

Yeah, but there can be a small market for slimmed down track cars, akin to the Z06/7.  I think it's a very small market.

My wife is still on me about getting in and out of the GTI because it's "low"(ish), and of course the 'Vette is quite a bit lower.

I don't do any "spirited driving" any more beyond pushing a bit in a cloverleaf etc.  I might as well have a RAV 4.