In my recent write-up of the upcoming Hennessey Blackbird, I mentioned that a simpler car can be more engaging, even if it isn’t as fast as it could be. These days, you can get a Porsche with twin turbos, a lightning-fast PDK dual-clutch transmission, torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, and even hybrid power. But our Pick of the Day keeps things wonderfully old-school. This 1998 Porsche Boxster is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Hilton, New York. It comes with service invoices and a user’s manual.
Back in the 1990s, Porsche wasn’t in the best shape. The introduction of the entry-level Boxster model in 1996, which saved the company money by sharing parts with the later 996-series 911, helped turn things around. (A more efficient Toyota-influenced production process helped too.) Those components included the front lighting, hood, fenders, and doors, as well as Porsche’s first water-cooled flat-six engine, albeit with different levels of displacement. Unlike the 911, the Boxster was a mid-engine machine, available only as a roadster. Not only was the Boxster more attainable than its more established sibling, but it also had better weight distribution for doing Porsche things.
In certain ways, this 1998 Boxster is the purest version of the 986 generation you can get. The more potent Boxster S was still several years away, so this car has the base, naturally aspirated 2.5-liter F6, which was factory-rated at 201 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 181 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm. Flat out, this savior of a sports car can reach 60 mph in 6.7 seconds and hit a top speed of 149 mph. Porsche offered the Boxster with a Tiptronic five-speed automatic, but this one has the five-speed manual gearbox. Over the past 28 years, drivers have rowed through those gears across only 60,299 miles. By now, you’re probably wondering about the IMS bearing, a part than can fail and cause major engine damage to 1997-2005 Porsche 911s and Boxsters. Don’t worry — as the above invoice and others show, that, the rear main seal, and other parts were replaced at 56,562 miles back in 2022.
Everything around the engine seems to have plenty of life left, too. The Ocean Blue Metallic paint looks great and appears to be free of major blemishes. Ditto for the Metropol Blue power soft top, which has a plastic rear window. There’s some wear on the rim of the steering wheel and a few wrinkles in the Graphite Grey leather on the driver’s seat, but overall the cockpit is in wonderful shape.
The original Boxster is a significant car in Porsche’s history. If you buy this 1998 Porsche Boxster for $15,950, you have an important job to do: drive it. You won’t have to worry about the IMS bearing — you’ll just have to focus on zipping through the curves in the road ahead.
Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com