LOOK KINDLY ON PORSCHE DRIVERS If you like cars from Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, and maybe soon Proton and Lotus, then you have good reason to be thankful for the creation of the Porsche Boxster. This was the car that saved Porsche, which was teetering on the brink of collapse in 1993. Porsche had relied heavily on a virtual one car strategy, developing versions of its staple model, the 911, and that was all it had left after the 928, the car intended to replace the 911, was killed off. The 911 was not enough, but, thankfully Wendelin Wiedeking, who runs the company, implemented the plan that saw the Boxster come to life. Porsche was saved. So what’s that got to do with all the others? Well, Porsche has become so cash rich it now has control of the Volkswagen Group, which owns the other brands apart from Proton and Lotus, which it’s tipped to be buying soon. The importance of the Porsche move cannot be stressed highly enough. Until now, the State of Lower Saxony has been the majority shareholder in Volkswagen Group, with the result that VW could never be broken up and sold. But it’s thought EU laws are about to change that, and the so-called golden shares would no longer protect VW. Ferdinand Piech, who used to head Volkswagen and now controls Porsche through his family holdings, has moved swiftly. He has become chairman of the VW supervisory board while sitting alongside him are Wiedeking and Christian Wulff, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. If only the British government had been that interested in Rover. Piech considered VW was ripe for the private equity types, the modern business parasites who move into companies, load them with debt, break them up, often at the cost of thousands of jobs, and then run off with the cash leaving the once-thriving business in shreds. So next time you see a Porsche Boxster driver, look on them kindly. They are the saviours of millions of family car drivers and not the poseurs you once thought they were. As you consider some sensible purchase, like a Skoda, thank them profusely – and move over graciously when they come roaring up behind you. The Boxster hit its second generation last year and now has a coupe model sitting alongside it, the Cayman, that uses its mid-engine formula. If you want ultimate handling then you will choose the Cayman without a doubt. The differences in the two cars’ abilities are too marked to ignore. But in a country where cops and cameras, often cunningly hidden (but why not?), enforce the 70 mph speed limit with varying degrees of rigour can you really find the space you need to put the Cayman through its paces? If not, slow down, drop the roof, and enjoy a taste of Boxster cruising. I’ve just been tooling round in a Boxster S, £39,850 of two seater heaven – or hedonism if you hate sports cars. Just after the car had gone, I found the original Boxster press pack from the 1990s. It revealed that car had an output of 204 bhp, the same as the first 911 I drove in 1980. Now the Boxster S manages 295 bhp from its 3.4 litre flat six engine. There’s a 14 gallon fuel tank to keep it fed but even so the fuel light flickers on after 275 miles of not-very-hard but still fantastic motoring. And the lack of the permanent roof the Cayman possesses is noticeable in the way it affects the car’s handling. You have to be much more moderate in how you tackle things with the Boxster. Does it matter? Not at all. Maurice Hardy Annette's View It may sound like a sacrilegious thing to say to sports car fans, but the Porsche Boxster S doesn’t immediately grab me as a must-have motoring experience. Having said that, there were features of the Boxster that appealed. You can’t knock its build quality for a start, and with the galvanized bodyshell it’s going to last for years. Even a 10 year old 2.5 litre Boxster will still set you back £11,000 in a private sale. The Boxster moves very swiftly and neatly from closed to open, and vice versa, but you still have to fiddle with a central catch to release and fasten the hood. It’s not really what’s expected any more and the hood should work all on its own without any human intervention apart from pressing the simple switch. Boot space is better than you might expect, with some under the front flap and a sensibly shaped stowage area behind the engine. But if you are after a Grand Tour car to hit the holiday trail, the Cayman is the minimum Porsche to buy. Car: Porsche Boxster S Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 5.4 secs Top speed: 169 mph Bhp: 295 @ 6250 rpm Torque: 251 lb ft @ 4400 - 6000 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £39,850 Urban: 18.4 mpg Extra urban: 36.1 mpg Combined: 26.6 mpg CO2 emissions: 254 g/km Insurance Group: 20 Best bits: it’s fun; it’s fast; it will last longer than you do