987 Spyder
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:53 pm
I’ve always been a fan of soft top cars and have had a few over the years... and with Porsche it’s the speedster and spyder variants that I’ve hankered after.
So when Blasting around the alps in my 964 last year with a few ddkers, I was so envious of Boydy in his 964 speedster as he just got those extra sensations and views of the mountains you miss in a tin top .... roll on 2020 and for a number of reason we decided it was time to get the car we’ve been been wanting for a number of years now .
What we have wanted , was a 987 Spyder.
For those not familiar with the Spyder, it was Porsche’s first time at building a lightweight more drivers focussed Boxster. In theory in its lightest iteration Porsche shaved 80kg off whilst increasing the power by 10bhp. Weight saving a came from replacing the folding roof with a two piece removable’tent’ , doors, front bonnet and spyder specific rear clam were aluminium , seats replaced with carbon buckets, spyder wheels were the lightest wheel Porsche produced at the time ,things like instrument cowl deleted, interior door handles replaced with webbed pulls , air con and stereo delete were options too. To increase performance in addition to the horsepower hike ( higher red line ) the suspension is now lower by 20mm , increased track etc etc
So this was the car I was after , but not just any one, it had to have the exact spec ( which just happens to be the spec everyone wants) ..... the spec being 987 Spyder, white, manual 6 speed box, PSE ( switchable sports exhaust ) , spyder wheels and most importantly the carbon folding bucket seats. I Ideally wanted aircon and a stereo as the car was going to be bought for the purpose of euro touring with my wife .
So , as far as I can gather approx 225 rhd spyders were sold in the U.K., approx split 1/2 manual box , 1/2 pdk.
Of the manual cars I’ve been told only about 45 have the carbon buckets , rest comfort seats. So trying to find the right spec was going to be a waiting game .
I’d been in contact with a couple of private sellers but the cars either had a history or were missing a part of their history ! I was also in contact with some dealers and as it happened a very well timed email with 911 Virgin happened to unearth a car that was about to go to market . A quick chat over the phone and deposit paid .. only 2 weeks of waiting whist it was serviced and prepped ..... then me and my wife jumped in a one way hire car and drove down to collect... on what turned out to be one of the wettest days for months !
So no roof off first drive, just a steady ( 30mpg
) very wet cruise home . Funnily enough , this was the first time I’d actually sat in, never mind driven, a boxster 
Since then had the car out a few times on my local routes and it’s been interesting to compare to my 911’s .
So when Blasting around the alps in my 964 last year with a few ddkers, I was so envious of Boydy in his 964 speedster as he just got those extra sensations and views of the mountains you miss in a tin top .... roll on 2020 and for a number of reason we decided it was time to get the car we’ve been been wanting for a number of years now .
What we have wanted , was a 987 Spyder.
For those not familiar with the Spyder, it was Porsche’s first time at building a lightweight more drivers focussed Boxster. In theory in its lightest iteration Porsche shaved 80kg off whilst increasing the power by 10bhp. Weight saving a came from replacing the folding roof with a two piece removable’tent’ , doors, front bonnet and spyder specific rear clam were aluminium , seats replaced with carbon buckets, spyder wheels were the lightest wheel Porsche produced at the time ,things like instrument cowl deleted, interior door handles replaced with webbed pulls , air con and stereo delete were options too. To increase performance in addition to the horsepower hike ( higher red line ) the suspension is now lower by 20mm , increased track etc etc
So this was the car I was after , but not just any one, it had to have the exact spec ( which just happens to be the spec everyone wants) ..... the spec being 987 Spyder, white, manual 6 speed box, PSE ( switchable sports exhaust ) , spyder wheels and most importantly the carbon folding bucket seats. I Ideally wanted aircon and a stereo as the car was going to be bought for the purpose of euro touring with my wife .
So , as far as I can gather approx 225 rhd spyders were sold in the U.K., approx split 1/2 manual box , 1/2 pdk.
Of the manual cars I’ve been told only about 45 have the carbon buckets , rest comfort seats. So trying to find the right spec was going to be a waiting game .
I’d been in contact with a couple of private sellers but the cars either had a history or were missing a part of their history ! I was also in contact with some dealers and as it happened a very well timed email with 911 Virgin happened to unearth a car that was about to go to market . A quick chat over the phone and deposit paid .. only 2 weeks of waiting whist it was serviced and prepped ..... then me and my wife jumped in a one way hire car and drove down to collect... on what turned out to be one of the wettest days for months !
So no roof off first drive, just a steady ( 30mpg
) very wet cruise home . Funnily enough , this was the first time I’d actually sat in, never mind driven, a boxster Since then had the car out a few times on my local routes and it’s been interesting to compare to my 911’s .
