When you think of Porsche, you typically think of the iconic Porsche 911 and all its racing heritage. Primarily, the Nurburgring and other European circuits come to mind. Of course, that makes a good bit of sense, considering the legendary sports car manufacturer hails from Germany. So, the Porsche 911 Cabriolet America Edition may seem a bit out of place. However, it actually represents quite a milestone for Porsche history.

This car marks 70 years since the first “America” Porsche vehicle

Porsche recently put out a press release outlining the origin and importance of the America Edition Porsche models.

In the early 1950s, Max Hoffman became the first individual to import Porsche vehicles for sale in the U.S. Hoffman thought that offering a more affordable version would rapidly grow the popularity of Porsche in the states. So, he reached out to Porsche to request a cheaper and lightweight model specifically for the American market.

Porsche delivered on Hoffman’s request by introducing the 1953 Porsche 356 America Roadster. The America Roadster featured only bare-bones necessities and a boxer engine making 70 horsepower, a substantial jump from the 40 horsepower output in previous Porsche models. Only 16 examples ever came to be.

Now, a remarkable 70 years later, Porsche is releasing another America edition car to keep that spirit alive. The 2023 Porsche 911 Cabriolet America Edition is available only with a manual transmission in convertible format to keep the spirit of the original America Roadster alive. It’s easily identifiable, too, with its unique Azure Blue 356 paint finish and the white and red stripe running down the side with the “America” brandishing.

“Passion for driving a Porsche runs deep in the United States. In particular, there is something special about hitting the road in an open-top 911 with a manual transmission that fits perfectly here,” said Kjell Gruner, President, and CEO of Porsche Cars North America Inc. “This is also the perfect time to add another ‘America’ model to our story as we look back on 70 years since the 356 America Roadster and 30 years since the 964 America Roadster.”

Can you handle the power of the Porsche 911 Cabriolet America Edition?

Porsche mated a 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six engine to the seven-speed manual transmission that makes a whopping 472 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. Certainly, that’s no small amount of power. However, things get a little crazier when you remember that all that power is going strictly to the rear wheels.

The car is based on the 2023 Porsche 911 Cabriolet GTS. So, it has lots of great performance features right out of the box. For one, it has Porsche’s Active Suspension Management Sport system that lowers the overall ride height by 10 millimeters. It also comes standard with the Sport Exhaust system and the Sport Chrono package. Additionally, rear-axle steering and ceramic brakes are available as optional upgrades.

If all that sounds great to you, don’t get your hopes up too high. This will be a very limited production model with only 115 coming into existence. In fact, the release states that it will be one of the rarest Porsche 992 911 models.

So, if you’re in good with a local Porsche dealer and you want one, you’d better start trying to get an allocation now!