This is the story of the unique sports car that was never produced.
Porsche created the 909 Bergspyder in 1968. It’s a lightweight, one-seater speedster designed for hillclimb racing. The ready-to-drive weight is 384 kilograms (847 lbs). Although it was a brief-lived model, that didn’t mean the end of Bergspyder.
We were unaware that Porsche had commissioned Weissach to create a lightweight sports car, based on the 981 Boxster. This was in 2015. The goal was to design a more radical and uncompromising design than the Boxster Spyder While remaining as light and minimal as possible. The 909 Bergspyder, a late-’60s model, was the inspiration for the 981 Bergspyder. It has the same white-green livery.
The 981 Bergspyder, a single-seater, roofless sports car, was without doors handles or windscreen. It was slightly larger than the 909 but it was still a modern version of the 909. The 981 Bergspyder was a flat, transparent wind shield that extended around the driver, much like hillclimb racers in the 1960s. The carbon fiber compartment was protected by a faux leather tarpaulin. This was similar to the 1954 Porsche 356 Speedster.
The Boxster’s underpinnings were shared with third-generation Boxsters, but the interior of the 981 Bergspyder was inherited from the 918 Spyder. This includes the seats. Although the concept may have appeared one-seater, its passenger door could be opened to reveal a compartment that can hold a helmet, removable covers for the driver’s seat and other luggage.
The 981 Bergspyder, despite its weight saving measures, weighed in at 1,099 kg (2.4323 lbs). The speedster concept had a 3.8-liter 289 KiloWatts (388 HP) boxer engine from the Cayman GT4. It was capable of sprinting from zero to 100 km/h (62 miles/h) in just four seconds. The 981 Bergspyder could have gone all green, except for one thing: questions about registration eligibility in certain countries which could impact potential sales. Porsche decided not to move forward with the project, and it remained a one-off idea. The ready-to drive Bergspyder was previously displayed in Weissach, but will be displayed publicly at the 2019 Gaisberg hillclimb race.