Mark Hubley

Why is the upcoming Boxster referred to as a "987"? I thought Porsche was in the habit of numbering new models sequentially? Since the 996 has already been out for over five years, shouldn't the new Boxster get a number higher than 996?

Consider the 924 did not evolve into the 925, but the 944.
The 944 turbo is a 951, not a 945.
The 968 is a 968, not a 946.
The Carrera 2 is a 964, not a 912; the 993 is not a 913; and the 996 is not a 914.

Seems to me that if the upcoming Boxster is sufficiently new to deserve a new number, then the number should be 997, 998, 999, or whatever. If it is not that new, then it should just remain 986. (I believe the 911 SC's, 80's Carreras, etc. remained designated as 911. Is that correct?)

By the way, what number is the Cayenne?

Also, is it simply a result of Porsche's lack of racing development in recent years that the 996 came out in 1999, and they are just now talking about introducing the number 997? Only one new number in over five years? From 1983 to 1986 (model years) they went from 944 to 951. From 1992 to 1997 they went from 968 to 986. What gives? I thought the numbering system made sense until now.

Rick964

Maybe they reserved these numbers back when they started working on the new designs. You have to realize that they did not just begin designing the 987 last year but they have probably been working on it for a few years now.

Tom

I think it is just a case of marketing and running out of 3-digit numbers. They decided 987 and 997 would sound better in the marketplace then the 10?? that they are probably up to. You can find some non-sequential numbering in the 900 race cars and remember that the 911 and 912 were originally to be the 901 and 902 until Puegot objected.

Mark Hubley

Rick,

I get your point, but I doubt that work on the new Boxster began before work on the 996!

I guess the running out of three-digit numbers that begin with "9" is the likely culprit.

Steve Jensen

Thought the numbering system was based on "project numbers" - with 7 added so the first customer didn't think they were dealing with a new company...

993Maineiac

They are getting to the end of the 900s. I believe they are trying to coserve all of the available 900 numbers for the future.

Scouser

Cayenne is a "9PA" !

prophesized

when you say the numbers would you say nine nine six or nine ninety six?

Mark Hubley

I think it is typical to say the first 9 as "nine" and then the last two digits as a single number:

911 = nine eleven
944 = nine forty-four
968 = nine sixty-eight
986 = nine eighty-six
996 = nine ninety-six

pearldrum944

What is the factory number for the carrera gt?

rushSC

What I really want to know is why Porsche has limited it's numbering system to a 9xx series...We did have a 356 and a 550, so why not have a 3xx/5xx series? They will run out of 900 numbers sometime.

MPD47

The Carrera GT is 980 I believe. Someone was working on a list of all the Porsche numbers, not sure where it went.

ettsn

The CGT is the 980, and Scouser is right that the Cayenne is the 9PA (although many people refer to it as the 955, since it's part numbers start with that. actually 955 means it's a non-Porsche sourced part -- ie from VAG).

Don't lose too much sleep over these numbers. They're just names anyway, and we'll have to live with something completely different once we're out of 9xx numbers.

-Paul

pearldrum944

Then we can all proclaim that it is not a "real" porsche!

Jack667

I say nine-nine-three and nine-nine-six but that's just me.

I do say nine-sixtyfour, nine-eightysix, nine-fortyfour and nine-eleven, though.