Porsche Boxster: Generations, Option Codes & Prices

The Boxster is Porsche’s mid-engined two-seat roadster, sold in the US from the 1997 model year. It ran through four generations, with the 987 split here into its original and revised forms, and from 2017 was sold as the 718 Boxster with turbocharged four-cylinder engines in the core range.

Each generation below has its own page listing every US-market trim, the factory option codes offered, which trims could order them, the model years they appeared in and, where a period document supports it, what they cost. The Porsche Boxster is one of the models added after the 911 and is still being filled in; the methodology page explains what each figure rests on.

Porsche Boxster generations

• 
  9861997–2004

  The first Boxster, and Porsche’s first road car with a water-cooled flat-six.

  3 trims · 226 options
  Photo: Jeremy from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0
• 
  987.12005–2008

  A restyled Boxster with a new interior, and the base for the first Cayman.

  3 trims · 149 options
  Photo: Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0
• 
  987.22009–2012

  The revised 987, with direct injection on the S and the PDK dual-clutch gearbox replacing Tiptronic.

  3 trims · 227 options
  Photo: Elise240SX, CC BY-SA 4.0
• 
  9812013–2016

  A new platform with a longer wheelbase, and the last Boxster with a flat-six across the range.

  4 trims · 175 options
  Photo: Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0
• 
  718 Boxster (982)2017–2025

  Sold as the 718 Boxster, with turbocharged flat-four engines in the core range.

  9 trims · 253 options
  Photo: MercurySable99, CC BY-SA 4.0

How the Porsche Boxster generations differ

The first Boxster, the 986, was sold from 1997 to 2004. Its water-cooled flat-six sat ahead of the rear axle, and it shared its front body panels, headlamps and much of its interior with the 996-generation 911 that followed it. The engine grew from 2.5 to 2.7 litres for 2000, the year the 3.2-litre Boxster S joined the range. A revision for 2003 replaced the plastic rear window in the soft top with glass.

The 987, sold from 2005, kept the same layout under new bodywork and an interior of its own. It was revised for 2009: the Boxster S engine gained direct fuel injection, and the seven-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox replaced the Tiptronic automatic. The revised range added the Boxster Spyder, a lighter car with a manually erected fabric top.

The 981, sold from 2013 to 2016, was a new car on a longer wheelbase, with a lighter body that used more aluminium and electric power steering in place of hydraulic. A Boxster GTS was added, and the Boxster Spyder returned with a 3.8-litre flat-six.

For 2017 the car was renamed the 718 Boxster, and the flat-sixes of the core range gave way to turbocharged flat-fours of 2.0 and 2.5 litres. A naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six returned in the GTS 4.0, the 718 Spyder and the Spyder RS. The 718 Boxster was sold in the US until the 2025 model year.

Trims and base prices by generation

Every US-market trim of each generation, with the lowest and highest base price documented for any trim in any model year, before options and destination charges.

Paint colours offered in more than one generation

Factory colours, by name, that the Porsche Boxster could be ordered in across generations. Each generation's page lists its full palette with codes and prices.

The costliest options in each generation

The highest US price documented for each option, in the model year it was quoted. Prices are as listed at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

At a glance