Which Car Is The Poor Man's Porsche And Is It Still The Cheapest Option?

It seems like a simple question, but asking, "Which car is the 'poor man's Porsche'?" is a little like asking, "Who's the best baseball player of all time?" You're going to get many opinions.

Online, some of the automotive world is inclined to say it's Porsche's own 914. In fact, 914World.com has an entire discussion devoted to whether the 914 (or even the Karmann Ghia) is the poor man's Porsche. Motor Trend agreed it was the 914 in one article, then pivoted to give the 944 that title. Hagerty joined the fray, calling the Porsche 912 the "poor man's 911." 

Offline, the answer you get will likely be related to the person's age, based on the car that was cheapest in their lifetime. Will the real poor man's Porsche please stand up?

According to the Urban Dictionary, the expression originated when the Chevy Corvair Monza Spyder was compared to a Porsche 356 in an article by Car & Driver. The story pointed out that both vehicles had a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine, but that the Porsche cost $1,500 more than the Covair's roughly $2,700 price tag. 

Continuing beyond the origin story, the Urban Dictionary defines the phrase as "Any of the cheapest offerings from the Porsche auto company, especially anything from the Boxster line," and, more broadly, "Any low-end item from a prestigious manufacturer." 

So which Porsche is the current bottom of the barrel? 

[Featured image by dave_7 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC-BY-2.0]

The Urban Dictionary cites the Boxster as the least expensive Porsche, and it's true this car has been relatively inexpensive (compared to other Porsches) for a number of years, starting with its introduction in 1997. In fact, when the Cayman was introduced in 2006 as a hardtop coupe based on the Boxster, it was initially more expensive than the Boxster. The MSRP for the Cayman S Base model was $58,900; the base Boxster started at only $45,000. 

A little more than a decade later, both the Cayman and Boxster were updated and reformatted as Porsche 718s in 2017. At that point, the base 718 Cayman, with an MSRP of $53,900, was sold for less than the 718 Boxster, whose MSRP started at $56,000.

But hold the phone — if we go by the definition "any of the cheapest offerings" from Porsche, then the battle can't just be between the 718s. The automaker's crossover SUV, the Macan, has been a bargain since its unveiling in model year 2015. Its base price back then started at $49,900. That same year, the pre-718-variety Boxster (the cheap one!) was starting at $51,400, and it would only pull further and further ahead of the Macan. 

By 2017, the Boxster was priced at more than $6,000 above the Macan's MSRP of $47,500.

Even in model year 2025, the 261-hp gas-powered Macan has the lowest base-model suggested price of the Porsche offerings, starting at $62,900. The base 718 Cayman with 300 hp starts at $72,800, making it the least expensive Porsche sports car, but not cheapest Porsche model. And the 300-hp 718 Boxster — clearly no longer the budget option — has a suggested price starting at $74,900. For 2025, the gas-powered Macan reigns as the poor man's Porsche.

In a couple of years, however, its cousin the Macan Electric will likely take over that role. The Macan EV has a suggested price of $75,300 for 2025. Even though that is higher even than the Boxster's price tag, the gas-powered 718 line — Boxsters and Caymans — will be discontinued after 2025, and won't be around to compare. The gas-powered, bargain-basement Macan is expected to end production in 2026.  The next lowest-priced Porsche standing is the Cayenne, which rings up at nearly $10,000 more than the Macan EV. 

For the forseeable future, a Macan will continue to be the poor man's Porsche.