The original Porsche Boxster was a huge success and help Porsche grow its customer base, so when the second-generation Boxster (987) came to the US market as a 2005 model it wasn’t a surprise that it followed a similar formula. While the 987 Boxster retained only 20 per cent of the 986’s DNA, it looked similar enough to us that it felt more like a mild refresh than a totally new model update.
Truth be told, this was a revamped version of the original 986. Porsche claims that 80% of the 987 was new and while the interior and exterior were all new, the engines and transmissions were, for the most part, carry-overs, albeit with the obligatory and customary modest bump in performance for both the base (now at 2.7 liters and 240 horsepower) and the “S” version (3.2 liters with 280 hp).