BASEMENT BARGAIN

Well, six months on, and the love affair with Tessy the 986 Boxster S continues unabated. Ahead of covering the Monte Carlo Historic Rally (bent on following the antics of Jürgen Barth and Roland Kussmaul in their 924 Turbo), I’ve had the 17in “Boxster S” wheels powder-coated and shod with Vredestein’s winter boots. Where we go in the Ardéche, the Vercors and the Alps, sometimes venturing onto live stages, winter tyres are absolutely de rigueur. But here comes the “however”: the 986, with the best will in the world, is a tight fit for this 6-footer, and there’s no realistic possibility of sorting out a perfect driving position, which you can easily do with a contemporary 996, or a 987 for that matter. What’s coming now, then?! Could it be another 996? Well, maybe… So, I’ve been perusing the on-line sales sites (not to mention our classifieds in 911&PW), looking at what’s hanging in the bargain basement. Not such a grim prospect as it used to be. It’ll be a 3.4-litre car, Tiptronic, 4WD C4, Cabriolet body, and probably Arctic Silver. Possibly weirdly-hued upholstery: Wimbledon green, anybody? A smidgeon under £10 grand. High-milers? Not necessarily; though 70K is probably the lowest I’ve seen. But do we care, provided the service record’s reasonably up to date? Some say that the higher the mileage the more likely it is that issues like the IMS bearing will have been dealt with long ago, and anyway the 3.4 has two rows of bearings in its IMS race and is therefore stronger than the gen 2 996’s 3.6 motor. That’s the downside of an old 996 that’s fallen off the desirability radar and into the hands of the Porker paupers. But actually, there are enough opportunities out there that have been cared for. Now, can I live with a Cabriolet? After all, the Boxster’s top comes off, and a hard-top is always an option. The 996 Cab hard-top is a rather bulbous affair, but in the same way as there are a couple of aftermarket Boxster hard-tops out there that go some way to replicating a Cayman, maybe there’s a similar coupe style lid for the Cabriolet. Or, go the other way and turn it into a Speedster? In convertible context, the 996 Cab’s lines are pretty sleek, and there’s nothing wrong with a zany interior – my Boxster’s is flesh-tone pink, after all. And what about Tiplertronic? (See, they even borrowed part of my name to identify it – and if only they paid me a Royalty for the privilege…). There is method in the madness, and it has to do with the quest to replace Mrs T’s battered Alfa 156; she has specified an automatic, and she does love a Boxster. You see where I’m going with this? The full hairdresser: a 996 C4 Tiptronic Cab! Well, you say, why not fork out a little more and get yourself a manual gen 2 C2 like you had before? For the simple reason that Pig Energy was hived-off expressly to fund a new