As compliments go, this one was right up there with telling a proud papa that his new baby girl takes after the old man. ("Look, she's got a mustache, just like you!"). Which explains why Porsche's ...

As a Boxster owner, I had a vested interest in how Porsche could improve this car. Why it never invited me to a focus group really hurt. I could have told the engineers everything they needed to fix.

We never considered the old Mercedes-Benz SLK a true challenger to the Porsche Boxster in either performance or style. At least that was the case when both cars went on sale in 1997. One drive was ...

FROM AUTOWEEK: We never considered the old Mercedes-Benz SLK a true challenger to the Porsche Boxster in either performance or style. At least that was the case when both cars went on sale in 1997.