TobaccoRoads - Carolinas Region Porsche Club of America (PCA)

Success Story:15 Years of ThePorsche Mid-EngineModel LineMore than 300,000 PorscheBoxster, Caymans builtA nice round number to celebrate the birthday:Almost 15 years to the month afterproduction began, the Porsche Boxster,together with its sister model, the Cayman,exceeded the 300,000 mark for thenumber of vehicles built. With its timelessattractiveness, this two-seat, mid-enginePorsche design has what it takes to makeyet another sports car icon. To mark the anniversary,a Boxster Spyder with PlatinumSilver metallic finish and Carrera red natural leather interior trimwill roll off the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen production line in June, destinedfor a customer in Germany.There are solid reasons for this long-standing success: The Boxsterand Cayman are continuously developed based on a meticulousmid-engine concept and are therefore deemed to set the standardfor sports cars of their class. In the important export market of theUnited States, this is the tenth year that they have been rankedamong the “10 Best” vehicles by Car and Driver Magazine and occupysecond and third place in Germany as the vehicles that holdtheir value the best, hot on the heels of the 911.The Boxster’s origins testify to the typical Porsche blend of capability,courage and farsightedness. In the economically challengingtimes of the early 1990’s, the company decided to go onto theoffensive and unveiled the classic mid-engine roadster conceptat the 1993 Detroit Motor Show. In its design language, the showcar was reminiscent of the 356 No. 1 and the 550 Spyder. Theoverwhelming public response clinched the decision to proceed toseries production of the Boxster, which began in the summer of1996, and introduced as a 1997 model.Dynamic lines, outstanding performance and an attractive pricequickly catapulted the mid-engine sports car onto the bestsellerlist while attracting new customers to Porsche. To put the successfulconcept on a broader stage, Porsche also developed a Coupebased on the open-topped, two-seater roadster that made its worlddebut at the 2005 IAA Frankfurt Motor Show as the Cayman. Theenormous demand resulted in the Boxster and Cayman being builtat Valmet Automotive in Finland in addition to Zuffenhausen.The model range currently comprises the four open-topped variants,the Boxster, Boxster S, Boxster S Black Edition and BoxsterSpyder. These are complemented by the Cayman, Cayman S, CaymanS Black Edition and Cayman R Coupes.The engine variants for the two model lines range between 255 hpand 330 hp thanks to Porsche Intelligent Performance fuel consumptionis rated as high as 29 MPG highway.July 2011 - Page 19