I write-up a lot of Porsches, but very rarely post about the Boxster. And most of those very infrequent examples are of the Boxster Spyder. So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that this Boxster post also is a Spyder.
Given that I actually am a big fan of the roadster genre it’s a little strange that I don’t feature the Boxster more often. After all, I own a 2-seat convertible and I love it. These are cars that tend to be light and nimble, almost always rear-wheel drive and with a manual transmission. And while they rarely have been the most powerful cars on the market there’s typically enough power on tap to get some serious enjoyment out of it.
The Boxster, being a Porsche, has long been one of the more luxurious roadsters on the market. It’s also suffered seemingly endless criticism for basically being not as good as a 911. Whether it was the nature of the car or simply a function of purposeful decision-making by those at Porsche, the early models probably could have been sportier. Over time those criticisms either have dwindled as the Boxster was made a better and more powerful car or they shifted to the Cayman where the “not as good as a 911” remarks make more sense.
The Spyder, released by Porsche for the 2011 model year, sought to solve most of the criticisms through the tried-and-true performance method: remove weight (a 176 pound reduction) and add power (up to 320 hp, 10 more than the Boxster S). In a roadster this is an especially important formula since the entire experience was to center on no frills sporting from the outset. The Spyder does that very well.
Here we have one of the rarely seen color options: a Guards Red 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder, located in Texas, with 50,391 miles on it.