
When it comes to fun, everyone knows Miata Is Always The Answer. Other than, maybe it’s not. If a Miata is not in your future, the problem becomes figuring out what vehicle can offer the thrills of a Miata without breaking the bank – and if you’re shopping on the used car market, this problem compounds as there are so many choices. Luckily, this is where SCCA’s Official Insurance Partner Hagerty excels, and in a recent article, one of their editors decided to dive into the ins and outs of the early generations of the Porsche Cayman.
“When a new enthusiast car comes out, the usual course of action is that the coupe comes first, and the convertible comes later,” wrote Peter Nelson. “Take the venerable BMW 3-Series, for example, or several versions of the Corvette, which is as common to find in open-top form as it is with a fixed roof. It’s rarer for the opposite to happen, for vehicles that start out as convertibles to later be offered as coupes. That’s just what happened with the Boxster/Cayman cousins, though. When the debut 986-generation Porsche Boxster hit the market in 1997, it became an instant success and went for its whole production run in drop-top-only form. Then, the follow-up 987 followed in 2005, and just a year later, Porsche introduced a 987-based model sporting the Boxster’s chassis but with a solid roof – the Cayman.”
Nelson recounts why the 987.1 Cayman is such a steal on the used market, which in large part includes its M97 3.4-liter engine, rated at a sprightly 295 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque. That’s not to say another engine wasn’t available, offering buyers shopping for a used Caymon a few options.
“For the 2007 model year, Porsche introduced a lower-output model commonly referred to as the ‘Base’ Cayman among enthusiasts,” he stated. “While the M97 engine’s exterior dimensions are the same, its displacement shrank to 2.7 liters, with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed manual as a rare optional upgrade. It produced 240 hp and 201 lb-ft of torque, which was good enough for a 5.8-second 0-60 run. Again, this increased nearly a second when paired with the same five-speed Tiptronic.”
This led to the 987.2 in 2009, which added the PDK gearbox and the introduction of the MA1 engine, which eliminated the intermediate shaft, a known weakness in the 987.1 models. Power also jumped to 320 hp and 273 lb-ft for the S model and 265 hp and 210 lb-ft for the base, with the Cayman R joining the fray in 2012 with an additional power bump.
The article then moves onto driving impressions, used car valuations, what to look out for while shopping, and more. For that, click this link and read on. Just don’t blame us when your next purchase is a Cayman.
Photo courtesy Peter Nelson/Hagerty