Best/least bad version of M96/97

[Box4two]

[QUOTE=Qmulus

Of all of the engines listed there, I can't think of any of them that had a class action lawsuit to replace engines for up to ten years after they were produced. Hmmm. There should have been one for that Olds Diesel, but no one would have wanted to drive those POS's for ten years anyway...[/QUOTE]

You have to remember that back then, the only way you knew of potential issues was through word of mouth, mechanics etc. we didn't have today's Internet forums to share similarities/issues etc.
I bought two lemons not having learned my lesson the first time, I had a Triumph TR7 that I could barely drive outside city limits, then I bought a Lotus Esprit that I could barely keep running at all, so imagine my excitement when I bought a 14 year old Porsche that I use a DD in the summer an average of 1.5 hrs each way to work and turns heads everywhere I go!

[Qmulus]

Originally Posted by Box4two

You have to remember that back then, the only way you knew of potential issues was through word of mouth, mechanics etc. we didn't have today's Internet forums to share similarities/issues etc.
I bought two lemons not having learned my lesson the first time, I had a Triumph TR7 that I could barely drive outside city limits, then I bought a Lotus Esprit that I could barely keep running at all, so imagine my excitement when I bought a 14 year old Porsche that I use a DD in the summer an average of 1.5 hrs each way to work and turns heads everywhere I go!

Quite right... I too have had a bunch of English and Italian cars, including Triumph TR3, TR6, GT6+, Spitfire (2 of them, still have one) and a couple of Alfas. All of them had something you could consider an Achilles heal. Like thrust washers on Spitfire cranks, TR6s cracking rear suspensions. RUST. The nice thing about the Triumphs was that you would have a hard time ever spending more than a couple hundred bucks on parts to fix them. They needed LOTS of parts and quite often...

That background does make me appreciate the Boxster quite a bit. It is a thoroughly modern car that does everything better than the old stuff ever did, even if it does lack some of the character of the old roadsters. The only one that I sort of miss is the Alfa Romeo Spider. There is something special about driving an Alfa.