It Took 20 Years For Porsche To Finally Make A Badass Boxster

Now in its fourth generation, the Porsche Boxster (or 718 Boxster) has certainly come a long way since the days motoring journalists found it either too boring or too slow.

Of course the loudest voice belonged to one Jeremy Clarkson: when he reviewed it for Top Gear, he said that the Boxster was “cramped for fully grown men, the clutch is a bit of a faff and the styling is a bit backwards.” He even went as far as to say that it “couldn’t pull a greased stick out of a pig’s bottom,” and I’m pretty sure that it could do that Mr. Clarkson. It would definitely pull that stick. Just saying.

Throughout the years, I’ve kept hearing the same things over and over when it comes to the Boxster from my fellow peers. Sure, everyone enjoyed how balanced it felt on the road, especially in the twisty bits, but… there was always a “but”, and it came with a certain image that some men seemed to be weary of.

In a way, I get it. Just look at this first-generation. The styling was controversial, since it took after the 996, the least favorite 911 among fans, the ”fried-egg” headlamps looked clumsy, its proportions were underwhelming and the cabin quality wasn’t what you’d expect given its badge and price tag.

Things did get better from a design perspective with the second-generation, especially since Porsche made it a bit longer, wider and shorter, and the quality was improved, but it was still missing something. The Cayman didn’t really have that problem since its sleek coupe shape made it look almost entirely like another model.

Personally, I feel things started to look up when Porsche introduced the Boxster Spyder in November 2009. At the time, that was the lightest Boxster on the market, which was achieved thanks to the removal of the conventional soft-top operating mechanism. It almost looks like it’s flexing its neck muscles with the roof off, and that gave people something to stare at.

It was also more powerful and therefore quicker than the Boxster S, packing 324 PS (320 HP) and 370 Nm (272 lb-ft) of torque. It would hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.8 seconds (the Boxster S needed 5.0 seconds), and max out at 267 km/h (166 mph). This was probably the first aggressive-looking Boxster, and it took Porsche 12 years to come up with a new design recipe.

Thankfully, once the third-gen model showed up in 2012, it represented a huge improvement over the previous two, especially since Weissach’s designers styled it after not just the 911, but the 918 as well – just a tad. Its Spyder version (launched in 2013) could hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.3 seconds, making this the fastest-ever Boxster at the time and arguably the best-looking one, too.

This brings us to the fourth-generation 718 Boxster, a car you’d be hard pressed to call boring in any way. It’s also longer, wider and lower than ever, and should accommodate some of those drivers that might have found previous models a bit too cramped. It’s funny how seeing one recently in traffic spurred me to write this whole piece. But I remember staring at it and thinking it looked way better than the first-gen. The 718 can be stunning, especially with the right wheels and color combos for the body, calipers and so on.

So, it sure did take some time, but Porsche finally got it right with its entry-level model. Better late than never, don’t you agree?