Spring has sprung in earnest. The daffodils have bloomed. The trees are budding. The grass is getting greener. And, slowly, our classified watch lists are being purged of winter hacks: out go the tatty Subaru Foresters, the leggy Skoda Yetis, the disposable skinny-tyred front-wheel drive runabouts, and the simultaneously tantalising and terrifying V10-engined Volkswagen Touaregs. But while the winter temptations may have dissipated, like mist clearing on a fine April morn, the empty lists will soon be filled with new seasonal allure: that of inexpensive convertibles.
The sheer breadth of options makes it hard to resist that sun’s-out-top-down purchasing urge. Even on a small budget, you’ve the likes of MX-5s, MR2s, SLKs, Z3s, Z4s, 350Zs, and 1 Series Convertibles to pick from. And that’s before you start considering drop-top Minis, A3s, Golfs, 9-3s, C70s, and, er – what’s the plural of Eos? Eoses? Those too, and the rest. In short, you won’t struggle to find something that offers some degree of appeal somewhere, even if you want a car with a more secure and refined retractable hard-top roof.
But what you might also notice slipping into your budget-conscious searches, on a temptingly regular hey-maybe-that’s-actually-viable basis, is the first generation of Porsche Boxster: the 986. And it will, no doubt, grab your attention. It’s a Porsche, for starters – that’s an immediate big draw. And it’s got six cylinders, it’s rear-wheel drive, it’s regarded as being sublime to drive, and it’s of a higher quality than many alternatives. It’s also a significant car, in that its success helped what was then a frail business almost triple its annual income following the start of production in August 1996.
