The early 1990s recession hit Porsche as hard as any of the other big sports car manufacturers.

It wasn’t until the 993-based 911 arrived in September 1993 that things steadily began to improve. By the time the all-new Boxster was launched in 1996, Porsche were back on a secure footing and the global economic outlook had improved dramatically.

However, before the Boxster was ready, Porsche needed to produce an interim model based on the old four cylinder 924 / 944 which had been around in one shape or another since 1975.