Porsche has taken one of its best driver’s cars and given it a distinctly Alpine flavour. Meet the 911 GT3 Bergsport, a limited-run special edition created by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and inspired by the winding mountain roads and hillclimb heritage of the Alps. Just 100 examples will be built, and if you were hoping to get one in India, there’s some bad news: it is being offered only in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland.
Based on the current 911 GT3 Touring, the Bergsport comes with the optional Lightweight Package, but Porsche has made a few changes specifically for this car. Most importantly, every example gets a six-speed manual gearbox. So, you get the naturally aspirated 503 bhp 4-litre flat-six, a 9000 rpm redline and three pedals. Basically, exactly what you want in a Porsche built for mountain roads.
The Lightweight Package normally brings magnesium wheels and deletes the rear seats, but Porsche has taken a slightly different approach here. The Bergsport gets specially designed forged aluminium wheels instead, as Porsche says they are better suited to the rougher roads you can encounter in the Alps. And yes, it gets its rear seats back, meaning you can actually take someone along for the ride rather than having to enjoy all that mountain-road goodness alone. There’s also an extended-range fuel tank, which should come in handy when you’re busy chasing corners rather than petrol stations.
Then there’s the styling. The Bergsport is finished in an exclusive Valley Green Metallic paint inspired by the colours of the Alpine landscape. The wheels are finished in White Gold and Ceramica, with the combination intended to evoke snow-covered mountain peaks. The brake callipers are painted orange, inspired by the warm glow seen across the Alps at sunrise and sunset.
There’s also a rather lovely motorsport-inspired detail on the luggage compartment. A chequered-flag graphic pays tribute to the Porsche 908 Bergspyder, one of the company’s lightweight hillclimb racers from the 1960s. And that name is important because the Bergsport isn’t just about making a GT3 look fancy.
Porsche has a long history with the Alpine region. The company moved its operations from Stuttgart to Gmünd in Austria during the Second World War, and remained there until 1950. It was here that Porsche developed and built the earliest examples of the 356, its first production sports car. Just 52 of those Austrian-built cars were made, making them some of the most valuable early Porsches today.
The Bergsport also pays homage to Porsche’s hillclimb racing history, where lightweight cars, sharp handling and plenty of mechanical feel were far more important than outright top speed. And that philosophy fits the GT3 rather nicely.
The 911 GT3 Bergsport will make its public debut at the Arosa ClassicCar hill climb in Switzerland, this September, where Porsche works driver Jorg Bergmeister will demonstrate what it can do over the 76-corner, near 9 km long course.
With just 100 examples planned and sales restricted to four Alpine countries, the Bergsport is going to be an exceptionally rare 911. But more importantly, it feels like a proper enthusiast’s special.
