Baby Boxster on way

Could this small roadster bring Porsche’s legendary driving thrills to a new generation of customers – and at a lower price, of less than £30,000?

The sports car maker is preparing a production case for the model, which would sit below the Boxster as a new and more affordable entry point to its range.

With successive generations of the Boxster getting gradually bigger, more powerful and more expensive, now could be the time for Porsche to launch a sports car that costs almost £10,000 less than its existing ‘base’ model.

We’ve produced these images  to show you how it could look. The as-yet-unnamed car has been on the cards since 2009, when parent company VW unveiled the BlueSport concept. Audi revealed its rear-drive e-tron concept in 2010 – both were based on the same mid-engined platform.

Since then, Porsche has been keen to develop its own version – known internally as 9X1 – and has been watching the back-to-basics, rear-wheel-drive Toyota GT 86 and Subaru BRZ closely.

A well placed source told us the road to production isn’t that simple, though. “Without a VW version, it’s hard to see others happening,” they explained.

R&D board member Wolfgang Hatz has even been reported as questioning how far the Porsche brand can be extended. Other models are potentially more profitable.

Nevertheless, Porsche is continuing to develop the 9X1 in the hope that an Audi version based on the same platform will spread development costs and make the project a better all-round business proposition.

Porsche is also planning to stick with a horizontally opposed engine – thought to be a newly developed 2.4-litre flat-four that will produce around 200bhp.

The roadster’s performance will be just shy of the Boxster’s figures, so expect a 0-62mph time of around six seconds. A turbocharged version could also be put into production.

Handling will be predictably sharp and entertaining thanks to a lightweight chassis, but the 9X1 won’t have most of the electronic add-ons offered elsewhere in the Porsche range, such as dynamic engine mounts and variable dampers.

If it gets the green light, the new two-seater will eventually be sold as a coupé as well as a convertible, but the latter will come first, most likely in 2014.

Updated: This page was updated on 1 May 2012 with the full story.