For Sale: 2021 Porsche Spyder in Katwijk, Netherlands

In an era where manufacturers trip over each other to boast the highest horsepower figures, the quickest 0-100 and the most dazzling touchscreen, Porsche did something in 2019 that felt almost revolutionary: they built a car with less. Fewer bells, fewer whistles, less automation. And with that choice comes a lever. A real lever, with six gears you get to row yourself. It sounds like a detail, but in today's climate it is practically a political statement. You see, the 718 Spyder is not a car you buy because you need it. Nobody needs a manual mid-engine roadster with a four-litre flat-six. You buy it because you understand what Porsche has done here: they took the engine out of the GT4, mounted it just behind your head and slapped on a soft top you largely have to operate by hand. No automatic, no electric fuss, just you and the mechanics. That is the point. That is the whole point. And then that engine. The naturally aspirated 4.0 litre flat-six that wants to keep pulling far beyond 7,000 revs, with no turbo to muddy the waters. A sound that starts as a deep gurgle and ends in a crescendo you would normally need a season ticket to the Royal Albert Hall to hear. The Sportabgasanlage lends a hand, should you ever have forgotten how a real Porsche is meant to sound. Four hundred and twenty horsepower, all of it available without any trickery. This is Porsche as Ferry intended, albeit with thirty years of extra engineering in the chassis. Right, back to the Spyder standing here with us in Katwijk. A 2021 example, finished in GT Silver metallic, a shade of grey that sits just right on a car that never shouts for attention but gets it anyway. The interior is trimmed in leather with alcantara, a combination that guides your fingers straight to the gear knob. The original Michelin summer tyres are still fitted, 245 up front and 265 at the rear, exactly as it should be. What makes this Spyder special is not just what it is, but also how it has been treated. Delivered at Porsche Zentrum Kiel, then diligently maintained at Porsche Zentrum Fulda and now in the trusted hands of Porsche Centrum Twente in Deventer. A full Porsche service history, then, including a major service that saw the six spark plugs replaced, the brake fluid renewed and even the air conditioning given a service. The MOT runs until early 2027. In short: someone has treated this car exactly the way a 718 Spyder deserves to be treated. Admittedly, for the money you could also buy a decent stack of other sports cars. But most of them have an automatic with paddles behind the wheel and a sound generator blaring through the speakers. This Spyder needs no simulator. It has a clutch pedal, a gear knob and a flat-six that delivers all the emotion you could want. It is the purist among modern Porsches, the car you buy when you grasp that driving is about more than simply arriving. I have seen plenty of cars in my life that were faster on paper, prettier, more exclusive. But there is something about a manual roadster with the engine in the middle that no spec sheet can capture. It is the way the car thinks along with you, or rather deliberately does not, and leaves it entirely up to you. On a summer's day with the roof down along an empty country lane, that is what this car was made for. Not for the statistics, but for the feeling. This is one of those cars that in fifteen years will be name-dropped with a knowing wink as the final chapter of a dying breed. The manual, naturally aspirated roadster. They do not make them like this any more, and they are not going to make them again. Grab that lever while you still can, before all that is left is a screen where your clutch used to be. **Special features** - Built 2021, colour GT Silver metallic - Naturally aspirated 4.0 litre flat-six, 420 hp - Manual six-speed gearbox, no automatic - Sportabgasanlage (sports exhaust) - PASM active suspension and PSM stability management - Sport button and cruise control - Interior in leather wit