Looks like the next BMW ZM is going to be a Porsche, gggg.
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The minimalist top, cut-down windows and rear deck bulges give the new Porsche Boxster Spyder a distinctive silhouette.
photo courtesy Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
Sports Cars
Porsche gives the Boxster the Spyder treatment
Stealing a page from its own playbook, Porsche has created a lightweight version of its mid-engine Boxster. The new Boxster Spyder, to be introduced at the Los Angeles Motor Show in December, “represents the true, purist form of the Porsche sports car – light, powerful, consistently open, and very efficient,” Porsche says. The Spyder becomes the third model in the range, joining the regular Boxster and the Boxster S.
At 2,811 pounds, the Spyder becomes the lightest car Porsche makes — it’s about 130 pounds lighter than a base Boxster. Its 3.4-liter flat-six has been tweaked to produce 320 horsepower, or 10 more than a Boxster S, and 65 more than a Boxster. The low-slung, minimalist folding top and distinctive bulges on the rear lid will make the new Spyder hard to miss, and easy to distinguish from the limited-edition Boxster Spyders produced in 2004 and 2008.
Porsche says the new car should retail for about 53,100 euros in base form, or about $80,000 at the current exchange rate, when it goes on sale in February 2010. That’s $22,000 more than the base price of the Boxster S, but still well below the 911’s $112,200 sticker. Porsche must be figuring that a little more horsepower, a little less weight, a unique look and limited availability will be enough to generate sales, and if history is any guide, that’s a solid bet. For more about the new Spyder, visit
www.porsche.com/usa/.