Special Porsche Boxster to Honour 550 Spyder
When Porsche introduced its 500 Spyder in 1953, a legend was born and embodied a concept of having a mid-mounted engine, low weight, agility and of course, a high level of driving pleasure. Now, 50 years later, Porsche honours the legend with a powerful Boxster S special edition limited to 1953 units and bearing the name “50 Years of the 550 Spyder”.
To be unveiled at the North American Auto Show in January 2004, and scheduled for introduction on international markets in March 2004, the special Boxster will be priced at 50,900 Euros (about RM210,000 before 300% import duty).
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The Boxster and the 550 Spyder share a striking number of common features., starting with the body lines, which are of timeless elegance and clearly demonstrate their origin and relationship. Then as now, every part of the car is dedicated to the demands of the enthusiastic driver.
To enhance the Boxster driving experience still further, Porsche engineers have given the special edition a series of sought-after equipment details and technical features that have not been available for the Boxster so far. The output of the Boxster S’s 3.2-litre flat-six engine goes up to 196 kW (266 bhp), an increase of 2.3%, at 6200 rpm. The special edition has a top speed of 266 km/h (standard Boxster S: 264 km/h) and sprints from zero to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds (Tiptronic S: 6.4 seconds). Maximum torque of 310 Nm is available at 4600 rpm.
The exhaust system, which has a specially styled, stainless-steel tailpipe, delivers the typical Porsche sound. Porsche technicians have reduced the 6-speed gearbox’s shift travel by 15%, a noticeable benefit that should contribute to greater driving pleasure. Tiptronic S, permitting driver selection of the chosen gear at shift paddles on the steering wheel, is an optional extra.
True roadster character is emphasized by lowering the body by 10 mm and by especially sporty suspension settings. This sports suspension improves the car’s roadholding still further and permits higher lateral acceleration values. Porsche Stability Management (PSM) is installed as a standard feature on this special edition, to ensure optimum safety in all driving situations.
The brakes are another important safety feature. The drilled brake disks have a diameter of 318 mm at the front and 299 mm at the rear. Exclusively for this special edition, the 4-piston aluminium brake calipers of monobloc design have an aluminium paint finish. They are easily visible behind the larger 18-inch Carrera wheels (the standard model has 17-inch wheels). The spokes are painted in seal gray and provide additional visual emphasis. A coloured Porsche coat-of-arms adorns each wheel hub cover. 5-mm wide spacers at all four wheels give the special edition an even more powerful appearance and firmer road stance.
Another feature that sets this model apart from the standard Boxster S are the silver-painted grilles above the openings in the rear struts, which recall the closed rear view of the 550. The Boxster S lettering at the rear is chromium plated and polished. The colour of the padded front of the safety roll bars matches the interior. An on-board computer, Litronic headlamps with dynamic beam angle adjustment and a cleaning system are also standard.
Most of the 550 Spyders built in those days were painted in silver. The special edition has therefore been finished in gleaming silver metallic, a colour so far reserved for the Carrera GT and the “40 Years of the 911” model.
The soft top is in Cocoa, a dark brown colour used by Porsche for the first time on this special edition. The same two colours dominate the car’s interior, with matching carpet and floor mats with the Porsche inscription. Dark gray natural leather is available as an alternative. In this combination, the carpets and the folding top are in black.
Both leather equipment lines have exclusive visual features that give the interior a special character. It can be seen and felt on the centre panels of the standard heated sport seats, the handbrake lever, the gear lever gaiter, the inside door handles and the padded sport steering wheel. The black dials have chromium-plated decorative rings. Painted in GT-silver metallic, the seat back shells, the rear section of the centre console, the handbrake lever, the grooved bar on the dashboard, the switch panel and the back of the safety roll bars form a colour contrast. The ball-shaped gear-lever knob is made of aluminium combined with Cocoa leather. The (optional) Tiptronic gear shift cover is highly polished, like the Boxster S lettering that stands out well against the black door sills.
This Boxster S special edition bears a limited-edition plate on the centre console indicating the car’s production number. The automatic air conditioning and top-quality Porsche CDR-23 radio with audio package are standard, and also a windbreak.
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Porsche introduced the 550 Spyder in October 1953 at the Paris Motor Show. The two-seater was the first sports car specially designed in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen with racing in mind. In the years that followed, the Spyder, which weighed only 550 kgs, scored numerous triumphs on racing circuits and in the then popular road races. These successes are a mosaic element contributing to the Porsche brand’s fame and its current familiarity among the general public. The type designation of the racing sports, incidentally, was not derived from its weight as is sometimes assumed. It was, in fact, the 550th Porsche design project.
The 550 Spyder has retained a secure place in the hearts of car enthusiasts through its performance in the Carrera Panamericana in 1954. On the fifth and last occasion that the world’s toughest road race was held, Hans Herrmann came third in the overall ranking, directly behind two sports cars with substantially larger engines and won his class.
This was followed by countless successes in motorsport, earned by the factory team and by private entrants. The 550 was powered by a quad-cam 1498 cc engine developing 110 bhp. This was designed by von Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann, who later became chief executive officer of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, and made a significant contribution to Porsche’s racing triumphs right up to the 1960s.
