The Porsche Boxster and its brother the hardtop Cayman are rear-engined sports cars from the Porsche stable, and slot in below the more famous, and more capable 911. These cars have spent most of their lives living in the shadow of the 911,yet have done wonders for the Porsche brand in terms of sales and brand accessibility. Modern versions of these cars such as the Cayman GT4 will even match its bigger brother the 911 Carrera around the track.

YouTube channel Cars Evolution, a channel dedicated to showing the evolution of iconic cars has posted a video showing the evolution of these legendary sports cars.

The Boxster made its debut way back in 1996 and was a breath of fresh air for a brand that was struggling with sales. This convertible was powered by a 2.5-liter flat-six engine and offered a beautifully balanced chassis. The Boxster would go on to be the platform for much faster and more capable cars in the future. As the Boxter grew in size and capability, Porsche decided to offer a more performance orientated hardtop car, debuting the Cayman in 2006.

The Cayman signaled Porsche's intention to focus on customers who liked the compact and nimble Boxster platform but wanted more performance, especially in terms of handling dynamics. The Cayman has come a long way from its inception and is now considered a fully-fledged performance car.

Porsche has traditionally kept a solid performance gap between the Boxter/Cayman team, and the halo 911, but that gap has come into question when Porsche unveiled the Cayman GT4, a hardcore, stripped-down version powered by a raucous 4.0-liter flat-six engine. This car has proven to be as fast as a base-model 911 around the track.

The Boxster and Cayman continue to evolve alongside the 911, and modern versions are seriously fast cars that can punch way above their weight division. Many diehard Porsche fans now proudly own Boxsters and Caymans alongside their 911s.