Even Porsche itself will admit that the beginning of the 1990s was a “very difficult period” for the company. The “excessively high” cost of building four vehicles that didn’t share major components at once was catching up with the company, and there was talk of it being swallowed up by a larger, more profitable automaker like so many of its peers. But then the Boxster came along to help rescue the day. Introduced in 1996, the Boxster was unlike anything else the German automaker was building at the time. The mid-engine, two-seat roadster—the marque’s first model developed as a roadster since the 914—may have been its own distinct vehicle, but it shared parts with other models, most notably the 996-generation 911 that would debut the next year. This helped reduce costs without sacrificing quality, allowing the automaker to price the vehicle more accessibly than its previous full-fledged sports cars. Nearly three decades and four generations (986, 987,..
