[CJFusco]

This popped into my head late last night, and I feel as though it makes a lot of logical sense, although I have no evidence to back it up other than evidence that's circumstantial.

Prediction: within the next five years, Porsche will begin building and selling a new entry-level, open-topped sports car priced below and placed in terms of performance below the Boxster, and it will be called the 550.

Hear me out.

There have been rumors of a new "entry-level" Porsche for years, although Porsche denies it.

Lately, it's become clear that Porsche is reconfiguring the model name for the Boxster/Cayman cars in order to strengthen their historical lineage and to make the model nomenclature match that of the 911. As we know, "911" is the name of the model and has nothing to do with the internal designation of the car; the current car is called 991.2, 10 years ago it was the 997, etc., but to most of the world the car has simply been the "911", a single model that's been developed through evolution since 1964.

It looked like the model nomenclature for the 911 was going to be unique within the Porsche line, as the company has been moving away from numerical designations ("944", "928," etc.) to model names ("Panamera," "Cayenne," etc.) for every model line except the 911. For whatever reason -- to strengthen the historical roots? To make things less confusing? -- Porsche has now decided to make the Boxster/Cayman line's designation one that's under a numerical designation in order to match that of the 911s. So now, just as we have a 911 Carrera, 911 Targa, 911 Carrera 4S, 911 GT3, etc., we will now have a Porsche 718 Boxster, 718 Cayman, 718 Spyder (for the car previously called the "Boxster Spyder") and 718 GT4 (for the car previously called the Cayman GT4).

Choosing the 718 designation for the Boxster/Cayman line is an interesting move. It makes sense to pick a number that is lower than that of the 911, and the "7" series being "lower" than the "9" series is a move that mimics what is done by BMW, Audi, etc. But why "718" and not, say, 550? The 550 is a much more famous car, and the original launch for the Boxster way back in the 1990s invoked the 550 more than any other car.

Here's a few theories: the 718 was offered as both a coupe and a roadster. This fits nicely with the products being offered by Porsche, as the 718 will give buyers the choice between Boxster, Spyder, Cayman, or hard-core GT4 variants.

The "18" of "718" also creates a link between the model line and that of the 918 Spyder, a supercar which shares a number of visual cues with the 981 model cars, while the "7" still places it clearly "lower" than the "9" of the 918.

But it also leaves an opening for Porsche to bring back another historic numeric designation: the 550.

The new 718 line will also have a brand-new engine: a turbocharged flat-four (except for the GT4 and Spyder, perhaps?), which makes one wonder if there's room below the 718 line for a naturally-aspirated flat-four making somewhere in the neighborhood of 200-250hp (comparable to the first generation of Boxster).

As the Boxster becomes the 718 Boxster and moves UPMARKET of the Cayman (as it only makes sense to price the cabriolet version of a car above the coupe, now that we're officially acknowledging that they're the same car), will the long-predicted entry-level roadster become a reality? It makes sense in terms of model pricing and even numerically:

550 Roadster -- $40K
718 Cayman -- $50K
718 Boxster -- $55K
718 Spyder -- $60K
911 Carrera -- $70K
911 Carrera Cabriolet -- $75K
911 Carrera S -- $80K
911 Carrera S Cabriolet -- $85K
918 Spyder -- significantly more expensive
etc.

Those prices are only examples of how the model lines might be structured; I have no idea what the actual pricing might be, other than that Porsche is definitely pricing the Boxster above the Cayman with the new 718 designation.

Anyhow, that's just my theory/prediction. Interested to hear what you think.