Driving the Stärke Speedster: The Ultimate Coachbuilt Porsche 718 Experience
There is an ongoing philosophical debate in the highest echelons of the automotive world. On one side, purists demand uncompromised originality—matching-numbers classics that live in climate-controlled garages. On the other side, a new wave of enthusiasts demands the visceral, analog aesthetics of the past combined with the bulletproof reliability of modern engineering. Enter the Stärke Speedster, a masterclass in bespoke automotive design that boldly bridges the gap between Porsche’s golden era of motorsport and contemporary performance.
As someone who has spent the last decade analyzing luxury sports car investments and testing high-end custom cars, I have seen countless attempts to modernize classic automotive icons. Many fall short, either ruining the delicate balance of the original chassis or producing a visually awkward homage. The Stärke Speedster, however, is a different breed entirely. It is not a restoration. It is not a traditional restomod. It is a true custom coachbuild built atop the magnificent bones of the modern Porsche 718 Boxster platform.
Recently, the Southern California custom cars scene gathered for the highly anticipated Air|Water Porsche event. It was there that Stärke Motor Company’s CEO, Seth Gortenburg, debuted the brand’s second-generation prototype. After the crowds cleared, I had the privilege of taking the Stärke Speedster out onto the sun-drenched tarmac of Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway to discover exactly how this ambitious vision translates to the open road.
The Foundation: Why the 718 Boxster Platform Works
To understand the brilliance of the Stärke Speedster, you have to look beneath its breathtaking exterior. Unlike traditional restomods that attempt to shoehorn modern horsepower into a 60-year-old monocoque chassis—often resulting in terrifying handling characteristics—Stärke takes the opposite approach. By utilizing the 2017-and-newer Porsche 718 Boxster as the donor vehicle, the company guarantees world-class driving dynamics from the moment the engine turns over.
The Stärke Speedster borrows its fundamental DNA from Stuttgart’s most balanced mid-engine sports car. Every critical mechanical component, from the finely tuned suspension architecture to the crash safety structures and the modern climate control systems, remains fully intact. This means you are essentially driving a modern Porsche wrapped in a timeless, vintage silhouette.
Gortenburg, who approaches luxury car customization with the meticulous eye of an American hot-rodder, recognized that the original classic Porsches, like the bathtub-shaped 356 Cabriolet or the legendary 550 Spyder, are undisputed design triumphs. However, they lack the structural rigidity and horsepower required for aggressive modern driving. The 718 platform solves this entirely. It delivers razor-sharp turn-in, predictable weight transfer, and an incredibly low center of gravity.
The Art of Bespoke Automotive Design
Visually, the Stärke Speedster pays heavy homage to Porsche’s early lightweight roadsters—the very machines that humiliated heavy American V8s and complex Italian V12s on the race tracks of the 1950s. Yet, in person, the proportions are distinctly modernized. It is significantly wider, lower, and more muscular than any vintage 356.
Achieving this seamless integration of old-school romance and modern scale is a triumph of exotic car coachbuilding. Stärke’s process involves rigorous 3D scanning and advanced CAD rendering to ensure the new bodywork mates flawlessly with the 718’s structural hard points. During the build, the donor car is essentially stripped of its outer skin. The doors and rear panels are carefully modified, while the new front clip utilizes all the factory Porsche bolting locations for ultimate structural integrity.
Customers can opt for standard hand-laid fiberglass panels, which remarkably keep the Stärke Speedster at the exact same curb weight as the factory 718 Boxster (hovering right around 3,000 pounds). For those seeking to maximize their power-to-weight ratio, Stärke offers full carbon fiber bodywork. This upgrade shaves off a couple of hundred pounds, elevating the car’s acceleration and cornering grip to near-supercar levels.
The attention to detail on the prototype I tested was staggering. The metallic silver paint held an endless, liquid depth, flawlessly complementing the Boxster Red leather interior. The custom “Wide Five” wheels are an absolute masterstroke, mimicking the iconic steelies of early Porsches while accommodating modern, high-performance rubber and massive brake calipers. Panel gaps were spectacularly tight, and climbing behind the wheel revealed a cabin free of the creaks and rattles so commonly associated with aftermarket fiberglass builds.
Driving Dynamics: A Malibu Masterclass
Firing up the Stärke Speedster and merging onto the Pacific Coast Highway felt like stepping onto a mid-century Hollywood movie set, but without the anxiety of stalling vintage carburetors or worrying about oil leaks.
My test car was built on a base model 718, utilizing the 300-horsepower turbocharged flat-four engine paired with Porsche’s lightning-fast seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. While purists might initially lament the lack of a naturally aspirated flat-six and a manual gearbox, the reality of driving this setup through coastal traffic is sublime. The turbocharged torque provides effortless passing power, while the PDK handles gear changes with clinical precision.
The beauty of the Stärke Speedster is that it retains the impeccable road manners of the 718. The steering feedback is incredibly communicative, perfectly straddling the line between grand-touring comfort and canyon-carving compliance. Gortenburg noted from the passenger seat that while the classic 356 is a piece of rolling art, it simply cannot handle the rigors of being pushed hard. The Stärke Speedster, conversely, begs to be driven with intent.
My only practical critique during the drive was the car’s extended front overhang and aggressively low stance. When navigating steep Malibu driveways or aggressive speed bumps, you have to approach with extreme caution. Opting for the carbon fiber front splitter would undoubtedly increase this anxiety. However, for a vehicle this visually arresting, altering your driving route to accommodate the stance is a small price to pay.
Powertrains, Pricing, and Luxury Sports Car Investment
Because the Stärke Speedster is built on the versatile 718 architecture, buyers have an incredible array of powertrain choices. If you source a base Boxster, you enjoy 300 horsepower. Step up to the Boxster S, and you unlock 350 horsepower. But for the ultimate bespoke automotive design experience, pairing the Speedster body with the 394-horsepower GTS 4.0 donor car is the holy grail. The naturally aspirated, 7,800-rpm flat-six engine provides the auditory drama that perfectly matches the vehicle’s vintage aesthetics.
Pricing for the Stärke Speedster conversion starts at $135,000. If you prefer the company to source the donor vehicle for you, the total package begins at $189,000 before highly personalized options. With Porsche concluding the production of the internal-combustion 718 series recently, clean donor cars are rapidly appreciating in value, making this an intriguing luxury sports car investment.
Furthermore, the ownership experience is vastly superior to a traditional classic car. Because the underlying mechanicals, wiring harnesses, and OBD-II ports are strictly OEM Porsche, the Stärke Speedster can be serviced at any reputable local dealership. You get the iconic styling of a multi-million-dollar vintage Porsche with the convenience of a modern sports car featuring air conditioning, Apple CarPlay, and a reliable power top.
Currently, each bespoke build requires roughly six months of painstaking labor, with hand-crafting the body panels alone taking 12 weeks. Due to high demand following successful showcases in the Southern California custom cars circuit, the waitlist now stretches to about a year.
If you are ready to experience the perfect intersection of vintage romance and modern German engineering, do not wait for the order books to close. Contact Stärke Motor Company today to begin customizing your donor car specs, and take the first step toward commissioning a timeless piece of automotive art that you can actually drive every single day.
