FWIW, I am now on my 2nd 986 Boxster.

The first one was a 98 model, extremely well optioned and lovingly maintained by the previous owner. My wife and I both loved the car (she was the primary driver). We would still be driving it right now if not for the fact that I wrecked it in December.

We also own many other cars (my signature has a sampling) and while I personally felt the Boxster "wasn't very fast", that was also missing the point. Neither is a Miata or a F-RS / BRZ. But they (like the Boxster) are a bundle of fun to drive because they handle so magnificently, and you don't have to do 130mph before it starts getting fun. So, for the purpose, that 98 Boxster with the smallest little engine and a 5 speed transmission was all the Boxster we needed.

Until we got the 2004 Boxster S. It's everything that the old car was, just more. And most of it in all the right places. We've had to make a few trade-offs. We lost the trip computer and power seats, but gained a 6-speed transmission (YES) and a heckuva lot of torques. I won't be looking back.

That said, had we not had cause to be shopping (ie: idiot me wrecked a perfectly good car) and I didn't have the Boxster S with the 3.2L to compare to, that base "non S" car would still be putting smiles on our faces.

My advice is to find a really nice car. If this is your first and you're not "project inclined", keep an eye out for a well-kept, nicely presented car and don't get hung up on what's got more HP or bigger wheels etc. The base Boxster was a bundle of fun right out of the box. You won't go wrong no matter how you go.

Any pictures of your 1998 boxster before you crashed it?.how many miles on it when it got wreaked?