[pothole]

In my experience, the people most likely to be disparaging are car guys who don't know as much as they think they do.

Non car people all think early Boxsters are lovely in my experience. Even quite knowledgeable people often think 986 Boxsters are girly and crap. Until you take them out in the car and they are typically fairly stunned.

Not because an early 986 has supercar performance, obviously it doesn't, not even close. But they very quickly realise that 986s sound fantastic and feel great. Put simply, they're fabulous driver's cars and anyone with even an ounce of appreciation for what makes a great driver's car recognises that very quickly when they actually experience them.

You can't really blame people for thinking what they do. Unless they've been in a 986, they've no particular reason to know what they're like.

Personally, I say long may it last. Keeps 986s nice and cheap.