986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

Ronzi · 12-02-2004, 10:51 AM

PerfectLap writes:
"In the past I thought of the Boxster as Porsche more affordable car. But that was completely wrong. It's the modern day version of the 550 spyder which I always associated with James Dean. And I never thought of James Dean as having died in the budget Porsche."

Wrong? Not at all, the Boxster IS Porsche's more affordable sportscar. As such it owes more of it's market heritage to the much-maligned 914 than to the 550.
Porsche did certainly try to redraw the family tree to put the 550 into the mix by saying "The sensuous curves of the body were clearly inspired by the Porsche 550 Spyder ..." (Boxster promotional booklet, 1996).
Styling aside, the 550 was a full-on racing car, and the Boxster was never intended to be that. People did drive 550s on the street, Dean included, in the less restrictive days of the '50s, but their primary purpose was to win races. As I recall, the 550 was about $6,000 in 1955, so you're right, it certainly wasn't a cheap car.
If there is a spiritual successor to the 550 in today's Porsche model lineup, it would probably be the 911 GT3, and even that's a stretch.

12-02-2004, 10:51 AM	#6
Ronzi Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Denver CO Posts: 748	PerfectLap writes: "In the past I thought of the Boxster as Porsche more affordable car. But that was completely wrong. It's the modern day version of the 550 spyder which I always associated with James Dean. And I never thought of James Dean as having died in the budget Porsche." Wrong? Not at all, the Boxster IS Porsche's more affordable sportscar. As such it owes more of it's market heritage to the much-maligned 914 than to the 550. Porsche did certainly try to redraw the family tree to put the 550 into the mix by saying "The sensuous curves of the body were clearly inspired by the Porsche 550 Spyder ..." (Boxster promotional booklet, 1996). Styling aside, the 550 was a full-on racing car, and the Boxster was never intended to be that. People did drive 550s on the street, Dean included, in the less restrictive days of the '50s, but their primary purpose was to win races. As I recall, the 550 was about $6,000 in 1955, so you're right, it certainly wasn't a cheap car. If there is a spiritual successor to the 550 in today's Porsche model lineup, it would probably be the 911 GT3, and even that's a stretch. Last edited by Ronzi; 12-02-2004 at 10:54 AM.