I probably
confess much too often that I once owned a Porsche 914. It was powered by a Volkswagen motor located between the back of the driver's seat and the rear axle. That qualified it as a "mid-engine" car.
Porsche's
next mid-engine production car was the Boxster roadster launched in 1996 and its Cayman coupé variant marketed for the 2006 model year. The Wikipedia entry for those is
here.
Today's post compares the Boxster's original design with that currently in production. Photos of the 1996 Porsche 986 are of a car listed for sale. Those of the circa-2016 Porsche 718 are from Porsche or its publicity contractors.
Gallery
1996 Porsche 986 Boxster
A pleasant, functional design including bits of characteristically Porsche details such as the headlight assemblies. If I had had the money to buy one, I would have been greatly tempted.
2016 Porsche 718 Boxster
Details aside, the basic body is not much different from the original. But those details matter, and not necessarily in a good way. The overall effect is more crisp thanks to tighter-radius curving and rectangular openings below the bumper. The earlier design flows better.
The only questionable detail here is the side air intake. Its location and size were probably largely determined by engineering considerations. And its curved shape in is tune with body curvatures. Somehow, I want something different, yet don't quite know what.
A much larger intake here, blended into the body by sculpting. But the side sculpting detracts from the purity found on the 1996 design. I think the wheel openings for the larger-diameter wheels are too large aesthetically, though they're probably justified for performance reasons.
The only styling-purity flaw here is that the aft trunk/engine access lid's aft cutline does not relate to the tail light assemblies.
That defect is somewhat cured here at the cost of increased detail fussiness in conformity with recent styling fads. Though it could have been worse.
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