Green and brown is like chocolate and peanut butter to me. Smooth all the way. If I ever went the route of actually spec’ing a car from new, it would be a nice dark green, over some kind of tan of brown leather. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, so when this 2006 Porsche Cayman S popped up for sale, I naturally had to take a closer look. Forest Green Metallic over Special Cocoa Leather. Yes, please. However, once I started taking that closer look, it didn’t seem so lovely anymore. Let me explain.
I’ve been harping on and on about the new Porsche 718 GT4 and for good reason, it is a really great car. I love it and if they ever dropped about $25,000 off the sticker price, I’d find a way to make that happen. I doubt that will ever be the case, so they just aren’t worth it to me yet. However, there is a really great option if you want a 718 to feel special without spending over $100,000 just to get in the door. The 718 Cayman T. The best part? It starts at $69,000. Nice.
Recently I looked at an interesting special-order color Cayman that had a few too many mods in an off-beat color combination to really be desirable:
Well, I’m back with another odd color combination on a Cayman S, but I think this one is a whole lot more desirable. So let’s check out this Forest Green Metallic over Sand Beige leather 987 S:
As the months, and now years, go on, we wait to see if the prices of 981 Porsche Cayman GT4 will finally start dropping. The 718 GT4 has been out for about six months now and judging by how many are sitting at dealers, both new and used, finding one is not difficult. So what gives? Inventory goes up, prices go down. That’s the law of supply and demand, right? Apparently Porsche GT prices apparently didn’t take that class in school.
While the Porsche 986 Boxster might have been the car that saved Porsche with its massive popularity, the 987-derived Cayman was what made the mid-engine design popular with track enthusiasts. Especially in more potent “S” form, the Cayman is a giant killer with sublime vehicle dynamics and plenty of punch even without a turbo. The 987 refresh in 2005 fixed many of the perceived visual faults of the 986 Boxster design with a slant towards a more aggressive look. The Coupe added a smooth, flowing hatchback line to the 997-inspired exterior, creating a lightweight, 7/8ths scale mid-engine 911. That it was less expensive than the traditional flat-6 lineup didn’t hurt, either. It was, and remains, a hit.
Despite that, it’s not a car that we feature often here. I’m not sure why, because the Cayman S is really one of the more affordable ways to get into a newer Porsche coupe. On the downside, that means that it’s not usual to find modified examples, and today’s car falls into that category. However, despite the mods I think it’s worth a look for a few reasons – probably the most notable of which is the color combination.
Usually when manufacturers start pumping out ‘special editions’ it is either at the beginning of the generation or knocking on death’s door as a last grasp to get people to buy the aging model before retooling for the next model. Today, we have the former. This Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is already a huge hit for Porsche fans as everyone guessed, and the European-market already has a ‘special edition’ to go with it. What is it? The Sports Cup Edition. You might be looking at that photo and thinking it is a track-focused model with a bunch of lightweight parts and more hardcore suspension. That would make total sense, right? Nope. Just some stickers.
I think sometimes I take for granted the freedom Porsche gives us on configuring cars. When it comes down to it, they’ll basically give you anything you want for the right price, and then even more if they really like you. In the modern era of lean manufacturing and just-in-time production, doing one-off builds for customers probably doesn’t make sense on paper. Yet if someone wants “Kills bugs fast.” on a door sill, they’ll do it. It gets even more complicated and time consuming when it comes to interiors with order special leathers then having someone hand-stitch the turn signal stocks. The ROI has to be enormous for Porsche both in profit and customer loyalty to continue this practice in 2020.
However, it is one thing to do it when customers are paying extra for it, and another when doing it on dealer stock cars. This 2020 718 Spyder on a dealer lot in California has a wild Bordeaux Red and black interior that is mirrors the interior of the previous Boxster Spyder nearly 10 years ago. Truth be told, this color combo isn’t for everyone.
Everyone wants options. Not the options in terms of life, I’m talking about optional equipment for cars. “Fully loaded!” “Every option!” I’m sure you’ve seen those phrases throw around a million times when looking at cars when the reality of it is it’s configured like the majority of them for sale. Naturally, Porsche takes this to another level by offering a boat load of options that you didn’t even know were possible and then ever went a step further by offering their special customers whatever they wanted, as long as they paid an eye-watering amount of money.
But what if you ordered a car with no options? Crazy. Who would go into a Porsche dealer and specifically order a car with nothing? Just standard equipment and that’s it. Well, that seems to be what happened with this new 718 Cayman GT4.
Well, that didn’t take long. A few weeks ago I took a look at the new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 in England in anticipation of them finally hitting US dealers, and it looks like they are here. Production is in full swing and it even looks like Porsche added the paint to sample option to the configurator (a $12,830 option!), so it won’t be long until we start seeing some wild colors. However, we knew these cars were due soon. What I didn’t expect were dealers already playing their games and getting off on technicalities to skirt to rules. Let me explain.
Well, they are here. Sort of. The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is on public roads and do they look appetizing. There are a handful of them already in the hands of US buyers and even more in Europe as 2019 model years. The US production was halted for reasons we all need not be reminded of, but word is customers who put in orders for them should start seeing them on dealer lots in the next month or two. For those lucky Europeans, you can have your pick if you have the money. This 2019 up for sale in North Yorkshire, England is finished in with always classic Black with the new Satin Aurum wheels and just 950 miles. Worth it over the 981 GT4?
