If you like the look of old cars but not the hassle of living with them, Signature Autosports has options. After revealing its 355SL last year, a Mercedes SLK made to look like a 300SL, the company has now done something similar for fans of the Porsche 356 with a 987 Porsche Boxster S as the base. Like the 355SL, the proportions are slightly different from the original 356, but that's a small sacrifice to make for the vastly increased performance and comfort that come with a modern platform. Also like the 355SL, this offering, dubbed the 387 Speedster Heritage, comes with a six-figure asking price, but we'll worry about that later.
Healthy Performance and Retro Styling
Like the original Porsche 356 (a Super Speedster example of which James Dean famously owned), the retromod features a short, sharply raked windshield. But while early 356 models featured hand-pressed aluminum body panels over wood frames and later models used pressed steel, the modern 387 has a glass-fiber body. This sits on custom 19-inch split rim wheels, with various designs available. The front fenders get Speedster badges, and the tiny, round metal wing mirrors help sell the illusion of a classic. The LED headlights and taillights are also convincing replicas. Just behind the door, the clearest clue to the 397's modern underpinnings exists, with a vaned intake grille added to help cool the naturally aspirated 3.4-liter flat-six engine. This makes over 310 hp and more than 265 lb-ft of torque, enabling a 0-60 mph sprint time of just 4.9 seconds. That's if you opt for the dual-clutch PDK transmission; manual variants will be slightly slower.
Modern Amenities Make the Cabin Comfy
Signature Autosports retains the original infotainment system, and given that the 987 Boxster and Cayman were produced from 2005 until 2012, that could mean something seriously outdated and awkward to use, which is why the company offers "upgrades," presumably including Apple CarPlay. The factory heated seats can be had in leather or with Porsche's Pepita fabric, and of course, the climate control system remains. Other modern niceties include a heated windshield, an electrically folding soft top, and the Porsche spoiler system that deploys at speed for greater stability. All of this isn't exactly cheap, but it's considerably more affordable than the 355SL mentioned at the outset.
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While that Mercedes retromod costs just under $300,000, the 387 Speedster Heritage starts at $199,950. Considering that a base 987 can cost as little as $15,000, that seems hefty — until you remember that a genuine 356 Speedster can cost two or three times as much as this modern reimagining and is far slower and less comfortable to live with.
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