9ff is famous for its crazily tuned Porsches, while its GT9 is the world's fastest street legal car with a top speed of 255mph. Now the company has come up with its second bespoke model, the 9ff Speed9 that is styled in a similar way to Porsche's classic 1950's 356 Speedster.
While it may look like a squashed 911 cabrio, the Speed9 uses bodywork specially designed and built by 9ff, including the cut-down windscreen to give it that Speedster look. The open-top body is based on a 997 version of Porsche's 911 and customers can order the car from new or have their existing 911 converted - though a substantial amount of bracing is carried out.
Other chassis changes include stiffened and lowered suspension at the front and rear that uses 9ff's springs and dampers. There are also 380mm brake discs at both ends, with six-piston callipers for the front, which sit behind 19-inch alloy wheels with a single centre lock nut to hold them in place.
Porsche's PDK, dual-clutch gearbox remains, but the 3.6-litre turbocharged engine has been boosted to 650bhp. A new exhaust, inlet manifolds and ECU are used to free up the extra power. 9ff has not released performance figures or a price for the Speed9, which will be revealed when the car is publicly unveiled at the Essen Motor Show on 28 November.
Alisdair Suttie - 24 Nov 2009