A James Dean Porsche
July 2004 By TONY QUIROGA
The
commemorative-edition Boxster S is a celebration of numbers. So here are a few: The sports-car maker from Stuttgart will build a total of 1953 commemorative editions of the Boxster S, and about 550 priced at $60,665 will make it to our shores to celebrate the 50 years that have passed since the 550 Spyder, a 1200-pound race car powered by a 1.6-liter flat-four, put Porsche on the map.
Want some more numbers? Well, there's an imperceptible six extra horses from the familiar 3.2-liter flat-six (264 total), a slick-shifting gearbox with 15-percent-shorter throws, and 5mm spacers on the wheel hubs that bring the two-tone wheels nearly flush with the fenders. There's also a cocoa-colored interior and top only found on the anniversary model, and a dash plaque to remind you that you are one of 1953. Detecting any dynamic difference between a run-of-the-mill Boxster S and the anniversary car is next to impossible. So, like many commemorative editions before it, the car is largely a cosmetic package designed to lure buyers before the next generation debuts.
Porsche decided to hold the press event for the anniversary Boxster on the roads around Monterey and Salinas in northern California to honor the memory of actor James Dean. As much as racing triumphs made the 550 famous, the death of Dean on his way to race the diminutive roadster at the Salinas airport in 1955 served to immortalize the man and the car. Cruising by the site of Dean's fatal wreck—the desolate intersection of Highways 46 and 41—in an anniversary Boxster is a bit eerie as the car seems to commemorate the actor as much as the 550. Driving these sparsely traveled roads, one can't help thinking of the long odds of having a car turn in front of you. Apparently, odds don't seem to matter when your number is up.