﹒All-original with good history
﹒Excellent bodywork
﹒Low mileage, low owners
﹒Drives like a dream

The evergreen Boxster has been with us since the Britpop era, so it’s easy to forget just how radical the formula was when it was launched back in 1996. The perky little roadster keenly sought to change the perceptions of the old guard – those who felt that the Porsche brand began and ended with the 911. This was Porsche’s first car to have been developed right from the start as a roadster since the fabled 550 Spyder of the 1950s, and its parts-sharing with the 996 meant that Boxster owners were getting bigger-brother thrills with zingy, pared-back mid-engined pizazz.

 With the advent of the second-generation 987 Boxster for the 2005 model year, the styling was revised and modernised to dramatic effect. The 2.7-litre engine served up a vivid and exploitable 236bhp, with a 0-62mph run of just 6.2-seconds and a top speed of 159mph. All of this is delivered with superlative refinement, backed up by a balletic chassis that’s exemplary in its dynamism. And today, what the 987 Boxster really represents is astonishing value for money – after all, where else at this price point can you find all of this power, precision and poise with such a prestigious badge?

With just one former keeper before the present one, and low mileage on the clock, this is a Boxster in the sweet spot of usage: it’s been regularly enjoyed, but not excessively so. Indeed, its current mileage of a little over 63k equates to under 4,000 miles a year throughout its life. In all-original spec and with its service book and manuals all present and correct, this is a thoroughly decent and honest example of a desirable modern classic, ready to be enjoyed by its next vivacious owner.
 

All of the original manuals are here – and, being a Porsche, there a quite a lot of them: maintenance and service books, care guides, dealer guides, audio handbooks and various others. The correct V5 is present, showing this car to have one former keeper and having been first registered on March 25th 2005; it also shows evidence of the former cherished registration, which was JAD 3P. The service stamps in the book show this car as having spent much of its life in the West Midlands, being looked after by The Porsche Centre in Solihull, The Porsche Shop in Halesowen, and Alpha Motors in Wigan.

The Boxster’s interior is a marvel of packaging – with the engine tucked away in the middle of the car, you get a usable boot at either end as well as plenty of room in the cabin. It’s design witchcraft really, and it ensures that as well as being a hilarious B-road blaster, the Boxster is a practical car that you could conceivably use every day.

This example is specced with the tasteful leather trim, which is nicely put together with soft seat hide and double-stitching along the dash and doorcards. There’s no excess wear to the seats, or to the steering wheel or gearknob. The dials are all in correct working order, with no dead pixels in the digital elements and no warning lights illuminated. The heater and audio system are both working correctly, and there’s just a bit of wear to the control knobs. The carpets are all good, the electric windows work, and the lights illuminate within the sun visors. Both the front and rear boots are in tidy condition with their original carpets fitted. The hidden cup holders on the passenger side spring out origami-style like they’re supposed to, which is a pleasing mechanism to behold.

The 987 Boxster has a more purposeful and aggressive design than the previous 986, with its headlights designed to mimic those of the Carrera GT hypercar, and the larger side intakes neatly accentuating the nature of the car’s mid-engined platform. The bodywork of this Boxster is finished in a beguiling shade of metallic mid-blue that really pops in the sunlight; the paint is very good throughout, with no scratches or scrapes and the nose being free from stone-chips. The original alloy wheels are fitted, and in great condition with no kerbing; they wear quality Dunlop tyres at the front and budget Nexens at the rear.

The rear spoiler rises and lowers correctly, at speed and on the override button, and the soft-top also rises, latches and lowers easily. The roof is in great condition with no rips, tears or marks and no issues with the heated rear window glass. This is a very well presented roadster that led to a number of admiring glances and comments during our photoshoot!

The drivetrain in the second-gen Boxster is a wonderful bit of engineering: the M96 2.7-litre flat-six is a willing and tractable thing that loves to rev, and it’s well suited to the slick 5-speed manual transmission. With a decent service history we know that this motor is in fine fettle, and it proved itself to be an eager and obedient thing during our test drive, doing all the things that a Boxster should. The seller highlights no issues with the steering, suspension or braking systems, and the car is extremely smooth, tactile and frisky to drive, just as you’d hope.
 
Overall, this is a dependable, reliable and playful Porsche that’s fabulous fun to drive and is ready to be pressed into day-to-day use.

It’s genuinely amazing how affordable the second-gen Boxster has become. In pure 2.7-litre form, this car represents the very essence of what the mid-engined roadster should be – light, simple, precise, and always entertaining… while at the same time being reliable and practical. For the price of, say, a Ford Fiesta, you could instead be daily-driving something which is eminently more stylish, pretty much as practical most of the time, and a real hoot when you hit the country lanes (or the track, or the dragstrip, let your imagination run wild!). And with a scorching summer sitting tantalisingly just ahead of us, wouldn’t it be wonderful to throw back the roof and let that flat-six sing? When it comes to smiles-per-gallon, there’s not a lot that can beat this.