Wonderful car though it is, one look at prices for 911 Speedsters is enough to make you weep. Remember almost 2,000 of these were made, at more than £200k each; now, with the 991 generation finished, a buyer will need at least £280k for a Speedster - and anything up to £325,000, in this instance. It's a fine car, the Speedster, but it's not a £300k car.
So, what to do if for those after the Porsche roadster experience for a little less money? Well, you could do an awful lot worse than turn the clock back a decade and consider the first Boxster Spyder. Not only do you get a Porsche flat-six, a manual gearbox and the aesthetic drama of a roadster - complete here with fiddly roof for maximum inconvenient cool - there's also the small matter of a slender 1,275kg kerbweight, with 80kg slashed from a regular Boxster. That's 200kg less than the 911 Speedster as well. Sure, the Boxster is going to lack some powertrain fireworks against the new GT3-engined 911, but arguably it deserves a little more acclaim than it apparently gets.
Because everyone remembers the Cayman R, don't they? The deployment of the badge got the old biddies in a fluster, the Peridot Green Metallic looked amazing on magazine covers and the handling masterclass it displayed arguably made the 1 M Coupe seem a little heavy handed. That the Cayman R was never replaced, either, secured its status.
But the Spyder was replaced, by a 981 much more serious than the 987 was; with a 911 engine, a host of parts borrowed from the Cayman GT4 and looks to kill, it was borderline exceptional. Now that car has been replaced by the equally brilliant 718 Boxster Spyder, and the 2009 original is likely going under appreciated.
It shouldn't be. This was a car once proclaimed "the best-handling car in America" by Car and Driver and "close to perfection" in Autocar; on PH a decade ago we said: "Imagine an Elise with immaculate build quality, a glorious-sounding flat six, and a roof that's fiddly... that, essentially, is what Porsche has created." So it's a special little thing, the Spyder, even if you had forgotten about it.
Like the Cayman R, the Boxster Spyder clung resiliently to its value; figures in the region of the £46,387 new price were being asked many years after 2010. Finally, however, we're beginning to see some movement from there, as evidenced by this Spyder.
In arguably the ideal spec - Carrara White, manual gearbox, Spyder wheels, sports exhaust - this particular car has covered 48,000 miles and is on offer at £34,995. Which will look a lot to anyone who's nabbed a comparable Boxster S for much less in recent months, but it's the lowest amount we've ever seen a Spyder offered for.
That mileage is significant, too; the only other Spyders currently on offer have either half or a third of this car's mileage, and consequently cost a lot more. So thank heavens the previous owners actually enjoyed this car to the fullest, safe in the knowledge that it would remain desirable to the right person next time around. Even with more miles, the Spyder's status among those in the know will surely keep it in demand even with another ten or twenty thousand miles added.
What miles they should be as well, with flat-six howling and sun shining. A decade on and as something more for high days than every day, the roof should be less irksome and the whole experience something to savour; even the new Spyder has nearly 150kg on this car, so a 987 really will be like nothing else. For not much more than 10 per cent of the price of a Speedster, the Spyder looks like a Porsche summer sports car without equal.
SPECIFICATION - PORSCHE BOXSTER SPYDER (987)
Engine: 3,436cc, flat-six
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 320@7,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 273@4,750rpm
MPG: 29.1
CO2: 221g/km
First registered: 2011
Recorded mileage: 48,711
Price new: £46,387 (before options)
Yours for: £34,995
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