Porsche has scrapped the “baby Boxster”. Tipped as a way to increase Porsche’s sales volume, the Porsche 718 was going to be powered by an all-new four-cylinder engine family, according to Porsche’s head of research and development, Wolfgang Hatz. The Porsche 718 name was rumoured to be inspired by the firm's racing history.
Porsche now thinks that they have a good entry point with the Boxster, and sees no good reason to go below that. The now-dead Porsche 718 was expected to be developed as part of a cross-VW group strategy. However, it has been completely axed now.
Our sister magazine, Autocar UK broke the news about the Porsche 718 way back in 2010, and it was confirmed later by company boss Matthias Mueller, saying that the carmaker would build a ‘modern-day’ version of the classic 550 Spyder, which would be the new entry level model for Porsche. The Porsche 718 was supposed to be based on an all-aluminum and steel mid-engined platform co-developed by Audi, which would also use it for a proposed R4 roadster.
The now-cancelled Porsche 718 was expected to be powered by a 400bhp motor.