► Start with a 981, subtract most things
► Add Clubsport engine, 918 dials
► Just 1099kg
The Porsche Boxster features one of the finest chassis you can drive, but just how much performance can you squeeze out of it? That’s the question Porsche’s engineers asked back in 2015, and the 1099kg, Boxster Bergspyder is their featherweight answer.
How did they do it?
The engineers began with an older, 981-spec roadster’s chassis, and then essentially gutted it. All non-essential components have been thrown on the skip, so the Bergspyder has no roof, no windscreen and no passenger seat either. Even door-handles didn’t survive Stuttgart’s ounce-shaving process.
What does remain has been stripped of all insulation materials or swapped with weight-saving components.
Porsche has added a few things over the standard 981 Boxster, though. Hop into the one-seater’s cockpit, and you’ll find the dials of a 918 Spyder. Look for the Boxster’s standard boxer and you’ll discover the harder-edged, 3.8-litre engine from the Cayman GT4.
Porsche estimates the latter would’ve helped the car get from 0-62mph in just over four seconds – and even set a seven minute thirty-ish time at the ‘Ring.
What went wrong?
Named and painted to emulate the super lightweight Porsche 909 Bergspyder – which weighed just 384kg – the Boxster Bergspyder never made it to production because of possible registration issues in different countries. The possible impact on sales made the project unfeasible – which is a shame.