Porsche Boxster, Porsche’s baby roadster

There’s a generation of motoring journalists to whom Porsche will be only too glad to send a retirement card.

Anyone who was at the 1993 Detroit Auto Show will be at the top of that list. The snow lay thick and even outside Motown’s hotels, and in the show hall, the big three American car makers hadn’t bought much to capture the imagination.

A freezing yawnfest, then, until at its traditional morning press conference Porsche pulled the sheets off its Boxster concept. What a perfect little sports car. Tiny, with brilliant proportions that recalled the Fifties speedsters. Exquisite detailing that mixed chrome-rimmed instruments with amazing Zeppelin-style ventilation fans. This marked a downsizing revolution as luxury and sports car makers realised that the inexorable growth of their main models had opened up a gap for a smaller car. It was also the vanguard of a rush to retro.

Yet when we finally got our hands on the production Boxster in 1996, it was hard to believe that this bloated, less-than-lovely two-seater carried the same name. Porsche blamed crash safety, luggage and accommodation requirements and the big guy who ran away, but talk to the same executives these days and they admit that the production Boxster was too big.

It sold, inevitably perhaps, but in Germany the Boxster became known as the poor person’s Porsche and in Britain it gained a reputation as a hairdresser’s car.

So it was with some delight that I surveyed the changes to the current derivative. A longer wheelbase and wider track, yes, but also a flatter-raked screen, sculpted body sides and bigger side vents, which don’t add up to a huge amount, but they give the impression that the Boxster is happier in its own skin these days.

Climb in and you get that strange solvent smell of Porsche leather upholstery, as if it’s been marinating in money. The cabin is immaculate and slightly bonkers. There are the familiar Porsche dials with sans serif graphics writ large while the canted Boxster logo appears discreetly. The £2,141 radio/satnav/communications screen is huge and well served by buttons and dials, but search for the heater controls and you’ll be looking for a while. The important stuff is brilliant though, with a great driving position, perfect pedal heights and a wide windscreen framed at each side by the wing tops. You don’t get to see much out back, however, as the rollover bars and wind diffuser give the impression of fast-receding film credits on a 14in television set.

It’s surprising how tinny the engine sounds when you start it. That 2.7-litre flat six makes a fair old metallic clatter, but once under way it settles to guttural rasp, occasionally gurgling when you lift off the throttle, or booming like a dragon in a cake tin when you change down and stand on it. And stand on it you certainly can. Extend the revs to the soft-cut limiter at 8,000rpm in third gear and you’ll be doing 120mph. Not that it’s a smooth ride up to the red line, for while the revs climb inexorably, the power surges and lunges against the adjusting cam timing.

This is a 164mph car, capable of accelerating from 0-62mph in 5.8sec and delivering a Combined fuel economy of 34.5mpg.

Two versions of the Boxster are available; standard with a 2.7-litre flat six as tested and the Boxster S with a 3.4-litre unit shared with the 911 Carrera. Both engines have thermal energy management, engine stop-start and brake-energy recuperation, which makes them more efficient, with about 15 per cent better fuel consumption. There’s also a coasting system, which cuts in when trailing the accelerator to reduce the braking effect.

There’s the choice of a seven-speed PDK twin-clutch transmission, or a lovely, positive, short-throw six-speed manual as tested. The steering has been upgraded to the electrically assisted helm of the 911 and is the toast of such systems.

The tyres fitted to the optional 20in rims compromise the handling, giving a slightly darty turn-in to corners and a nervous feel on uneven surfaces. For all those initial criticisms though, the standard Boxster is an extraordinarily effective driving machine. It turns into corners and settles in the turn quickly. As might be expected with the rear-engine configuration, the Boxster slides as a piece, but is easily gathered up. And while the ride quality leaves something to be desired, there is some suppleness, so you aren’t crashing about in the potholes. You can feel the body shaking occasionally, but the Boxster must be one of the stiffest sports cars in the business.

The Cayman remains the best driver’s proposition, but that’s not what the Boxster is about. It’s a car to drive briskly, with the hood down, not at the bitter edges of roadholding with a frown of concentration, but with a smile and a lightness of spirit.

That’s why we’d eschew the larger-engine option of the S, plus the £1,084 Sport Chrono Package with its harder gearbox mounts, the £890 Porsche torque vectoring limited-slip differential and all the other furbelows of going ever faster.

The standard car has what it takes and what you need and, while it’s still too big, it now drives far more like the sports machine that Porsche promised almost 20 years ago.

THE FACTS

Porsche Boxster

Tested: 2.7-litre flat-six, six-spd manual, RWD

Price/on sale: From £37,589/now

Power/torque: 261bhp @ 6,700rpm/207lb ft @ 4,500rpm

Top speed: 164mph

Acceleration: 0-62mph in 5.8sec

Fuel economy: 24.8mpg (EU Urban)/ 25.2mpg on test

CO2 emissions: 192g/km

VED band: J £460 (then £250)

Verdict: The best Boxster ever is also good value provided you’re sparing with options

Rating: 4 of 5 star

RIVALS

BMW Z4, from £29,480

One of the most successful results of Chris Bangle’s weirdification of the BMW range, this mark II still lacks a dynamic edge, and the top model version has atrocious ride and handling.

Nissan 370Z Roadster, from £32,095

Nissan’s V6 has lots of go, but the soft-top compromises handling of the cheaper coupé. Out-gunned by the Boxster, but front-engined thrills aplenty.

Mercedes-Benz SLK, from £29,980

Front-engined two-seater from Porsche’s Stuttgart rival. Far more capable than its predecessors, but the styling is brash. Four-cylinder turbo petrol engines are best.