There is a firm asking price of $450,000 for the one-off Spexter – which may or may not have been the inspiration for the Boxster
Hemmings classifieds report that a Canadian-built sports car that some say inspired the Porsche Boxster is up for sale for the first time for US$450,000 (CDN$616,000). There are just 2,325 miles (3,741 km) on its odometer, so it looks just as good as it did when it appeared on the cover of Motor Trend in June 1988, with a firm asking price of US$450,000 (CDN$616,000).
We’d like to introduce you to Wingho Auto’s Spexter, if you’ve never heard of it before. The car was created by Wingho proprietor Clyde Kwok, a Porsche enthusiast and collector, and styled in 1987 by Montreal designer Paul Deutschman. In an effort to update one of Kwok’s Porsche 356 Speedsters, Spex Design, run by Deutschman and Kell Warshaw, created the modernized version.
The Wingho Spexter is a unique 911 built from 1981-1983 that was completely rebuilt with new pieces made from Kevlar and fibreglass, and an extended nose. The interior was similarly completely refitted with a fibreglass tub inspired by the 356. A “speedster” in the purest sense of the word, the Spexter wears a cut-down plastic windshield, with no A-pillars bracketing it—and don’t go looking for a roof, side windows, or any other kind of cover, either.
Although some exhaust tweaks increased the 911’s output to about 252 horsepower, its 3.2L flat-six engine and five-speed manual transmission remained.
The project had been started in the mid-’80s, after sketches of Porsche’s own 911 Speedster had come out but before the car had been unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1987. After the Wingho Spexter landed a short time later, it appeared in every buff book – Autoweek, Road & Track, etc. – and, as mentioned above, on the cover of Motor Trend, alongside the headline “Porsche’s New Speedster?”