For Porsche purists, the ultimate Porsche sports car would be the 911, predominantly for its successful racing heritage. But coming from a manufacturing point of view, the Porsche Company was bleeding badly and to add insult to injury, the late 1990s economic crisis hit the entire world. Upon seeing the fate of the company in the 1990s, Porsche executed a memorandum of understanding with Toyota to learn and benefit from Japanese lean manufacturing methods. Porsche needed to produce an economical version of a sports car while still maintaining its integrity as a sports car builder.
Porsche also turned to Dutch automobile designer Harm Lagaay, who was instrumental in designing the 911 and 924. The first generation (986) Porsche Boxster was introduced in 1996, powered by a water-cooled 2.5-liter flat six-cylinder engine. The Boxster’s name is derived from the word “boxer,” referring to the vehicle’s horizontally opposed or “boxer” engine, and the word “roadster,” referring to the vehicle’s two-seat capacity and convertible top. It was also inspired by the 356 Cabriolet, Speedster and 550 Spyder.