I can't believe that it's really already six years ago when my wife and I picked up the beloved 987 S in Zuffenhausen and we felt a little bit like cheating when booking the trip to Geneva for having a look at what could the successor of our first Porsche. Finally the Seal/Cocoa Boxster S triggered the P-obsession for us, followed by the even worse 'Ring obsession and the acquisition of the GT3 
When I spotted the first pics of the 981 in the i-net I was a bit sceptical whether the design may has become too "edgy" or even over-designed especially at the rear. Some pics suggest that the rear appears like a rather high/steep flat panel missing any "roundness" - being an old-school gentleman I'm convinced that a nice rear needs some curves 
Also I was not the biggest fan of the new center console when sitting in the 991 for the first time a couple of months ago.
The nicer was the surprise when I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the new Boxster in the flesh 
Yes, it's a bit of a departure from the "classic" design of the 987 (maybe even more than 991 vs. 997), but the design is coherent IMHO and not gimmicky or over-designed at all. It's hard to describe but what seems to look odd in some of the 2D-pics comes as a very natural flow of design if you walk around the car 
Funny enough in real life (as opposed to the pics) the rear now looks very Porsche to me (and yes, the curves are there ) whereas the front looks a bit Maranello-ish to me (not a bad thing as I'm a bit an admiror of Italian design). Overall impression is that from a distance there is no doubt that you still spot a Boxster and not a CGT , though if you get closer you realise the more sporty stance of the new model: flat, wheel arches beautifully filled by the 20-inchers, nice blend of curves and straight lines, more aggressive appearance without pretending to be a Mini-Lambo or something. The design language's message is: I may be not a Supercar, but I am a super car 
I very much hope the same can be said once I had the chance to get behind the steering wheel getting in touch with the "inner values" of the 981. Anyway a sub 8 min Nordschleife laptime sounds very promising, same "league" as the first GT3....makes me think again how time flies by...
First approximation to the new Boster:
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public roads: Porsche 987 S Seal/Cocoa, toll road 
: Porsche 997 GT3 Arctic/Black
Re: 981 - impressions and infos from Geneva
