The Porsche 986 is the internal designation for the first generation Boxster, a mid-engine two-seater roadster built by German automobile manufacturer Porsche. Introduced in late 1996, the Boxster, based on the 1993 Boxster Concept, was Porsche's first road vehicle to be originally designed as a roadster since the Porsche 914. The Boxster's name is derived from the word "boxer", referring to the vehicle's flat or "boxer" engine, and the name "speedster", first seen on the 356.
Powered by a 2.5-litre flat six-cylinder engine, the base model was upgraded to a 2.7-litre engine in the year 2000 and a new Boxster S variant was introduced with a 3.2-litre engine. In 2003, styling and engine output was upgraded on both variants. The 986 was succeeded by the 987, which retained the Boxster roadster and added the Cayman fixed-roof coupé body style.
The 986 stimulated a commercial turnaround for Porsche, which during the early 1990s had been suffering with an ageing product range and falling sales, and it's credited with saving the company.
thumb|2000 Porsche Boxster 2.7 in Mauritania between Nouadhibou and Nouakchott en route from Paris to Dakar.
Development
thumb|left|The 1993 Porsche Boxster concept, prior to the production model. Notice the different side air intake.
left|thumb|1999 Porsche Boxster 2.5 (pre-facelift)
By the early 1990s, Porsche's lineup was dated, with the most recent new design being 1978's 928, notwithstanding the 968, which was an evolution of the earlier 944
By June 1992, out of 4 proposals based on dual collaboration between the 986 and 996 (993's successor) design teams, a proposal by Grant Larson and Pinky Lai inspired by the 356 Cabriolet, Speedster, and 550 Spyder was chosen by Harm Lagaay. The Boxster shares parts with the more expensive 911 (internal designation 996), including the bonnet, front wings, headlights, interior and engine architecture.
Engine
left|thumb|Porsche Boxster [[Cutaway (industrial)|cutaway showing the inner workings of the car]]
thumb|1999 Porsche Boxster rear view (pre-facelift)
The 986 Boxster uses the M96, a water-cooled, horizontally opposed ("flat"), six-cylinder engine. It was Porsche's first water-cooled non-front engine. In the Boxster, it is placed mid-engine, while in the 911, the traditional rear-engine layout is used. The engines used in the Boxster are low displacement versions of the 3.4-litre Flat-6 found in the 996 Carrera. The mid-engine layout provides a low center of gravity, near-perfect weight distribution, and neutral handling. The engines had a number of failures, resulting in cracked or slipped cylinder liners, which were resolved by a minor redesign and better control of the casting process in late 1999.
Boxster 986 model history
{| class=wikitable
|-
!Year
!Engine and power
!Transmission
!0–100 km/h<br/>(0–62 mph)
!
!Top speed
|-
|rowspan=2|1996|| rowspan=2|2.5L, ||Manual||6.9 seconds
|6.7 seconds||
|-
| Tiptronic||7.6 seconds
|7.4 seconds||
|-
|rowspan=4|2000
| rowspan="2"| 2.7L, ||Manual||6.6 seconds
|6.5 seconds||
|-
|Tiptronic||7.4 seconds
|7.2 seconds
|
|-
|rowspan=2|3.2L S, ||Manual||5.9 seconds
|5.6 seconds||
|-
| Tiptronic||6.5 seconds
|6.2 seconds||
|-
|rowspan=4|2003 ||rowspan=2|2.7L, ||Manual||6.4 seconds
| ||
|-
| Tiptronic S||7.3 seconds
| ||
|-
|rowspan=2|3.2L S, ||Manual||5.7 seconds
| ||
|-
| Tiptronic S||6.4 seconds
| ||
|-
|}
Boxster S Special Edition
thumb|right|Boxster S Special Edition
In 2004, the Boxster S Special Edition, also called 550 Spyder Boxster S Special Edition was introduced with a production run of 1,953 cars (paying homage to the 550 Spyder's year of introduction). 500 cars were made for the US Market. These were all painted in GT Silver Metallic, the same colour as the Carrera GT concept presented in 2000, and had unique cocoa-brown full-leather interior as standard with grey natural leather as a no-cost option. Each car also had special interior paintwork, a high-end BOSE sound system, two-tone grey and silver 18 inch Carrera wheels (unpainted as another zero-cost option), wheel spacers, the Boxster S sport exhaust, the M030 option sports suspension, and a plate on the center console piece commonly known as the "batwing" showing the production number. Only on the American market cars were the rear turn signals red rather than clear.