Chasing The Redline

Just when Porsche fans thought that six-cylinder Boxsters and Caymans were things of the past, along comes the 718 GTS, with a magnificent 4-litre engine. Jon Wall drives it.

- Jon Wall

When, a scarcely believable 25 years ago, Porsche debuted the Boxster, the little roadster was dismissed by some as a wannabe, a substitute for those who coveted a full-blown 911 Carrera and its gold, black and red badge, but whose budgets didn’t quite stretch to the real thing. At the time there was more than a modicum of truth to that notion, because the Boxster then served as the brand’s entry model, but if it gave you the idea that the strictly two-seat convertible – or its coupe derivative, the Cayman, which arrived some 10 years later – was in any way second-rate, you could hardly have been more wrong.

Not only did it feature a wonderfully free-revving flat-six engine, just like that of a proper 911 (though somewhat detuned to match the lower price point), but the motor was mounted just a few centimetres behind the driver and bang in the middle of the car, a location that any auto buff will tell you is a near guarantee of perfect handling. And as perfect handling was precisely what it delivered, not to mention sizzling performance and oodles of driver involvement, it took very little time at all for the Boxster to acquire for itself a reputation as one of the finest sports cars that money could buy. Indeed, there were many who said that in some ways it was better than the 911 itself.