Porsche Boxster 986

I have to admit that I find the Porsche Boxster 986 to be one of the sleekest and sexiest looking cars around.  This mid-sized roadster dates back to 1997—it’s not one of the oldest and most revered Porsche designed, but it is one of their best (at least in my opinion).  Plus, the Boxster did help boost Porsche sales after several years of declining numbers.  The Boxster gets its name by combining “boxer” (the style of engine the car uses) and “roadster.”  My favorite part about this roadster’s design is the side indentations in the doors which give the car a serious racing look.

The Boxster 986 was the first car that Harm Lagaay designed from scratch to be a roadster.  All of their previous convertibles were actually based on the design of Porsche hardtop coupes.  However, this 2.5 liter six-cylinder was always designed to be a roadster convertible.  Lagaay heavily borrowed from several other Porsche designs, namely the Spyder and the Speedster.  The first Boxster 986 also used much of the same components as the 996, including the headlights, front wings, and bonnet.  It also used the same engine architecture.  This helped reduce costs, which again helped Porsche recover from those bad years (and maybe even kept Porsche from being bought by other companies!).

Since it was first introduced, the Boxster 986 has undergone a few upgrades.  In 2000, Porsche released the Boxster S, which has a 3.2 liter motor.  In 2003, the Boxster had some styling upgrades plus more engine output upgrades.  The most recent update, which both the Boster 986 and its successor, the Boxster 987 received, was in 2009.  Most of these changes were cosmetic, although both models did receive upgrades that increased their performance once again.

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Tagged as: convertibles, Harm Lagaay, porsche, Porsche Boxster 986