First Drive: 2010 Porsche Boxster Spyder

Tossed out the window — no, out the open cockpit, actually — are the radio, the air con, conventional door pulls, and more. Porsche says the result is a weight savings of 176 pounds over the Boxster S, making the new Boxster Spyder, at a claimed 2800 pounds, the lightest model in the maker’s production-car lineup.

Perhaps stung by criticisms of “diluting the brand” (i.e., Porsche sport/utes and the new Panamera four-door), the iconic German speed factory has countered with a sporting piece nearly as pure and purposeful as James Dean’s 1955 550 Spyder. As such, this newest, fastest Boxster also qualifies as the most toy-like model in the range, a pricey plaything for perfect days and writhing roads — and almost exclusively so. How long would the Spyder’s charms last, I wonder, without refrigerated air and the diversion of a radio during a long stop-and-go commute on a blistering summer day? (Not to worry: If you’re feeling “unpure,” you can pile on A/C, radio, nav, and whatever other options you like.)

So, no, in basic “stripped” form the Boxster Spyder isn’t an ideal daily driver; you’ll want to be rich enough to own one as your second or third car. Ah, but for those days that call for a leather jacket and driving gloves…

In addition to the jettisoned A/C and radio, the Spyder features aluminum doors (saving 33 pounds), lightweight sport bucket seats (saving 26 pounds), an aluminum rear deck (saving 6.5 pounds), and the lightest 19-inch alloy wheels in the Porsche catalog. Also changed over conventional Boxsters are the side windows — they’re lighter and lower — and the soft top, which for Spyder duty is a manually erected affair that’s little more than a handkerchief for blocking the sun (the lid, which stows away above the engine, isn’t even waterproof; indeed, Porsche admits it won’t stand up to a car wash).