Four-cylinder Cayman at the Nurburgring

Not a video for the Porsche purist! See the four-cylinder Cayman in action here

It's a little over three years ago since PistonHeads called the four-cylinder Boxster and Cayman, but they're finally out in the open. And you can listen to it in the video here.

While we don't know exactly which of the three engine options powers this particular Cayman, we can categorically say that it ain't no six-cylinder. Although purists might be spontaneously combusting at the thought of a four-cylinder Porsche sports car, we're quietly optimistic.

Looks familiar, sound is very different

The 924, 944 and 968 were all great cars in their own way. If even the Cayenne and subsequent Macan SUVs can't poison the Porsche brand, surely there's little chance of a budget 1.6-litre Boxster being toxic?

A Porsche for the masses sounds like cause to celebrate, not to commiserate. The mid-mounted flat-four should keep the centre of gravity in a close to ideal location. If it embraces new material technologies to reduce the kerbweight, we could be dealing with a baby sports car that's both achievable and aspirational. Good news for PHers and good news for the car market in general. There is no news on a launch date yet but sometime late next year seems likely.

See the vid here.