(Click Here for the Video Review at our YouTube Channel).
I’ve been fortunate to have a few versions of the Porsche Cayman and Boxster over the years, starting with a Cayman S in 2008 for which I traded my 993 Targa that the dealer valued at just $27,000; one of my silliest moves given it’d be worth three times that amount today! When that Cayman S lease came to an end, it was a Boxster S then Boxster Spyder (series 981) next, which gained so much value in the first two years that I sold it to a broker and made money on the lease. I think I was aiming to redeem myself from my earlier, disastrous trade, but I still miss that Spyder and the Targa, too.
The writing has been on the wall for many years that electrification and hybridization will soon bring large, sonorous, naturally-aspirated gasoline engines to an end, and Porsche has announced that the replacement for the Cayman/Boxster series – what it’ll be called has not yet been revealed – will be all-electric when it arrives in 2024. While Porsche’s two-seater sports cars will go electric, joining the imminent electric Macan SUV and highly successful Taycan sedan, the flagship (one could say, taproot) 911 series will for now keep their gasoline engines, produced in smaller numbers while becoming increasingly expensive and intended for enthusiasts.
So in this twilight, just before Covid turned the world upside down, I took delivery of my final Boxster, a 4.0 GTS ordered to rather unique specifications with the intention of keeping it for many years to come: Python Green, which is an updated version of Porsche’s classic Viper Green dating back to the 70s, over Expresso Brown natural leather with green contrast stitching. I went with the PDK transmission rather than the 6-Speed manual as it makes for a quicker, torquier car, and I felt it somehow future-proofed the car both in terms of its usability and performance, accelerating to 60mph in just 3.7 seconds (versus 4.2 seconds for the manual). I also ordered the Adaptive Cruise Control, which is excellent in LA’s traffic, and the Bermester sound system which is crisp and rich with excellent imaging and depth of field. The only option I’d not tick again is leather sun visors, as their undersides are plastered with hideous airbag warning labels which cannot be removed, so what’s the point?
I absolutely love the car, both for the way it sounds and feels when storming the canyons as well as its practicality as a daily driver, picking up groceries or slogging through aforementioned traffic or the six-hour drive from LA to the Bay Area. Fuel economy is remarkable, likely as this 4.0 6-Cylinder engine has adaptive cylinder control: I’ve seen 29mpg highway and around 18mpg City.
As you’ll note from the link at the start of this article, Nick and I are back at it creating content for The Car Crush channel on YouTube. Please check it out, Like and Subscribe! Much more to come, and thank you for reading and tuning-in.
