987 owners...no offence

[Quickurt]

Originally Posted by pierre shags

"I must say there is not a single point of the 986 I preferred...986 headlights looking "more Porsche" I have to roll on the floor laughing." says Kurt the Quick, and for once we agree.

Damn!!

Pick me off the floor and get out those smelling salts!!

Back in the day of early exotics and only sealed beam round headlights, all exotic, or "aero" designs had faired in covers over the sealed beams like the 987. 356's were somewhat of a trend setter in this design concept and hence the 987 lights are very close to truly "Classic Porsche."
The first gen 911 ('66 thru '73) had the trim ring of the clear fairings but, for a while, the cover lenses were illegal in US.

[Quickurt]

Pothole,

Clint Eastwood fan, I reckon?

[Quickurt]

To be honest, I think the different cut in lines on the 987 will give Porsche the ability to do several updated versions of the same body, far more cost effectively.
While some of those lines are cleaner on the 986, they limit slight modifications to make minor distinctions from year to year. I personally love the 987-2 front end for 2010, and it is a straight bolt on replacement for my 2006.
A bit of a close look and you will see minor shape differences everywhere on the new bumper cover, enough that we had to look very carefully and then check the parts department to make sure it is the same headlights for 2010.
This would have been very hard to pull off on the 986.

[pothole]

I'm not convinced the 987 design is physically more amenable to tweaks and facelifts. For proof of how flexible the 986 design is, just look at the 996 Turbo front end, which is effectively a variation on the 986 design but very different to look at.

Moreover, even if it is true, it wouldn't make the 987 a better design to look at. OK, it might be desirable in commercial terms in the sense of allowing Porsche to easily update the design and offer what looks like a "new" model.

But the best designs almost always last longer without the need for frequent facelifts. Indeed, when a car gets an early facelift, that's usually in response to a poorly received / failed design.

[jacabean]

this is the best looking porsche ever

[Pat]

^^^correct answer^^^

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by jacabean

this is the best looking porsche ever

Sorry, but that looks like a Franken-Porsche to me...part Cayman, trying to look like a 911, trying to look like a Carrera GT, but not one of any of em.

[jacabean]

it looks like a bad ass boxster with a hardtop to me . don't forget about the 700 or so h.p.

[tonycarreon]

Originally Posted by jacabean

this is the best looking porsche ever

It looks like a Porsche for a snorks character...



not that I don't like parts of it...

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by jacabean

this is the best looking porsche ever

That's not a Porsche.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by Quickurt

To be honest, I think the different cut in lines on the 987 will give Porsche the ability to do several updated versions of the same body, far more cost effectively.
While some of those lines are cleaner on the 986, they limit slight modifications to make minor distinctions from year to year. I personally love the 987-2 front end for 2010, and it is a straight bolt on replacement for my 2006.
A bit of a close look and you will see minor shape differences everywhere on the new bumper cover, enough that we had to look very carefully and then check the parts department to make sure it is the same headlights for 2010.
This would have been very hard to pull off on the 986.

I understand what you're saying, but what I hear is: "I get the ugly duck now so some lucky bast*rd down the line can get the really good looking and refined one..." And of course that's a supposition that the 987 will get 'better'.

IMHO, if you look back through the years, rarely is an initial car design ever improved or bettered. The freshness and momentum of an initial design captures the attention whereas future 'refinements' lack that type of 'POP'.

The 986 was new, fresh and (having not been seen before) WOW... while the 987 is just another Boxster. You can argue about the degree and value of the changes, but not about it being just another Boxster. It's definitely different. Better? Meaner? Better looking? These are all subjective.

Once in a while a model does definitely improve over it's initial design, take the the Toyota MR2. Back in the mid-80's, it was chiseled and odd looking. The 3rd Gen of the mid-90's was definitely better design-wise. Then, Toyota tried cashing in on it's reputation and success by simply naming a totally new design (the mid-engine whatever) as an MR2. This little trick never succeeded and the last MR2 fell with a THUD! Had Toyota simply introduced it as a new car, it's history may have been much different, which begs the question: How much can the design vary from the original concept and still be a Boxster?

Cheers!