I drive a 986 S...it's the poor man's 987S...There! I said it!
I just saw a 997s on danish plates. 350,000$+ with danish taxes. Ouch!
(A Boxster S is appr. 275,000$)
With a pricetag like that you can call my Boxster a poor man's 911 anytime.
But IMHO the 997 does not have the power nor the handling or looks compared to the 987 to justify spending that extra money.

Personally I would seriously pick the 987 Boxster over the 997 anyday based on looks and handling alone. Powerwise the 911 is still superior, no doubt.
Just a pity that one usually cannot make this argument without being accused of being envious of 911-owners, or simply being too poor to afford "the real thing".
The only other Porsche I aspire to is the CGT....but thats a totally different ballpark (2mio $ in Denmark...Yikes!)

Could I afford a 600,000$ Ferrari 360 Spider (the 430 is simply too ugly IMO) that would be my next car Sorry guys! Line me up before a firing squad...guilty as charged for treason