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Porsche dusts off 718 badge for Boxster and Cayman

Porsche dusts off 718 badge for Boxster and Cayman Porsche dusts off 718 badge for Boxster and Cayman Porsche dusts off 718 badge for Boxster and Cayman
Porsche 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman models to have turbocharged ‘flat four’ engines.

What's the news?

Mixed news here for Porsche fans - the new Boxster and Cayman models will definitely be powered by four-cylinder turbocharged engines (boooo!)... but, because of that link to the company's 'boxer fours', Stuttgart is also going to revive a nameplate which will resonate with all fans of the brand: the 718 (yaaay!).

Back in 1957, the successor to the 550 Spyder race car was the 718, which possessed a flat-four engine. The 718 was an endurance racing icon, with a 142hp RSK version taking class honours in the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans.

And given Porsche's ground-breaking 919 hybrid - which also has a turbocharged, horizontally opposed 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine - took first and second at Le Mans this year, the German manufacturer felt it only right to properly link back to its glorious four-cylinder heritage.

So while the death of the boxer six in these models is something we lament, expect the 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman - both due out over the course of 2016 - to be very special machines nonetheless.

Anything else?

Retaining their mid-engined, rear-wheel drive layout, this time around Porsche is going to price the 718 Boxster at a higher level than the 718 Cayman, evoking its cost structure for the 911.

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Published on December 11, 2015