The
Porsche Boxster is a smaller, relatively affordable (by luxury car standards) mid-engined convertible, released in late 1996. The visual appearance of the car is heavily inspired of the
Porsche Speedster[?], the car that
James Dean drove when he had his fatal crash in
1955. It features two models, the standard model with a 200 bhp, 2.5 litre
flat six[?] cylinder engine, and the Boxster S with an enlarged 2.7 litre engine producing a further 25 bhp or so. Combining the traditional Porsche virtues of build quality, reliability, performance, and handling, with styling reminiscent of the larger
911 (to the point where buyers of the 911 complained that their car looked too similar to the Boxster), the car has been popular both with car industry journalists and with buyers - it is Porsche's biggest volume seller.
The Boxster name plays on the words 'boxer' (its horizontally-opposed engine configuration) and 'roadster'.