Porsche 986 Review / History
The Porsche Boxster 986 was first introduced in 1996 and was launched with a 2.5l M96 water cooled flat six engine, this was Porsches first none front engine fully water-cooled car, and being mid-engine provided a near perfect weight distribution and neutral handling. The Boxster shared many of it parts with its yet to be released big brother, the 996. 1999 not only saw the base Boxster receive a larger 2.7l engine but the long-awaited Boxster S also arrived with its increased engine capacity of 3.2l. The 986 Boxster S was supplied with a 6-speed manual gearbox and the 2.7 variant supplied with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard or a 5-speed Tiptronic option. 2002 saw a minor facelift of both models, replacing the plastic rear window with a much-improved glass version and the use of translucent clear and smoked indicator lenses.
