Porsche Boxster 986: Entry Ticket

The thinking man’s Porsche is almost as quick as the 911 and a fraction of the cost. We bring you the lowdown on the first generation Boxster.

- Andrew Everett

It’s now 21 years since the Porsche986 Boxster went on sale in the UK, and nearly 25 years since the Boxster concept car was shown in Detroit to rave reviews.

Back in 1992, Porsche was in serious trouble. The financial crash had seriously harmed the company’s balance sheet and although the revised 964 model 911 was selling quite well, the 928 was near enough finished and the revised 944 – the 968 – was never to sell in big enough numbers. Because as good as it was, it was only a facelift of what even then was a fairly tired old design, the 17-year old 924.

The competition were bringing out exciting new designs like BMW’s E36 M3 and Porsche needed some fresh new models sharing nothing with previous cars but also giving the nod to their most popular model, the 911.

The 911 was also a problem child because although it sold well at a high price, it was very expensive to make. What Porsche needed urgently in order to stay alive and independent was a new sports car, a two-seater that could also share many parts with the next generation 911 that Porsche would need by the mid 2000s.

Of various styling proposals offered to the Porsche board, the one chosen by Harm Lagaay, Porsche’s director of vehicle styling and designer of the original 924, was one styled by Chinese Porsche stylist Pinky Lai and Grant Larson. Taking cues from the 911 and the 550 Spyder, the 1993 Detroit Show concept was literally a show stopper and even today in 2017 Porsche could launch the concept car as it stood and sell it by the tonne.