In all honesty I'm not a soft top lover mainly due to the scumbags where I used to live cutting fabric roofs with a stanley knife however, there's nothing to say I won't have one in the future, well, a rag top of some sort.

I'm trying to persuade the wife to get a Z4 M40i

 

I bought my first Boxster (986S) in 2002, before there was a Cayman.
I replaced that in 2013 with a 981S, and stuck with the Boxster because I love having the drop top. I live in Southern California, where I can drive sans top nearly year round.
I am now replacing that car with a 2024 718 BGTS for the same reason. I just like having the option of open air driving.

 

I'm just not a convertible person. Have driven several rentals while on vacation in convertible friendly places like Hawaii and California but neither my wife nor I enjoy it for more than a few minutes. We just don't like the sun beating down on us.

 

Like the others, I'm not a convertible person. I enjoy the AC and having some good music playing..

 

I can repost this for example ☺ — Why on earth not a Boxster?

 

Boxster, because I’ve been a drop top guy all my driving life and this old dog refuses to learn hard top tricks.

 

Cayman. It’s too hot for a convertible where I live.

 

I like convertibles (had Opel Tigra a while ago), and If there was a hardtop option, I would have got that. We only get 3 months of summer, when you can properly enjoy the open top. For the rest of the year fabric roof is just too impractical.

 

There is nothing impractical with soft top. It's better than hard top:
-looks better
-lighter
-smaller space required
-real roadsters have soft top
-looks better
-looks better
-car can be two tone of color
-looks better

Thermal insulation is not an issue in winter too

 

Photo finish Cayman by a nose for me. Although is great to have the option to enjoy one or the other.

 

Apart from security against theft, (if they want any car they’ll find a way) I don’t see any compromises with a Boxster. The hood is so well insulated, easy to operate and the opportunity to drive as God intended is priceless.

 

I originally bought a 2021 Cayman. Loved it! But I live in southwest Florida and having the top down is so amazing here. Plus I found a GTS in Racing Yellow (my fav!), so it was a no-brainer.

 

Love that colour 🤩

 

I Chose Cayman but not an easy one. In the end I was looking for the purest sports car I could get and I like the look of the Cayman more. If I want to hear the wind I just roll down the windows. The center of gravity doesn't shift in a Cayman and if I'm out in the sun too long I end up with a headache anyway. The boxster is lovely too and I seriously considered it but the solid roof, no sunroof Coupe ticks the classic focused sports car box a little more.

 

Actually, the classic historical definition of a "sports car" is one without a fixed roof, e.g. with no roof or with a soft top, and often with side curtains rather than windows. It's only since the 1970s that hardtop cars have been called sports cars.

 

I live in Iceland…

 

My first car was a 1978 MG midget convertible, this when I was 19 years old In 1984.
I then had this same car for over 10 years as my main drive. the car needed constant attention and maintenance BUT I never forgot the great feeling of roof off driving As long as it was not raining or snowing.
since then generally always had convertable cars when I can, with a few exceptions but sticker to what I like and what I want.
My current 718 is - to me - is the pinnacle of all that of what I need and Want. I am not overly bothered or need to wait for any decent weather, if it’s dry, roof down. side note is I really dislike these shoppers convertible cars who never seem to have the roof down.
our 718 cars are very special regardless of Box or Cay at the end of the day, but absolutely love getting out roof down as often as I can 😎

 

Cayman for me...

• pattern baldness
• LOTs of sun and warm, humid days (where a/c is preferred for those conditions)

 

You can put the hood up on a Boxster.

You can’t put it down on a Cayman.

 

If I was in my 20s I would choose a Cayman as a daily driver, now in my 50s it's a Boxter as a summer car. Suncreen and a hat; ready to roll! A Cayman is more aggressive, a lot less Sunday couples cruising at 50 mph are seen in Caymans (probably none). In other words; a Cayman looks younger than a Boxster! I think I have the right to say it, I'm 53.

 

I buy Boxsters because my wife has a Cayman. Simples

 

I daily drove an MGB for 6 years a couple of decades ago. Soft top is a waste in my climate. Three months of nice, dry and generally not-too-hot weather, and 9 months of cool-to-cold, damp days with frequent drizzle, fog and mist. Since I like to be able to drive my car whenever "I" want to rather than just 'weather permitting', I buy hardtops and fit them with 3-season tires. And I drive anytime there's not actual snow or ice on the roads. So Cayman only for me, please.

 

I live in the UK, the 3-4 months have far more value than the 8-9. Are you not allowed to drive a Boxster with the hood up? No weather I have experienced has caused me to think the Boxster is less capable. On a 300 mile journey, I’d do 250 motorway miles hood up, last 50 miles on better roads- hood down. Where’s the compromise?

 

Since living in Arizona I sold my convertible and purchase the 718 Porsche Cayman because of the Sun. Here in Arizona prolonged sun exposure easily do a number on my epidermis. If I lived in a cooler climate than I would prefer a convertible to drive during the day because I’m not a nighttime driver. I try night driving with the top down but too risky with crazy people out there driving at night.

 

My husband teased me the other day about the Boxster. I’ve owned several convertibles, and over the last ten years have steered clear of them. I bought the Cayman and loved it. Then my husband bought a convertible Lamborghini and I feel in love with convertibles again. Traded the newly bought cayman for a Boxster. There‘s just something special about driving with such openness.

But… I understand both sides. Either way we are driving fun cars… just some of us may be a bit more tan than the others 😉

 

After having quite a few convertibles I am tired of them. In Tucson it is usually too sunny and hot to enjoy the top down. I still have a '65 E Type OTS that will fill my rare desire to get sunburned while driving.

 

Can you share a picture of the E type? If there is a timeless design, this is it IMO

 

Cannot stand California sun for more than a few minutes and I wanted to run it on track. Also Cayman's rear quarter view looks amazing to me.

 

Fair enough, I just love the irony that in the UK (one of the most popular markets for convertibles) , most people would wish it was a bit warmer and drier for more of the year. As with everything it’s a balance, a compromise and a personal choice.

Only bit I genuinely don’t understand is, what does a Cayman give you over a Boxster with the hood up?

 

its a personal preference

• there's the space in the hatch for (long / bulky) items that might not fit up front
• roofline of the Cayman

and despite all that - if there was "mad money" to be had, I'd have a Spyder just because they look so good...

 

A convertible was a non-negotiable must for me. That eliminates the Cayman. If I did not live in a sub-tropical climate, like south Florida, I would almost certainly have gone with the Cayman. I grew up in the Northeast, went to undergraduate school in Upstate New York, and did consulting there also when I retired. There is certainly convertible weather there a few months out of the year but, more important, I just cannot see, November through March, shoveling a foot or more of snow off a convertible top almost every morning.

 

Cayman. Never been a fan of soft top convertibles. To each their own. If I wanted to feel the open air, I have a sportbike for that.

 

Yup, same here.