NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The Porsche 911 turns 40 this year and to mark the event Porsche plans to produce a limited run of special 40th anniversary 911s.
The cars will be available in only one color: GT silver metallic. The only other Porsche available in that color will be the 605 horsepower Carrera GT high-performance version, which will be available later this year at a base price of over $400,000. The 40th anniversary 911s will be available in Europe starting in October at prices starting at  82,000 ($93,480). They will be available in the U.S. starting in November at a base price of $89,800. Only 1,963 will be built
The anniversary cars will have 3.6 liter flat-six engines producing 340 horsepower, 25 horsepower more than the standard 911 engine. Combined with a direct accelerator pedal linkage, this makes the car one second faster accelerating from zero to 200 kilometers per hour, or about 124 mph, according to Porsche. The car will be the second fastest Porsche production model, according to a company announcement.
The car's body will also be slightly lower than the standard production version and the suspension will be firmer. Porsche's electronic stability management system will be standard on the car. There will be a "911 40th Anniversary" plaque on the center console.
911 history
The first Porsche 356 sports cars, the direct predecessors of the 911s, were built around the mechanical and electrical guts of some German World War II military vehicles. Those vehicles, in turn, were based on the Porsche designed Volkswagen cars later known as Beetles, said Chris Barber, author of the book "The Birth of the Beetle."
The 911 was introduced at the 1963 Frankfurt auto show. Over the year's, subsequent 911s have remained largely true to Ferdinand Alexander Porsche's original design for the rear-engined sports car. The 911's designer was the son of Porsche's founder, Ferdinand Porsche, and the grandson of the famous car designer, also named Ferdinand Porsche, who penned the Volkswagen Beetle.
"A good product must be discreet in its good looks. Design is not fashion," the designer said of the 911, according to a history of the car provided by the company.
There have been several important additions to the 911 family line over the years, including the RS Carrera, introduced in the U.S. in 1973 which had a distinctive "duck tail" spoiler. The 911 Turbo was introduced the following year. Among other variations, there was the Porsche 959 "supercar" introduced in a limited run of about 200 in 1985. In 1997, Porsche switched to from air-cooled to liquid-cooled engines in the 911s.
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