Porsche dresses-up its Cayman coupe to create the 2012 Black Edition. Road Test editor HOWARD WALKER says it’s not your ordinary special edition.
For so many automakers, creating a limited-edition model is like applying the proverbial lipstick to a pig! If you’re lucky, you might get different style alloys. Or a cheesy spoiler on the trunk lid. Or maybe a fancier stereo. But more than likely, it’s fresh badging, a garish color scheme and some doofus name.
Case in point: Buick’s Tiger Woods Edition Rainier SUV, circa 2003. Not even the support of Tiger in his prime could generate much interest in this re-worked Chevy 4x4 with chrome wheels and two-tone leather. It rightly bombed! But if you want to see a limited-edition model that works, take a look at Porsche’s new Cayman S Black Edition, above, that hits showrooms next month.
As the name suggests, it’s very black. It comes with black paintwork, blacked-out chrome, and black-painted 19-inch alloys. The interior? You guessed it, as black as a Kentucky coal mine, with more black leather than Alice Cooper’s closet! But there’s some lovely detailing here. Like the glossy black trim on the dash and the black-faced instruments, along with a black plaque on the glove box lid telling the world the car’s build number in the Cayman S Black Edition production run.
Of course there’s also some substance to add to all this style. The Black Edition’s 3.4-liter Six mounted behind the driver gets an extra 10 horsepower, taking max power up to 330. It's not a massive horsepower hike but enough to deliver 0-60 mph acceleration in a swift 4.6 seconds.
In the end, it’s probably the Black Edition’s MSRP of $67,500 that will have die-hard fans of Porsche’s agile-handling Cayman knocking on dealers’ doors. The new sticker is several thousand bucks less than the Cayman S on which it’s based. That, and the fact that production of these Black Editions will be restricted to just 500 cars worldwide, insures exclusivity and strong future residual values.
As Morticia Addams, matriarch of the Addams Family, would no doubt say: Lipstick whether it’s on a pig or a person looks great. So long as it’s black!
For the latest information on Porsche vehicles, please visit, http://www.porsche.com/usa/