A $103,000 Porsche Convertible That Hits 60 in Under 5 Seconds: We Took One on a Wild Road Trip

Maybe it was the $2,450 raspberry red paint. Or perhaps the $5,066 rose-hued leather interior. Whatever the reason, the 1992 Porsche 911 America Roadster we borrowed from the factory turned a 1,600-mile road trip through six states into a blur of speed, style, and strange barbecue.

We stopped in newly trendy Asheville, North Carolina, where novelist Thomas Wolfe would be shocked to find a Cuban-Jamaican bistro serving jerked chicken. Then we spent two hours in Joey's Bar and Grill in Charleston, West Virginia, where the basket of barbecued ribs appeared to come from the spinal column of an unfortunate animal.

9 seconds, only a tenth slower than a hardtop Carrera 2. 6 seconds at 103 mph. Not bad for a convertible that carries an extra 100 pounds.

The secret isn't the flashy interior, though the rosebud leather would make Charo do the hoochie-coochie. It's the tires. The America wears massive 255/40ZR-17 Yokohamas in back, compared to the standard Carrera 2's 225/50ZR-16s. 6-liter flat-six that has long reminded owners driving at triple-digit speeds to update their wills.

Porsche says this limited edition honors the open-cockpit 356 America Roadster that won SCCA races in the 1950s. The base price is $94,460, but our test car's raspberry paint and rosebud leather pushed the total to $103,051. 95.

The convertible top is a marvel. One finger on a button raises or lowers it, no latches, no contortionist exercises. The rear window requires unzipping, but the zipper looks industrial-strength enough to last forever. Porsche has come a long way from the fingernail-splitting zipper we cursed in the 1982 911 SC Cabriolet.

At 157 mph, our tester Frank Markus noted the car becomes quite light, and pavement irregularities at speed caused it to jump laterally by as much as a foot. His understated verdict: Not fun. 86 g of grip. The braking system uses cross-drilled discs all around, with huge four-piston calipers up front.

Two airbags come standard, and the upright windshield keeps wind out of your face.

The downsides? Luggage space is tight, enough for a weekend outing by actress Linda Hunt. You won't fit your golf clubs. The pink fur on the lower door panels and rear shelf struck one passenger as tacky and gauche, and this critic was from Cleveland. Our car had a CD player but no tape deck, which seems silly for the age group most likely to afford this car.

To sum it up: It's a 911 Turbo convertible without the turbo. If you have mucho dinero, this Rosebud is for you. If not, you might try writing flattery about John Gotti in a national magazine and hope he appreciates it.