I believe the first production car to break the 186 MPH (or 300 km/h) barrier was the Ferrari 288 GTO in 1984. Three decades later, a damn Boxster can do the same.
In my book, anything above two hundred units built qualifies as a proper production car, and while the crown jewel GTO was strictly a limited-edition Ferrari, 272 left the factory before the F40 took the top spot in 1987. With about 400 horses provided by the twin-turbo V8 that was de-bored to 2.85 liters to fit Group B regulations, its claimed top speed was just under 190 MPH.
Finally, one could cover 300 kilometers an hour on an empty stretch of tarmac. If only the gas lasted long enough.
Fast forward to 2015, and there’s a Porsche Boxster on sale with a manual gearbox, no stereo and a tent for a roof. Thanks to all the unnecessary bits chucked out, the Spyder weighs 2,900 pounds while packing the Cayman GT4’s 3.8 flat-six, detuned by 10 horses to 375. Porsche claims it can only do 180 MPH. (By the way, the original Porsche Boxster manual had a top speed of 149 MPH in 1996.)
Despite also being a limited-edition car, Porsche won’t stop before selling a few thousands of these. I wonder how many of the Spyder’s lucky buyers will realize that although their car is slightly down on power-to-weight compared to a 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO, it will still do 185+ miles per hour.
Factory speedometers are never entirely accurate, but if your Boxster Spyder shows 299 km/h at just above 7,150 RPM, know that it only redlines at 7,800...
It’s also much cheaper than the 288 GTO ever was, and it will start every single time the Ferrari’s Weber-Magneti Marelli injection system goes on strike.
Good time to be a driving enthusiast, or a speed freak.
Photo credit: Máté Petrány/Jalopnik
Contact the author at mate@jalopnik.com.