It takes a good sense of self to admit that we’re not getting any younger. The world takes its toll on our bodies, minds, and occasionally fitness. We can’t run as fast as we used to, and usually don’t look as good as we used to. Our style has changed, and what was once fashionable is now dated and embarrassing to be seen wearing in public. There are a few ways to deal with this, you can accept your fate and age gracefully, or completely change your appearance and personality in an attempt to stay young. It’s rare that it works in humans, and even more rare that it works in cars.
If you’re the owner of a 986 or 987 generation Porsche Boxster, you’ve dealt with the fact that it’s a dated and out-of-touch design in today’s car market. My own Boxster, a 1997 model, looks like it was designed in the early 1990s, because it was. A Nu Dimension, a company in the UK which claims to have more than a decade of experience creating replica bodywork, has crafted a set of fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) body panels to transform the look of your old base-model drop-top into a modern 911 widebody coupe. It’s truly a strange proposition, but somehow it works kind of nicely.
A Nu Dimension calls the conversion a “GT Boxster”, and it incorporates some aspects of Porsche’s 991 GT3, and others from Porsche’s 991 Turbo. The kit starts at around $7,000, which includes a huge list of parts (below).
The kit includes:
Front trunk lid
Front fenders
Front bumper
Door sills
Rocker covers
Rear quarter panels
Roof panel
Trunk lid
Aero-kit-style spoiler
Bodywork internals
Updated mirror housings (designed to keep the factory motors)
Wheel arch liner extensions
Rear quarter engine ducts
Window rails
and all hinges and brackets.An additional kit of optional components is available to make the interior look a bit more finished. This kit costs about $450.
While the only completed car appears to be the white Porsche shown in photos here as the company’s display piece. It appears to be nicely done, and likely took hundreds of hours of sanding, paint preparation, and installation. We’d love the opportunity to get up close and personal with one for a few hours if someone here in the U.S. has a kit or a complete finished product. I’m particularly interested in seeing if this body weighs any less than the original steel and aluminum. Are the original rear quarter panels simply cut out, or are they still underneath the wider bodywork? What do the panel gaps look like up close?
What do you think? Would you consider making your great handling Boxster look more like a 991 amalgam? Interestingly, the wheelbase of the two models is only about 1″ different, with the 991 being a bit longer than the original 986. There are quite a few giveaways that prove to anyone who knows that this isn’t a 991, especially if they look at the interior to see the original rollbar still there, with a bulkhead behind the seats instead of a rear seat passenger compartment (luggage shelf).
Obviously this kit does nothing to modify the performance of your old Boxster, so if you’re okay with a car that looks like a 991 Turbo which only produces between 201 and 291 horsepower, more power—or actually less?—to you.
Source: motoringresearch.com
