DIN weight = car with 90% fuel, no driver, no cargo. Weight of German versions with standard equipment.
Caiman is a small and nimble crocodile. Cayman is a small and nimble Porsche. With the Boxster 987 as the base, it was a rare occasion in the world of car construction that a coupé was built on the platform of an open car. The plus was the more rigid chassis, the minus the weight not saved. Another strange thing: the fixed roof coupé was more expensive than the roadster with its electrically folding top. The price increase from Boxster to Cayman was 8-10%.
AutoWeek's editors named the Porsche Cayman S the best car at the 2005 Frankfurt motor show. Autocar magazine called it "brilliant" and "Porsche´s most focused sports car". At the New York International Auto Show, the Cayman S was awarded World Performance Car of 2006. In the eyes of the 46-strong jury the Cayman S impressed with its “perfect combination of outstanding handling, looks and performance.”
The cars were built at the Valmet factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The incoming car parts were shipped from Rostock in Germany to Uusikaupunki 3 times a week and the majority of the built-up vehicles were shipped back to Germany, this time to Emden port.
The 2.7-litre base version was made available later, from August 2006 as a 2007 model. Its manual transmission had just 5 speeds. The base price on the Cayman 2.7 was a whopping 19% lower than on the 3.4-litre S-version, but standard equipment was really non-existent. That might be a good thing with a sports car, but if you want it for sports, you need the S-version. Even the 6-speed transmission was optional for the base Cayman. For comparison, the entry level Porsche 968 had the 6-speed transmission as standard already in 1991. And no less than a 3-litre engine. 15 years earlier.
To boost the sales, a black on black Cayman S called Porsche Design Edition 1 was launched in the end of 2007. The car came with a briefcase containing Porsche Design items like the chronograph, a pocket knife, sunglasses, a pen, and a key ring. It should be mentioned, that Porsche Design is an Austrian company established by the designer of the 911, F. A. Porsche. Ferdinand Alexander was the son of Ferdinand Anton Ernst "Ferry" Porsche who created the Porsche marque and the grandson of engineer Ferdinand Porsche.
The last original Caymans made before the 2009 facelift version, were Cayman S Sport in September 2008. They were uniquely available also in 911 GT3 RS colors Orange and Green in addition to Black, Indian Red, Speed Yellow, Carrara White and Arctic Silver Metallic. The cars came with sports exhaust system as standard and therefore the car had a little bit more power.
