Typically I don't respond to comments like that and honestly, aside from Internet forums, I've never had anyone say that to my face.

Everyone has a right to an opinion but unless they are making the payments I could care less what they think and I would tell them exactly that without any further justification.

 

What does your wife/girlfriend love about your 981, cayman, boxtser?

Great question! My wife loves the PSE (surprisingly). I think she only likes it because it makes me so happy though.

Her top favorite is the leather dash. It just looks stunning. We almost bought another Porsche two weeks ago. A 991.1 GTS. It had the alcantara and plastic dash. Instant "No" from the wife. I don't like alcantara either but could have lived with the dash. Starting up a 3.8L NA engine with X51 power kit and PSE is just a total rush.....

The other positive for her is the frunk and trunk which makes things really easy for traveling. She gets the frunk and I get the trunk.

 

It is unfortunate someone said that. Unfortunate because it just openly shows how ignorant people are. I would hedge a bet that the majority of people that make comments like that have little or no seat time in a Porsche, Boxster or otherwise, and are therefore completely unqualified to make any sort of meaningful assessment.

If that was a friend that said that to you... well... your friend doesn't seem like much of a "car person" to me.

 

The only comments I received thus far were along the line "nice car". One of the thing that I notice that was different when I drive the Boxster and my AMG was every freaking cars want to race my AMG at stop lights while they all pretend to do something for a purposefully slower start to avoid a possible humiliation against my Boxster

 

I have heard that before from people in casual conversations about cars, but no one has ever said anything about my Cayman.

The one thing I have heard is the old "he must not be able to afford a 911" comment - made in jest of course....

It really comes down to whether you give a **** what other people think....which I typically do not.

 

I think my lady is a bit scared of the GTS. :hilarious:

Chick car? Yeah I've never heard anyone say this. Yeah these cars have sexy curves... But any thoughts that these cars are "feminine" are quickly dispelled when the engine cranks up and especially with the PSE turned on.

I maybe see more women driving Boxsters, but for Caymans probably lean more toward men. Either way, I wouldn't call our cars girly...

 

guy who commented is just plain jealous..:taunt:

 

The guy who said it was "teasing" so to speak. He commented in the same way that he generalized Miata's (NO COMMENT!) Camaro's (Joe Dirt reference) Mustang GT's as (Wal-Mart burn out kings) etc.

I posted the question as some "tease" not knowing what the car can do, how it drives and why we like it. My son has guys at his "country school" that tease him too about his AP2 S2000. They all drive big diesels to school with 3 inch lifts etc. He gets it too...convertible to SOME = girl car.

BUT...

I know the better 1/2 LOVES ours and I have a blast driving it!

 

Here's my take. First, 981 covers both Cayman and Boxster, and of the 2, the Boxster reportedly has much higher female buyers. However, that'd only apply (in both models) to very conservative builds IMO: base suspension, base exhaust, base engine, PDK, beige interior, etc. I personally don't consider the S girly at all, let alone the GTS and manual-only GT4. Bottom line is Porsche covered ALL THE BASES. You can order a girly or a manly Cayman or Boxster.

 

Light convertibles are it for me.

Maybe "chicks" are just smarter in their car choices.

 

"Chick car" and "Hairdresser car" types of comments are holdovers from when the 986 was introduced. Typically, they came from people that didn't know anything about the car or Porsche, and had never driven one. With the 987, the slurs became less frequent, and since the 981 are rarely heard. Anyone making such a comment these days about a 981 is likely just repeating what they heard sometime in the past. No bona fide car person, much less a sports car aficionado, would still be so uninformed.

 

I hear it most often with the Mercedes SLK. It is the only 2-seater with a neck warmer but that is a recent development.

Overall the stereotype is just wrong. My own stereotype is that the smaller frame a person has the more of a desire for a massive car develops, and then it is massive SUV for women and massive pickup for the men.

The Escalade comes closest to a "chick car" in my mind.

 

"Hey buddy...that Boxster is a chick car!" … Thoughts????

Gcurnew is mostly right and to understand this you need to understand some history. Of course stereotyping anything isn’t really cool but I believe this is WHY they say that. Bear with this line of reasoning …

TL;DR – Hollywood.

