The key differentiator between the 911 and the Boxster/Cayman is the engine location. This results in signifiicantly different handling characteristics not to mention back seats vs rear trunks.

BMW gets by just fine with even less differentiation (than engine location) by using old fashioned "size" to uniquely define the 3, 5 and 7 series.

It's not "part sharing". It's platform sharing. The front 2/3rds of the platform and structure and just about everything else is shared and more or less identical. The rear 1/3rd is configured for rear or mid installation.

People have someone misconstrued my post. I never said 911s and Boxsters drove the same. The engine location makes a big difference obviously. But the fact is, they are one model with two different engine installations.

Totally different propositions. A BMW 3 and a 7 are completely separate platforms and architectures. A 911 and a Box are the same save for changes made for engine installation.

The latest issue of Christophorus (the magazine that the Porsche mothership sends you if the dealer puts you on the list) centers on the mid-engine models, primarily the Cayman. You can read it in PDF if you google Porsche magazine Christophorus, I would post a link, but my posts with links don't seem to show up.

Porsche is pushing the Cayman and the Boxster lately because they're beautiful cars, simple as that.

Thank you for the help, Jager.

I think when you look at a 996 and 986, you can certainly see a lot of similarities in the cars - the front, the interior, etc. And as a previous poster said, a lot of the part numbers are even similar!

The newer Boxster is a bit more unique, this 981 - but still shares a lot of the same designs and interior.

It's not similarities and similar part numbers. It's the same bloody car. The floor pressings. The panels. The suspension components. The dash. The door cards.

The front 2/3rds is literally the same car. On the Boxster S, it's even the same brake rotors and calipers.

The 981 to 991 relationship is very nearly the same. OK, they gave the 981 unique exterior panels. But that's the just the clothes covering the expensive bits underneath. It's the same approach. For instance, the 981 has unique exterior door panels, the the inner door structure is once again shared. Overall, it's still one architecture available in either mid or rear-engine configurations.

914
 

Coming from a 914 background, I am very familiar with this "stepchild" talk. But it is all garbage, and usually from very uninformed people.

For instance, we 914 owners used to get this "Not a real Porsche" crap from time to time. Justified? The 914 was mid engined, it had an air cooled boxer engine, and was very minimalistic in concept. Just like the early Porsches! It was a back to basics concept. Oh, but it had a VW engine, so the trash talking began.

VW and Porsche were two separate companies that proceded after the second world war to manufacture air cooled cars based on Dr. Porsche's air cooled engine design. Historically, the 914 is all Porsche! :-) So a snobbish comment is also an uninformed comment.

This sort of thing does not really come up anymore with the 914 because, most people don't know too much about them now. Personally, I stoped caring long ago. I think back in the late 70's early 80's a certain snobiness developed against VW by certain people. That doesn't really exist today, because the companies image is much more sporty.

But, having recently purchased this 986, I am surprised to find a this variation on the same theme. There is no VW-Porsche crossover like on some other models. I read somewhere on a forum that some Porsche owners degrade the Boxster. So. the Boxster not a real Porsche? By what measure?
It doesn't make sense. In fact, it never made sense with the 914 and it doesn't make sense with the Boxster. I think it is all based on some snobiness. I have yet to experience this snobiness, because 911 drivers have been waving at me left and right.... but I am sure there is some jackass who thinks only he drives the "remnant" of true Porsche lineage and heritage.