I love the wheels on it! 18" or 19"?

Wasn't a Speedster. Replica 550 Spyder, flat 6 power. Sure do miss Angela...my nominee for the most mechanically knowledgeable "car girl" to ever post here.

Yep. I'm betting that if I ever got my boxster up to 150, it would be so planted that it wouldn't be scary. (not that I ever would. This is purely hypothetical, of course)

We're back to the old "drive a slow car fast vs a fast car slow" thing. As a kid, I had great fun driving slow cars fast. As an adult, I enjoyed my miata, but I will say that I enjoyed my turbo miata a bit more and my old 217hp 3.2L Carrera even more than the miata. I'm pretty sure that I don't enjoy the 303hp boxster more than the old 217hp 911. I'm not saying that the extra grunt isn't great to have and pleasant. I'm just not sure that it adds to the enjoyment.

I get that. Any of my choices are no match for an inattentive moron in a full size SUV or pickup. But there's just something I miss about a 1800 - 2000 lb car on skinny tires.

And yes, I'd fry in the sun. I went out on the boat with my BIL last weekend, took every precaution I thought I should, still managed to lightly sunburn the backs of my hands.

Yep, 550, not a Beck. I think it may have been a Thunder Ranch.

And what you said is saying something, because I believe several of our ladies have been pretty knowledgeable. But I think she was at home being up to her eyeballs in the mechanical bits.

914 all day long. Mid engine and air cooled, ticks the most important boxes

Yeah, makes my heart feel heavy

There is another one I always think of in June. Guy my age who took his own life, just beyond me how anyone gets to that.

Xj8.

No pics, sorry.

Here is my long winded multi point answer.

My first two seater was, in Ireland, a 1967 MG Midget. Bought in 1984 from my dentist, nicely restored. I drove it for a year to two and sold it to my girlfriend (now wife). I then bought a 1968 MGB roadster. I rebuilt the suspension, engine and brakes, added roll cage etc and entered the Irish Historic Racing Association racing program. Over the next nine years i won the championship 3 times, was 2nd three times and 3rd three times. So I established a strong 2 seater interest into my motoring dna. When I sold the MGB I imported a RHD 67 911 coupe (from Los Angeles) into this mix to keep competitive.

In those years it was popular to import used RHD cars from Japan. One of my buddies was doing this so I ended buying a Jap spec Miata with limited slip diff and sporty stuff. What a hoot. I ended up buying and selling a few Miata’s, and honestly they were great, no mechanical issues and went link stink.

So next thing I’m moving to California with my company. After getting accommodation first thing I do is buy a 1987 white 911 cabrio. Boy what a disaster that was. I traded that into an 85 Targa. I went to get a haircut one day in the Targa and came home in a 1998 Boxster. (I’ve a very understanding wife). Boxster was great, light, manual transmission. I was doing auto cross, so tweaked camber etc. FTOD many times. It was the most planted 2 seater soft top I’ve ever driven. Couple years later ended up with an 88 911 cabrio.

One of my most memorable cabriolet drives was one morning I drove from Carmel to San Jose, Ca leaving at 6 am. I had a “windbreak” installed so you could drive with roof down and no air entered the roof down cabin. I was on it, over 100mph mostly, no hair stirred no cold wind. But great the great flat six exhaust notes I’ll take to my grave.
So long story short, I’ve owned many two seater cars. Nearly all 6 cylinder P cars. Mostly in California, so roof never goes up. I’m not looking for sympathy, just happy to share.

I've had my fill of "old school" Brit roadsters, having owned a TR3A, TR6 & TR8.

My first choice would be a Boxster, but a friend just bought a VERY clean 2nd-gen Miata and it is a very fun car so that would be a close second, especially given that a budget of 25K$ would either get a relatively new one or an older one that the leftover $$$ would go to upgrades.
Hmmm.... a V8 Miata sounds like an interesting project....

18s Cayman wheels

I'd go off the above list and get a Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG. I've been curious about those for years.

Very nice. I love them. I've thought about "upgrading" my 19" wheels to 18" wheels.

I think those are more of a cruiser, but I've always, since I was a teen loved SLs, of pretty much any time period from the 50s until modern. I've never driven one, but I love the look.

I had a buddy that had and SLK when I had my old '88 911. I think the Merc stuff tends more towards comfy cruiser with a look while Porsche tends more toward capable sporty cars with some comfort. For me, I'll stick with the sportier. If I had an SL it would be for the missus.

BMW Z3. Nice to have an M.

For $25K I'd get a late model Miata.

If I really wanted a Boxster, I'd spend more money for a 2013-2016 S. And for twice the price if not more, I'd get the 2016 Spyder.