In the 1950s/60s sports cars, meant to emulate road racing (open cockpit cars), were ragtops for the most part (e.g., Jag E-Type roadster, MGB, Midget, Fiat 124, Fiat 850, Alpha Spyder, Porsche 550, etc.) HOWEVER, 6 cyl, convertible Pony cars were bought buy females. While the guys wanted the big blocks to take to the drags, women did buy convertibles. This followed into the 1980s as advertising targeted women in not only Pony Cars but imports.

1950s – See the USA in your Chevy – Dinah Shore in Convertible. There were more Dinah Shore ads on TVs than you can imagine.

Example of 1966 ad

1980s ad

Do you see a pattern there?

Meanwhile, back in the pcar world in the 1980s, there was a massive split between the front engine cars meant to replace the 911 and the 911. Some 911 owners were abrasive and demeaning to the entry level 4 cyl car owners and wrote off the 928, more expensive car as a GT – as not a proper sports car. All these cars were coupes except for the 911 carbiolet or targa. But the front engined cars were coupes.

Fast forward to 1996. The PAG CEO allegely promised there would be no more 4 cyl entry level cars. The convertible Boxster came out and what did you have? What? A convertible? But wait, secretaries buy convertibles. They buy those 6 cylinder Mitsu Eclipse Converts and 6 cyl Pony cars.

So lets see a few who drove 911s in the movies.

Le Mans – Steve McQueen
Downhill Racer – Robert Redford
Good Guys Wear Black – Chuck Norris
Highlander II, Connor McLeod (“There can be only one”)
For the Love of the Game, Kevin Costner

You get the picture. Real men drive 911s. Now how about Boxsters?

The Sopranos, wife of a mobster
Legally Blond, Reese Witherspoon – ditzy blonde
The Simple Life, Paris Hilton
One Hour Photo, Female driver

And you wonder why people think it’s a chick car? ROFL.

Do you wanna drive a car Steve McQueen, Chuck Norris, Kevin Costner and The Highlander drives or do want to drive a car Paris Hilton and Resse Witherspoon drives?

Hollywood. That’s your answer.

 

Thanks Chows4us....NOW I NEED THERAPY....LOL just kidding.

People are often like sheep. They listen and follow the mass of what is around them. I prefer to be compared to the sheep dog myself though.

BUT Chows right.

Hollywood stereo types and people follow along. I mean how many people are more scared of swimming in the ocean (JAWS) VS. being outdoors in the woods or in a country on vacation South of our awesome country. Look at the numbers as to people killed by sharks and people killed my mosquitos. BUT look out of Hollywood ever does a full on series on KILLER mosquitos.

 

You mean you never saw this blockbuster?

Mosquito 1995 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_(film)


"An alien starship dumps a space-trash in a swamp in a U.S. National Park. Some mosquitoes begin to feed from the alien's corpses, causing them to grow to the size of a vulture. These mutant insects became very aggressive, killing every human being they find. Will the few survivors fight successfully against this nightmare...?"

Mosquito (1995) - IMDb

 

I can honestly say..."Nope never seen that one." Maaaaaabe that is good thing though.

I wonder if Mystery Science theatre 3000 ever ran it?

 

The Escalade comes closest to a "chick car" in my mind.

Over the Hedge reference there too...LOL

 

Anecdotally, I see many more "chicks" in SUV's and Vans than I see in 981's. I also see more males driving Boxsters than women. But if "chicks" like the car more than other cars, and why not ?, it just an added bonus. I just think that 981's and 987's are some of the best looking cars ever.

Cheers

 

Anecdotally, I see many more "chicks" in SUV's and Vans than I see in 981's. I also see more males driving Boxsters than women.

Well the SUVs are the Soccer Mom stereotype and the OP is talking Boxsters. I doubt you can scrape up 20 females who bought a Cayman by herself. Thats not a stereotype but I'd like to see the numbers. I know my wife wanted the Boxster but I sort of talked her into a Cayman.

You will see more women dependent upon geography. Think about it. This is really no different than the Pony/muscle cars of the 60s. The guys want the track car, the coupe - more rigid, more HP, etc. Back then it was to the drags. Today they do autocross and track days. The women "tend" to want to put the top down and do whatever they do. It's just a observation and NOT meant to stereotype. Ford told the world that the Mustang was a secretary car ... and buy a 6 cyl, not the 289 or 390.

