A Look Back At The Car That Saved Porsche
What is this, a Saab? But once the initial shock subsided, the changes made sense. Increasingly strict emissions and fuel economy standards have pushed Porsche, like so many others, toward turbocharging across its lineup. The plumbing for the new turbocharged six developed for the 911 won't fit into the Boxster's engine bay, so running six cylinders in both cars as Porsche has done in the past is out. A blown four does fit, however, and it recalls one of the earliest Porsche racing models. Yes, saving the brand. To turn things around, Porsche needed a new, affordable model to replace the aging 924/944/968 platform. For inspiration, it looked to the success Mazda was having with the Miata. Introduced in 1989, Mazda's sports car had proven there was a strong market for two-seat roadsters. So Stuttgart decided to do something similar鈥攂ut with a Porsche twist. Hans-Juergen Woehler is a 31-year veteran of Porsche who served as lead development engineer for the original Boxster. Woehler said in an email. While the management team at Porsche agreed that a relatively inexpensive roadster was what the company needed, it knew it had to find a more efficient way to build the car.
In 1992, Porsche turned to former Toyota engineers to help implement the Japanese company's "just-in-time" production method. Dictating the complete elimination of waste, the philosophy promotes building only what is needed, when it's needed, and in the exact amount needed. This includes parts procurement as well. Following these guidelines, Toyota had eliminated inconsistencies and inefficiencies, resulting in better productivity and lower costs. At the time, Porsche's manufacturing process was a complete mess. According to a 1996 New York Times story, engineers would have to sift through parts bins and climb ladders to search shelves while building a single car. The impact of the Toyota team was swift and evident. After instituting leaner production methods, Porsche said it had reduced the assembly time for one car from 120 hours to 72, and the number of errors per car had fallen an astounding 50 percent. Porsche's embracing of cost-conscious production measures raised red flags for purists.
But Porsche's embracing of cost-conscious production measures raised red flags for purists. Further fueling this apprehension was the fact that these efforts also meant the 986 and the 996, the first of the liquid-cooled 911s, were co-developed. The car's engines were largely the same, save displacement, and to the casual observer, the 986 and 996 were virtually identical from the nose to the dash. Most notable among the derided similarities are the "fried-egg" headlights abhorred by many Porsche enthusiasts. While Porsche thought this synergy gave the Boxster more legitimacy, traditionalists viewed the Boxster as the cheap car responsible for dumbing down the 911. Of course, Woehler disagrees with these sentiments. The 996 was also considerably more powerful. After all, Porsche couldn't have its upstart sports car blowing away its highly revered (and more expensive) older sibling. Considering the handling advantages of the Boxster's mid-engine platform over the 911's rear-engine design, with sufficient power this could have been entirely possible.
Because of this, throughout most of the Boxster's lifetime, Porsche has had to make a special effort to keep the roadster in its proper place within the company's lineup. Despite all of this, the Boxster was a runaway success. Between 1996 and 2003, the Boxster was Porsche's best-selling model until the Cayenne came along. And by 2007, buoyed by a growing lineup, Porsche had become the most profitable automobile manufacturer in the industry on a per-unit basis. So, love it or hate it, the Boxster got the job done, and it did so while maintaining Porsche's core principles. The Porsche Boxster concept made its debut at the 1993 Detroit Auto Show. Designed by Harm Lagaay, the car was reminiscent of the 550 Spyder (from which the 718 RSK was developed) and reflected the evolutionary nature of Porsche's styling. A conjunction of the words "boxer" (for the engine configuration) and "roadster" (as it was a two-seat convertible), the Boxster immediately fired enthusiast's imaginations. Fanning those flames into an all-out conflagration, Porsche's reps promised to bring it to market with the concept's styling largely intact. Three years later, the production Boxster made its official European debut with only minor detail changes.