The Porsche Boxster, like the Mazda Miata, gets maligned as not a serious sports car…usually by folks who don’t follow sports cars. And yet the Miata made Car and Driver’s 10 Best Car List 17 times, and the Boxster 14. I’ve driven a Boxster and I get it. (I would drive a Miata but at 6’4″ I just don’t fit.) The mid-engined boxer six cylinder is a pleasure to to push, and the handling, braking, and shifting are, as the Germans would say, präzise. Here’s the 2008 Car and Driver award for the Boxster. I’ve picked a pair of 2008 Boxster unicorns for my friend Doug, a gentleman in need of a vintage-feeling sports car. They’re 10-year-old cars with very, very low miles – driven only a few thousand yearly. I would still highly recommend the MaxCare bumper-to-bumper warranty for a few grand more – it will pay for itself in the first year no doubt. Here’s my two picks:
This second generation (987) 2008 Porsche Boxster checks all the boxes with a five-speed manual transmission, 2.7 liter flat six, 245 hp, and at under 2,900 pounds accomplishes 0-60 in under six seconds. Not a rocket, but the Boxster is as much about handling and braking as it is acceleration. And it will hit over 160mph – and get 28mpg (just not at the same time). This three owner car has circulated between Potomac, MD, Washington DC, and McLean, Virginia – affluent areas where my guess is the owners have not skimped on service – all while being driven less than 2,000 miles yearly. I’d still get the MaxCare warranty. Find it here in Dulles, Virginia. If the link is dead it’s sold, on hold, or being transferred.
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My backup plan would be this 2008 Porsche Boxster in Los Angeles. It does everything the one in Virginia does, except it’s $3,000 cheaper and has double the miles – a whopping 45,000, which is still stupid low for a 10 year old car. It’s cheaper because it’s an automatic. Yeah, I know…..if it was a real sports car it would have a manual. But the Tiptronic automatic is as good as it gets for the times. It has a place in these parts as a daily driver, in traffic, juggling coffee and a cell phone and a bagel.  I know – it’s the same transmission I have in Etta, my 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera unicorn.  And it shifts pretty damned quick in manual mode, holding gears when pushing through an apex, or going through the gears on the highway commute. And I can vouch for the Bose stereo – replace the radio with a modern one, but PLEASE keep the amp and the speakers!  It’s a two-owner southern car, spending its time in Texas and California. Find it here in Los Angeles. Same deal on the link.