And then Wilson Picket sings as hit song about Mustang Sally

 

my wife says she sees more dudes driving them.

we already did the V8 thing as many of us have.

i think it's more the attitude that most have that oh, it's a porsche - what a douche.

in my opinion, the chrysler 300 with big chrome wheels, tats, and dumb stickers is a douche.

replace 300, with dodge anything. feel free to replace 300 with your fave douche car.



i jest = enjoy the weekend.

 

I think it's a very legitimate question and so does (did) Chris Harris.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk-6s-ZhlYs

 

I own an early 986 and I keep hearing this "chick car" "hairdresser car" thing on the internet but have never heard it from anyone in the PCA regions I've enjoyed outings, AX and DE with. Some blame Charlie Sheen for his 2 1/2 Men program where he called a Boxster a hairdresser car. All I can say is he's a druggy with HIV and I'd rather drive a hairdresser car than have both of those character faults.

 

I've read about the hairdresser's car thing, but I thought the Miata was usually the first to fall into that category. I guess it's most small'ish convertibles. My sister is a hairdresser and drives a Nissan sedan, but I did date a hairdresser at one time who drove a Z3 and then a Z4. They were manuals, which I thought was pretty cool. I guess hairdressers and car enthusiasts have strange crossover interests in cars. :hilarious:

 

Hahahaha you must not work, cuz I would have typed 50 emails in the same time with less type. And earned my measly salary.

You answered what I was assuming without directly answered.

It's not 1979
Or 1969.
Or 1999.

Most people don't even know who Dinah Shore was.

 

"Hey buddy...that Boxster is a chick car!"

Guess that lends more credence to "Girls just wanna have fun." Fun fact: before F&F, the 2G Mitsubishi Eclipse and other DSMs were "chick's cars", though that perception changed after the movie. However, having owned one (from well before the movie came out), I still firmly believe they are crankwalking money pits with tragic levels of understeer.

Regardless, I drove a Miata for 8.5 years. When someone lead out of their window in their FWD crossover and called it a girls car, I didn't say a word or even acknowledge them, because I was having a blast while they're driving around in a somewhat wheezy FWD crossover that wishes it made a bit more power to move itself about without feeling labored.

No one's called the Spyder a chick's car in the past few weeks where I've been trundling through Boston metro traffic, top down in 20-40F weather. I've had one person (in a Rogue or Murano) who forcibly tried to queue jump scream at me when I refused like everyone else, but whatever buddy -- stay classy, and remember that sometimes MA state troopers are specifically set up at the interchange ramp to pull you over for queue jumping. Had guys in a local business' box truck ask me to rev it. Had someone in a Silverado with NH plates tell me in stopped traffic that it "looks sick" and "sounds @#$%in' awesome". Thumbs up from pickups. People snapping photos or taking videos with their phones. Get friendly toots from everything from ratty Civics to older folks in Monte Carlos. Monday I'm going to bring one of the IT techs from my client down at lunch to look at it (as well as an older gentleman restoring an early 80s Camaro RS), because he's dying to check it out.

I'm also apparently a rolling Porsche billboard. Salesman emailed me to say thanks on passing on all the info about my GTS to the buyer (email, as well as the doc folder I left in the frunk), and that once a week at least someone comes in saying they saw me in the Spyder, top down.

 

Forgot to mention something. OP should have started with his definition of a 'chick car', to at least define that first. And that's important because it could mean 3 things (or a combination of the 3): That such women owners don't know how to drive well, that the car is not capable of sporty driving (good power and handling), or that the car is feminine looking, even if capable. Hope it's not the first, because the majority of men are in that camp as well, and there're plenty of women who drive better than the best of us here. The third is entirely subjective, therefore an endless debate. Only the second category is more objective, and by that definition, no Porsche would be a 'chick car'. But then there's a huge difference from a base stripper 981 than a fully-sport-optioned GTS or GT4. Or how about when their owners never drive them aggressively? That's why the whole discussion is stupid if taken seriously. And also why nothing of that sort offends me in the least. But for the sake of entertainment, first define what a chick car is, and then we can further waste more time debating what is.:hilarious:

 

Based on the Porsche design briefing for the new 718 Boxster it is not a chick car

 

Totally a chick car. That's why I got a Cayman! Only kidding...


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