First look: Special Boxster celebrates landmark win

PORSCHE will soon launch a new limited edition version of the Boxster that pays tribute to one of its earliest competition models, the mid-engined Type 718 RS 60 Spyder of half a century ago.

Production of the Boxster RS 60 Spyder will be limited to 1960 examples – a number that celebrates Porsche’s first international outright victory in the 1960 Sebring 12 Hour sports car race in the US, driven by Hans Herrmann and Olivier Gendebien.

Only a dozen or so examples have been allocated to Australia, where it will be available in about April 2008 priced from $157,800, which is over $20,000 more than the Boxster S.

Porsche Australia expects this allocation to be spoken for before the cars arrive in this country.

The Boxster RS 60 Spyder, which will appear at the Bologna motor show in Italy in early December, features a Porsche SportDesign front end treatment to distinguish it from the Boxster S.

It also features wheel spacers that move the Porsche SportDesign 19-inch wheels further outboard for a racier road stance and improved grip, which is further enhanced by the standard fitment of the company’s active suspension system.

A sports exhaust combined with a dual tailpipe increases the 3.2-litre flat-four engine’s power output from 217kW to 223kW.

Silver metallic paintwork, which featured on all of Porsche’s early racing cars, is contrasted by a red leather interior, while the Boxster RS 60 Spyder’s soft-top roof is also red.

Stainless steel door sills bear the “RS 60 Spyder” designation and a silver plate on the glove box lid carries the Special Edition model number.

Extra sporting touches include a new gearshift lever and unique design touches for the sports seats, centre door linings, steering wheel and handbrake.

The regular cover for the instrument binnacle has been dropped, with the three instrument cluster turrets now exposed in true racing style with their fronts finished in silver metallic.

Additionally, the windscreen frame is finished in black, rear light clusters and centre console finished in red, and seat backrests, roll bars and seat belts all finished in silver.

Porsche introduced the Type 718 in 1957 as a replacement for the 550, the company’s first purpose-built racing car.

The spaceframe 718 took numerous class wins and podium finishes in the late-1950s before Edgar Barth and Wolfgang Seidel scored a famous victory in the 1959 Targa Florio road race.

Porsche entered the Manufacturers World Championship in 1960 and scored its first international victory at Sebring in Florida with the giant-killing 1.6-litre Type 718 RS 60. Second place in that race was taken by a 1.5-litre sister car driven by Al Holbert (who shared victory at Le Mans 23 years later with Australia’s own Vern Schuppan).

The Type 718 series raced for some ten years and really put Porsche on the racing map, winning the Targa Florio again as late as 1963.