Porsche has unveiled a new 911 Sport Classic, a special edition that it bills as the most powerful manual version of the 911 currently on sale and which features retro styling elements inspired by Porsches of old.
The new 911 Sport Classic follows on from the last generation model - launched in 2009, limited to 250 units, selling out in just 48 hours. A total of 1,250 examples of the new one are set to be built, but, for those unable to get their hands on one, several of the Sport Classic's design cues will be made available as options on other 911 models in time.
Wide-body look
The Sport Classic's body is wider than a standard 911's with the same width as that of the 911 Turbo. Differentiating the Sport Classic from the Turbo though is the absence of the big cooling air vents on the rear flanks and the addition of a "ducktail" spoiler reminiscent of that first seen on the 911 RS 2.7 of the early seventies and which features a built-in brake light.
As standard, the Sport Classic is finished in Sport Grey Metallic (other colours are available) with a double racing stripe across the carbon-fibre bonnet and double-domed roof. Numbered racing roundels appear on the doors, though these can be deleted if the buyer so chooses. The whole package sits on a set of 20- or 21-inch black wheels with silver spokes inspired by the Fuchs alloys that made their debut on the 911 in 1967. Bespoke gold-coloured badging also adorns the exterior, across the rear and on the front wings.
Houndstooth interior
Inside, the Sport Classic's interior is finished in two-tone semi-aniline leather, dominated by a light tan colour called Classic Cognac, with black completing other parts of the cabin such as the top of the dash. Especially eye-catching are the seats and doors whose centres, in contrast to their Cognac leather trim and surrounds, feature a classic 'pepita' houndstooth fabric pattern, which again harks back to Porsche models from the sixties, seventies and eighties.
The instrument cluster too is an analogue unit using an old-fashioned needle rather than a digital read-out, with white hands and green digits in tribute to the Porsche 356. The infotainment screen has also been redesigned for the Sport Classic in order to more harmoniously blend in with the lightly reworked cabin.
With 550hp being sent to the rear wheels by its 3.7-litre twin-turbo flat-six engine, the Sport Classic sits somewhere in the 911 performance line-up between the GTS and Turbo, and, with a seven-speed manual gearbox is the most powerful manual 911 on sale. The exhaust has been modified to better suit the model and should be all the more audible thanks to the fact that some of the interior sound insulation has been removed.
Heritage Design Package Classic
Although Irish pricing has yet to be confirmed, the 911 Sport Classic will be the most expensive 911 by some margin, perhaps close to the €400,000 mark. There is some good news, however, in that Porsche has announced that what is arguably the Sport Classic's best feature - its interior - will be available as an option on other 911s, which are, happily, a bit more populous.
The option of the Heritage Design Package Classic package will become available across a number of other 911 models from September and will include the Sport Classic's two-tone semi-aniline leather finish with the pepita houndstooth seat and door panel centres, as well as the retro instrument cluster.
In the meantime, the first deliveries of the 911 Sport Classic are expected in July.