What do you do when your hit TV show nets you so much money that you can buy the network it aired on? You develop the business for a short time, sell it for a fortune, and spend the rest of your life doing what you love. For Jerry Seinfeld, doing what you love involves spending time with family, repetitively proving you're the best observational comedian in the business, and collecting Porsches.
After his last big project came to an end in 2020, Seinfeld hasn't been in the public eye too often, which seems to suit him just fine. It gives him more time to buy old Porsches and commission new ones, all of which he tends to drive. His latest acquisition is a one-off based on the 718 Spyder that pays tribute to another Porker he owns, a race-winning 908/03 Spyder.
The 908/03 that Seinfeld owns is chassis 008 and one of 13 ever made. This specific car won the 1970 Targa Florio and the Nurburgring 1,000 Kilometer races, so it's certainly worthy of honoring with a one-off build. And that's what the 718 Spyder is.
Created in collaboration with Porsche itself, the Special Projects car was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that Targa Florio overall win, but for some reason, it has only been revealed to the world now. Perhaps the idea came late, or the project took a long time to perfect, but we're glad to see it.
Developed with the assistance of Grant Larson, Director of Special Projects - and, coincidentally, the designer of the original 986 Boxster - this wild drop-top has many clever details for the obsessive enthusiast to fawn over. Even the VIN of the modern recreation ends with 1970.
Using the radical 981 Bergspyder as inspiration, Porsche finished the car in Paint to Sample Gulf Blue. Christoph Nieman was the graphic designer in charge of the final reimagined livery, and the car has seen the addition of Gulf Orange arrows that spawn from the side air intakes. These run over the deleted headlights with a #12 roundel appearing on the hood (which is repeated on the doors alongside Union Jacks), while more orange in the form of stripes behind the 718 Spyder's trademark humps adds a touch more drama. A lick of green paint on the front splitter and rear spoiler mimic similar details on the racer. Another very, very cool detail is that the passenger-side mirror has been deleted.
Inside, the changes are less extreme. Open the doors and you'll find custom door sills in blue and orange. These are illuminated and reference the inspiration for the car, with the leather and Race-Tex upholstery applied in black. To be fair, the cabin of the 908/03 Spyder was a mixture of black and tan, which could only really work with this color scheme in a race car. However, the steering wheel gets a 12 o'clock marker in orange and the gear knob is taken from the limited-edition 991 Speedster Heritage, again with orange detailing for little more contrast. That car celebrated Porsche's 70th anniversary in 2018.
If you're in downtown Monterey this weekend, the car is on display until tomorrow, August 20, at the Porsche Zentrum.