Porsche Bergspyder is the coolest Boxster that never was

The Porsche Bergspyder you're looking at here is the result of an engineering project commissioned back in 2015 to build a minimalist and light sports car based on the 981 Boxster chassis. It was never gallivanted about by Porsche, as it was displayed at Porsche's development center in Weissach for two years before being transferred to the Porsche Museum. Now, it's coming out of hiding at the 2019 Gaisberg hillclimb race, and we can all be happy for it.

Porsche's goal for the project was to cut as much weight out of the car as possible, using the ultra-lightweight Porsche 909 as a sort of "North Star" for the project. The 909 was the absolute lightest racing car ever used by Porsche, weighing a measly 847 pounds. There are motorcycles that weigh more than that, so this was a seriously light race car. For comparison, the Bergpsyder weighs 2,423 pounds, so just under triple the weight of the 909. Compared to a normal Boxster Spyder at the time, it dropped 476 pounds.

A lot of this weight was lost by eliminating a bunch of important parts like the top and a windshield. Additionally, Porsche removed insulation material and it also "weight-optimized" some components. Of course, the car looks a whole lot different than a normal Boxster. The green and white color scheme was lifted from the 909 you see pictured here. Then there's a tiny windshield that doesn't do much beyond deflecting the wind, wrapping all the way to the engine compartment on both sides. The dashboard was redesigned with elements from the 918 making their way inside. Porsche covered up the passenger compartment, but you can still open the passenger door and find a spot for luggage and a helmet shelf.

Porsche fitted its 3.8-liter flat-six from the Cayman GT4 in it, which makes 388 horsepower in this application, resulting in a 0-62 mph time in just over 4 seconds. This vehicle was a working prototype and was discussed for production back in the day, but was predictably nixed due to the car not being able to be registered in many countries.