Reverse is in a different spot!
 

My neighbor has a black 2002 Boxster S. The battery died the other day so I helped her get the car started and I noticed that reverse in the 986 is to the left and up. In the 987, reverse is to the right and the bottom on the five speed. I wonder why they changed it? Random thought by Jack Handy.

To add the 6th gear, which is in the bottom right of the tranny, they had to move the reverse gear, which was located there on the 5 speed. So they ground out some metal in the upper left of the tranny, moved reverse to there, and added 6th where reverse used to be.

Yeah... that's the ticket. ;)

had a five speed before never thought putting it that close to 5th gear was a good idea. We've all gone into the wrong gear more than once. the idea that you
might put the trans into reverse while going fast made no sense.

There is usually a safegaurd to keep you from being able to put it in reverse. On some cars you lift up on the knob, but it seems on our cars you have to hold it there for a couple seconds. I read it in the manual so look there for answers.

Porsche's first 5-speeds had reverse above first gear on the left of the double-H. There were no lock-outs, and compounded by the wobbly, imprecise gearshift of the time, made it easy to get reverse when hunting for second. Downshifting from 4th to 3rd also could be an adventure with 1st gear the occasional outcome.

In any event, customer complaints led the the eventual change to positioning reverse below 5th on the right-hand leg of the double-H. This pattern involves it's own compromise as Perfectlap points out, plus it puts reverse on the other side of the shift pattern from it's logical partner, 1st.

With the 6-speed something has to hang off the double-H pattern, and it seems logical that Reverse be put there next to 1st.