Among the compact sports cars, the BMW Z4, Porsche Cayman and Porsche Boxster stand out. But which is you? And why did BMW and Porsche wait so long before making the coupes? There is no Boxster coupe, but the Cayman is almost the same thing but uprated.
It might seem odd that the two German companies, well-known for high-performance and sporty cars, waited to announce their coupes at the same time. The answer lies in why they introduced the roadsters in the first place.
Porsche wanted a new, smaller model to increase its market coverage. Not everyone likes the 911, and not everyone wants a coupe. So it made sense to opt for the mid-engine layout – the 911 is rear-engined – and the better balance that gives in designing the Boxster. At the same time, the addition of an open-top roadster would also increase sales. And both tricks worked.
But what about BMW? Well, BMW wanted to build cars in the USA, and did not want to build the same cars it built in Germany as that would increase costs. So it decided to build a roadster for the US market, although it would be marketed elsewhere.
At that time there was more potential volume for a...