It seems crazy to consider today with waiting lists, dealer markups as much as 100% over sticker price, and fans everywhere vying to get a Porsche road car, but the early 1990s were difficult for Porsche. Sales were very low, and the company had not released a truly new model since the introduction of the 993, which was more of an update to the 911 than a true new model. In addition, the 993 version of the 911 was very expensive.
The 928 at this point was a car that went on sale originally in 1977 and was showing its age. The 968, in essence a revamp of the 944, was also not only a weak seller but a car that many feel did not measure up to the quality the Stuttgart manufacturer was famous for. Porsche had gone from selling 50,000 a year in 1986 to only 14,000 cars sold in 1993 with a total of only 3,000 cars going to the United States. Porsche desperately needed a new model or the company was in serious trouble.
In addition, Porsche needed to modernize their car design and construction in order to be competitive and grow as a company. The methods used to build Porsches were in many ways stuck in a 1960s idea of construction. By the 1990s this was not commercially viable, but was also no longer the way to build a high quality car.
In addition to all of this, Porsche at this time did not really have an entry level model such as the old 914, 924, 944 as the 968 that replaced it was also a very expensive car. As a result the people who bought Porsche cars in this period were the ones that had always bought Porsche, and new buyers stayed away because they were literally priced out of the Porsche market.
The car that saved Porsche in this period was the new mid-engined entry level Porsche car: the Boxster. Initially shown as a concept car designed by Grant Larson and Pinky Lai called the Boxster Concept at the North American International Auto Show in January 1993, the car was an immediate hit. Amazingly the final production 986 exterior design by Larson was locked in March 1993, an incredibly short time to go from concept car to production design. However, there were some bumps along the way which held up production of the Boxster by years. There were a number of issues that came up in the production planning of the car which required an additional design revision to lengthen of the hood. After a year of prototype testing, pilot production began in late spring of 1995, with series production starting up in mid-1996.
The Boxster was released ahead of the 996. The 986 Boxster had the same bonnet, front wings, headlights, interior and engine architecture as the 996, which was the way Porsche modernized their production line and lowered their internal costs. This allowed them to correct their finances at the time, and the ongoing Porsche success story continues to this day.
In 2000 Porsche upped the Boxster’s game by increasing the engine size from 2.5 liters to 2.7 liters and increasing horsepower from the original 201 hp to 220 hp. In that same year they also went one better by introducing the higher performance model called the Boxster S. The S featured an increase in the flat six engine displacement from 2.7 liters to 3.2 liters and increased horsepower to 250 hp.
Our Pick of the Day is one of these higher performance Boxsters, a 2000 Porsche Boxster S painted in Forest Green Metallic over a green and black leather interior. This is a color combo I have only seen on a few Boxsters, and the green exterior with green leather seats is a striking look. A nice change from the usual Black, silver, or red Boxsters you tend to see most often.
The seller states that this car has covered a total of only 50,000 miles from new and both the paint and the interior look to be in excellent condition.
The seller adds Equipped this Boxster S is equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission, Michelin tires, Porsche factory Turbo-twist alloy wheels, jack, tool roll, and a spare tire. Additional features include air conditioning, power seats, outside rearview mirrors (electrically controlled), power-operated windows, door pockets, cruise control, and sun visors with vanity mirrors.
The asking price of this 2000 Porsche Boxster S is $19,950, or about the same price for a really clean first year Miata with similar mileage and in similar condition. I don’t know about you (yes, the Miata is a great car) but I know which car I would rather be driving.
To view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com, check out the listing here.
